When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
I'm some new here, wife and I just bought our 2008 Mustang GT June 19th. It's a 5 speed and I don't need to tell y'all much about the stock shifter. It's not so much the 4" throw, it's the short stick and huge change in angles it goes through and the awful "****" that I disliked most, as well as it was just too low and my elbow sometimes found the armrest. Measured from the top of the **** to console top about 4" in neutral.
I've had performance .... "muscle" cars before, my first such car was a 1969 Dodge Dart Swinger 340 4spd, then later a 1965 GTO also with 4 speed, and later still ..... a 1967 Chevelle SS (with 454 and Tripower) and AC and other stuff .... and 4 speed. I also had some autos but this is about shifters and as those cars all had Hurst Competition Plus shifters, nothing else would do for the 2008 GT.
I picked aHurst Billet Shifter and $207 later, it was here.
I took a few pics before ... in height, 3rd and 4th with stock shifter .....
... and after install.
I installed it Saturday evening after supper. First, I drove the front up on my large Rino Ramps and then I jacked each rear tire up and set them on some 7" high wooden ramps I use some. It was still tight underneath. Got the old one out the top .... then worked hard to get Hurst Billet in and found it was easiest to slip in totally from underneath, it will go up between the D-shaft and floor on the driver side. Use one neoprene washer and set my stops, put all together ..... and it had vibrations that wife didn't like and which I wasn't crazy about either.
I then looked at the way the shifter is mounted, the front round bushing rotates the shifter with the transmission and maintains distance rearwards from transmission shifte to shifter ball pivot. The rear mount to floor does nothing but hold the shifter up in the hole. I swapped out the red poly bushings at each end for softer rear factory rubber mount insolator (cut center tongue out so it fit HBS tongue) and for the hollow like factory hard rubber front bushings.
I wanted the handle longer (higher ball) , wanted to get rid of vibration, and I thought that I wanted the ball further forwards .... but after trial and tryouts, reached the conclusion I was going too far forwards and so on 083013 I made my most recent mod and posted pics and such down below in post #11 as edited 083113 ..... .
Interesting. I just installed my Billet Competition plus shifter in my 2005 mustang gt. In your estimation how much of a difference in sound and vibration did switching back to the stock rubber bushings make in the car?
Interesting. I just installed my Billet Competition plus shifter in my 2005 mustang gt. In your estimation how much of a difference in sound and vibration did switching back to the stock rubber bushings make in the car?
It eliminated it, I have no more now than the stock shifter.
I thought about it and figure Ford spent some $$$ in coming up with the stock insulators for a reason.
The poly is pretty in a package, but it's hard and if you look at how shifts are made, the stock Ford plastic-rubber front bushing locates the shifter just as well without the hardness. It's not a really soft rubber, but it's not near as hard as solid polyurethane and it's not entirely solid.
The Ford rear bushing is much softer than the polyurethane red one and serves only to hold the shifter up in the hole. Look at it and note the face that rest against the floor has ridges that deform. I found that by cutting the tongue out in the center a rectangle hole that fit the Billet tang resulted.
What made me look at this was reading so many post about noise transmitted and then some who said the p-brake started to rattle when they installed an after market shifter.
Well .... with those hard red poly bushings between the transmission and floor beside the P-brake ... no wonder. When I first drove mine, I immediately realized it had too much noise / vibration .... and decided that it wasn't needed.
I was thinking the same thing when I installed mine. Plus nowhere else in my drivetrain do I have poly bushings. Not in the motor mounts, trans mounts not anywhere so I figured I should go back to maintaining that by using the rubber in the shifter again too. I don't want inconsistency in the vibration or harmonics of the car, just shorter shifts. THANK YOU!!
I don't want inconsistency in the vibration or harmonics of the car, just shorter shifts. THANK YOU!!
You and me both ... and .... you are very Welcomed Sir!
I figure Ford spent some time on all the rubber getting the right "feel" .... and other than being "pretty red" I saw no gain in poly in this application.
I do have 25+ year old red poly in the front suspension of my '77 F-150 4X4 .... but it works there.
You wouldn't happen to know what size threads are on the allen bolts that hold the stick to the shifter would you? I would like to reduce the chance of them coming loose again by putting a nut on the other end of them.
You wouldn't happen to know what size threads are on the allen bolts that hold the stick to the shifter would you? I would like to reduce the chance of them coming loose again by putting a nut on the other end of them.
3/8 - 24 is the thread.
Today I was mowing and gave thought and made a light change, used one piece of steel instead of 2, moved the stick to right a hair but now it's centered in the boot opening .... and I kept my travel and height .... and in doing that I also tapped a new hole in my new piece..... 3/8 - 24 .
(pics and etc deleted as I came up with a more better setup 083013)
I just reinstalled the stock front and rear bushings in the billet shifter. It made a difference . I however am still running the stick to shifter mount without the rubber gaskets they give you to use. I had a problem initially with the stick working loose with one on there so I removed it, added some thread locker and a nut on the other end of the bolts.
I just reinstalled the stock front and rear bushings in the billet shifter. It made a difference.
Made all the difference on mine ....
(To anyone wondering ....if using a regular Hurst Short Throw, no cutting needed. If using the Billet Shifter, the tongue needs to be cut out of the stock rear rubber bushing with a long sharp blade .... but don't loose fingers.)
Originally Posted by 05gtowner
I however am still running the stick to shifter mount without the rubber gaskets they give you to use. I had a problem initially with the stick working loose with one on there so I removed it, added some thread locker and a nut on the other end of the bolts.
And so it goes .... as I continue to look for the right feel.
Well, in the month since I have tried several adaptations, some had 4 holes and raised the shift lever & ball exactly 1-7/8 .... and it made a slightly longer throw.
I knew I didn't like the original position Hurst put the ball in, it was just too low.
Edited 083113
It occurred to me recently that I had moved the stick and ball too far forwards .... .... that 3rd and 5th were stretches .... so I made a slight change that both raised the shift ball 1" and brought the shifter itself 5/8" back to the left or driver's side.
I made a pair of brackets that match, according to this drawing .... one is of 1/4" steel, the other is of 1/8" steel. In the thicker piece, the top two holes are drilled small enough to tap the holes with a 3/8-24 tap. All other holes are 3/8" diameter smoothies. I cut my part out of some 1-1/4" wide 1/4" thick steel bar stock.
I just whipped the drawing out almost by hand only to photo so I could post it fast. I can do better work.
I then ues longer 3/8-24 bolts from pass side to bolt lower portion of thick steel to shifter stub, and loosely slip the matching thinner steel on the bolt ends from driver's side. Then slip shift lever and two rubber sleevs or pads between the two steels and insert the provided 3/8-24 button headed socket screws that came with the shifter in from drivers side and just run in finger tight for now. Then apply two nylock nuts to ends of lower bolts and snug up thius locking lower bolts while securing the thinner steel plate against the shifter stub. Then I snugged up the upper two button headed bolts and ..... I wanted some thin lock nuts so they don't back out. I split a nut with a dremel but you can get narrow nuts in 3/8-24 and do same, applied to exposed threads.
Boot rolled down to show bolts, excuse fuzziness please.
The shift lever is 1/8" narrower than the shifter stub so the rubber fills the void nicely .... tried it out last night .... I LOVE this version most of all positions so far!
Now, measured from the Seek button to the center of the upper hole in the "R" of "HURST" which is near center of ball it's 6-7/16 inches .... and the top of the shift ball is 6-5/8 inches above console in 3rdgear ....
and because the adaptation has angled the shifter mounting bolts backwards towards the rear, the ball drops on the way back to forth so that from the Seek button to the center of the upper hole in the "R" of "HURST" which is near center of ball it's 8-13/16 inches .... and the top of the shift ball is 6 inches above console in 4th gear ....
.... and throw 3rd to 4th is 2-3/8" horizontally as the ball drops 5/8" ..... you can see how the shift lever is angled back as well.
In use, my arm is more bent at the elbow than before, elbow behind and above front of console lid even in 3rd, ball beside my thigh so no way I'm getting my "funny bone" slammed into the console lid!
Neutral is of course, between them as below.
And the shifter is centered in the car and console, though the boot offsets to the right.
I really like this feel .... more like a buddy's '68 Mustang GT 4 spd that he's had since 1969. I always liked the movement, even if not a Hurst in his car.
I do wish these cars shifted as buttery smooth as my old 4spd Muncie transmissions or my old '69 Dart Swinger's 4 spd. Maybe this is as good as it gets? I know it's not the shifter that makes it notchy as the shifter pivots in a smooth ball socket.
Did I mention that in use, my arm is more bent at the elbow than before, elbow behind and above front of console lid even in 3rd, ball beside my thigh so no way I'm getting my "funny bone" slammed into the console lid!
Have you replaced the fluid in the trans yet? I know the TR3650 comes spec'd with Mobil 1 ATF recommended from the factory and ford recommends Mercon/Mercon V. I have heard that mobil 1 can really smooth out these trans.
Yeah, maybe 3 weeks ago, not many miles (not a DD) using Mobil 1 ATF which covers Mercon V and it seemed to help. Edited .... April 5th, 2014 I drained the Mobile 1 ATF and put in Dex/Merc ..... that really helped! The synchros seem to really like it!
It's not overly notchy, just noticeably notchy (pardon my technical terms) .
I've shifted some others as we looked at Mustangs before buying this one, it only has a bit under 23,000 miles and it's not been beat up. It's smoother than some even, just not as light as them old muscle car transmissions.
I've noticed same "notchyness" over the years in lighter Toyota 5 speeds we've owned and the Forester we have now ... though they being smaller transmissions, they remain lighter in feel.
Maybe what I'm feeling is a product of these internal linkage transmissions.
I've been thinking also, maybe it's just this clutch pedal positioning? You have two nearly same length legs from the hip down, and if your brake pedal hits the floor you have a big problem ..... so why must the clutch be setup to force you to put that pedal on the floor to start and nearly there to shift? Cars used to have adjustment in the clutch linkage so you adjusted the clutch action near the top of the travel, you didn't have to go dang near the floor. Them old smooth shifting 4 speeds had external shift levers, rods, and shifters and once you used a line up pin and some good bushings, them old Hurst shifters flat got the job done .... smoothly too.
So I've been meaning to fab an extension of sorts for the clutch pedal, to raise the pedal at rest about the thickness of a 2X4 .... say about 1-1/2" and found out just tonight that a company already makes one that takes the stock pedal pad.
I'll try that ..... and maybe even go to SS braided clutch line in time?
OK .... ordered one of theseBondra Performance Engineering manufactured clutch pedal extensions last week, it was here in a couple days .... and I chose the secong method of installing it. I know the price seems steep for "plastic", but it has two SS screws and brass threaded inserts and it is full of fat webs for strength and it fits well ..... and of greatest consideration ..... ..... IT WORKS!
Now ..... now the clutch pedal releases the clutch when my left foot is near about where my right foot would be on the brake, thus I can ease the seat back so no knees near the dash and a more comfortable driving position and coupled with my shifter position ..... it's a great setup.
Still gonna add the SS flex fluid line for clutch one day I think.
This thread is very interesting and detailed!!! I am ordering my hurst competition shifter after Christmas and it would be great of I had some advice on the details about the factory brushings compared to the hurst ones. Looks great on your pony!!
This thread is very interesting and detailed!!! I am ordering my hurst competition shifter after Christmas and it would be great of I had some advice on the details about the factory brushings compared to the hurst ones. Looks great on your pony!!
Thank You Kind "One" ....
Having originally used the Hurst supplied red poly bushings with mine and since changing back to using the stock FoMoCo bushings (which are rubber with ribbed top side for shifter base to floor mount ... and a hard plastic with "voids" up at the trans mount for shifter) .... I get less noise and vibration with the FoMoCo black parts as I described.
I suspect that the hard front red poly transmits more vibration to the shifter base than OEM and with the billet shifter, it is also likely more rigid than the OEM shifter base and thus transfers that vibration to the floor mount which then vibrates some like a drum, only smaller scale.
I don't know all of that for a fact, but I know it's quieter with the OEM bushings. Just need to modify that rubber rear one to fit the solid rear tang of the Hurst Billet shifter's base. The shifter base is intended to "roll" over with torque reaction of the transmission / engine.
I feel sure that you could justleave the red poly front bushing in the billet shifter mount and just use the FoMoCo rear rubber and achieve similar reslts.
And as a follow up on the clutch pedal extender .... wife agrees with me, money very well spent. That made a huge change in driving comfort / clutch use. Like I said, your brake doesn't go to the floor so when you are adjusted to the pedals, why are we pushing the clutch all the way? We didn't in the old days and no need to now. If anyone wants a hint of what I'm talking about .... .... try taping a piece of 2x4 to the clutch pedal so that it's raising the pedal the 1-1/2" .... you'll see. In operation there is nomore stretching your foot out at the toe to fully press the clutch pedal when your heel hits the floor, the pedal is all the way down with just the motion of your leg / knee.
That grease on the pivot ball just under the boot .... and a shot of silicone seal in the shift **** before putting it back on .... did the trick. The grease works it's way down and around pretty fast, within a few miles .... and no more rattles.
So recently while driving, it occurred to me that the actual shift **** was maybe too close to me. I had fabricated a extension that both raised the shifter straight up 1-7/8" and included a 10 degree angle. Drawing is below. The Hurst shift lever has it's own angle built in as you may know, pretty near 10 degrees. Together the ball was back and the shifter had a gentle laid back look.
So anyway, I took the boots off and completely turned the shift lever and extension around, and now in 1st, 3rd, 5th the shifter is angled forwards, even a little in neutral. In 2nd or 4th it looks near straight up and down. I forgot to photo it but below is a picture I had put together of how it "was" versus how it "is" now. It feels really good as the angle is more like a pistol grip if one wants to grip just under the ball. In actuality, throw did not change, but now the ball is just over 4" closer to the radio bezel.
Just a quick update note. Recently as we drove & rode over into and around some of West Virginia, I was again reminded .... this is the best I've had the shifter in this car. I thought about adding another inch upwards, but then it's getting too high up.
7/23/13, 09:33 PM
.
