Well the list of things to do to get my Z back on the road again is starting to get very short. However now I really have to focus on getting the T5 setup to work in my car. I wanted to bring some ideas to this board for some opinions. I have two big problems at this point.

First, the differential flange that I believed would be what I needed to make the ZXT driveshaft work doesn't fit on the R180. So I'm thinking when I get the driveshaft resized I can just have the shop cut off the front part of the ZXT driveshaft and weld that on the stock driveshaft. I know the ZXT driveshaft is bigger so the flange will stick out a bit, but it should still work right?

My second problem is of course the shifter. As it sits now, the shifter sticking straight up is right at the very front of the shifter opening in the tranny tunnel. There's about 1.5 - 2 inches of space between the top of the tranny and the shifter hole. I got a mustang shifter to go in there but the straight part sticks up too far. Now I thought I would cut the straight part short, drill a large hole down the center of it for a large thick bolt to tap into it (then becoming the shifter), and then bending the large bolt to the appropriate shape so I don't have to butcher my center console.

So are these ideas viable? Am I nuts? Are there other ways I could do this? Check the link below for some visual help with my descriptions.

http://people.ucsc.edu/~crearly/temp.htm

Thanks for any and all replies!:classic:

I've seen guys take shifter levers and heat them red-hot and bend them to the shape they need.

What you suggest on the shifter seems workable.A thought I would offer is this.I can't tell how thick the wall of the shifter would be after you drill into it.What if you thread the outside and add a coupling to attach the shifter.That way if it ever has thread wear you can always retap to a smaller size and coupling.With the internal threads I don't think you could go larger and you stand a chance of tearing the metal around thehole.If the internal threads fail you're off to the bone yard for another shifter to cut down.External you can fix it in the car.Do my thoughts seem correct?

One thing to think about is the amount of force exerted on shifters and the strength of a bolt or threaded rod used to extend the shifter. Use at least a grade-8.

Daniel, that's a good idea. I'll drop by the hardware store and see what I can do with that. I'd try to heat and bend the shifter itself but I'd have to bend it right as it comes out of the plate and I don't know how to remove the rod from it. I'll be workin on it this weekend. Any opinions on the driveshaft?