Anyone found the supplied shifter sits too far towards the front of the car? it seems a bit of a stretch to change gears.

will heating and bending it cause the metal to weaken too much?

If the position it sits in is a problem then there is no reason that you can't heat and bend it. It's just that you will need to have it re-chromed after.

Also consider that depending on how far you may want to re-position it may require a longer piece of rod.

The best way of bashing this up first is to use copper tube to bend the curve required.

Hhhm yeah i might have a practise run with some copper, thanks.

the MSA shifter is black anyway so its easy to fix the blemishes from heating it luckily.

Brett,

I have a friend that has been modifying my shift levers for years on my S30's. If you don't have welding skills (like myself) just take the shiftlever to a welding shop (an exhaust shop will do) and have them cut the lever and thereby remove about 1.5" and grind down the top and bottom pieces to a point and then have the pieces welded back together. This will preserve your stock threads (to re-attach the shift knob) and it will also give you a chance to replace the shiftlever bushings if you haven't done so already. You will be pleasantly surprised with the results

thanks daddz,

im actually pretty happy with the amount of throw, just the position of the stick seems too far forward compared to the stock lever. 1st 3rd amnd 5th are aq bit of a reach

I have that short throw shifter in my '77 280Z you see in the picture. It takes some getting used to. But the more you drive it the more comfortable it feels. Believe me you will be ripping through the gears in no time and it's awesome! I'm so used to the short throw now the shifter in my bone stock '72 240Z seems out of place.

you could always go american old school with the shifter... bend it somewhere under the boot so that it is angled to the left and back, like on all the old 4spd muscle cars. i was debating about doing that to mine... might need to lengthen the rod a bit though. be sure to practice first to get the position 'just right', or shifting will be VERY uncomfortable!!!