Miata Mailing List: June 1996, Message #394
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   From: Phredd 
Subject: Re: Home made "VOODOO" knobs and shortened throw
   Date: Wed, 5 Jun 1996 17:08:54 -0400


        +++ Jeff Pond sez:
>
>A couple questions concerning shift knobs.  I have made my own "VOODOO
>style" polished aluminum knob except it is just spherical and doesn't have
>any cylindrical extension at the bottom.  It looked nice except that the
>hole was not drilled and tapped deep enough but I have now corrected that
>(needs a little more polishing).
>
>Has anyone put a 10x1.25 die on the shifter shaft in order to thread it
>further toward the transmission and hence lower the shift knob and hence
>shorten the throw? (I would be very careful to make sure no metal chips get
>dropped)
>
>There is about another 0.5 inches that could be threaded before the shaft
>widens.  It may then involve cutting off the top 0.5 inches of the shaft,
>but you would still be left with about an inch of thread.
>
>Anyone done this?
>
>Anyone know why I shouldn't consider doing this?
>
        +++ Jeff, et al:

        Following is an excerpt from a discussion I was having with 
another lister about this subject. I didn't make my own Voodoo knob as 
you did, Jeff, but started with one of V-Bob's own and modified it as 
described below.

        I am very satisfied with the results. The car changes gears as if 
by toggle switch now. Effort has not been increased very much, IMO, but 
then, maybe I'm just used to whatever difference there is. I can't 
restore it to stock to compare now as the lever is about 5/8ths inch 
shorter than it used to be. The entire assembly measures 82mm (3 1/4") 
from the plane of the top of the console (on a '93, at least) to the top 
of the ball.

        I've never had the pleasure of driving a car with a genuine short 
throw shifter adaptor (I forget who makes it). As I recall from what I've 
read, it is a fairly sophisticated apparatus with the fulcrum moved up, 
etc. I don't how it and what I've done compare in function but I'm 
guessing I've come fairly close with my rude approximation at a fraction 
of the cost.

        Good luck and . . .

        Keep the Revs up!

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        phRedd
       '93 Classic Redd


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        What I've done is to continue the threads down the shaft til the 
point where it meets the beginning flange of the conical section. Then, I 
cut off about 16mm of the top of the threaded portion which represents 
how much farther I would be able to get the ball to screw down onto the 
shaft after all the ball modifications were complete.

        What I did to the Voodoo knob was to first cut off the entire 
"neck" under the ball that Voodo Bob had put there to mate with the OEM 
boot setup. I didn't like it as it put a lot of material between my 
fingers when I surrounded the ball with my hand as I grasped it from the 
top -- my preferred method to grabbing it from the side as you do with 
the OEM setup. At first, it was absolutely great in feel. The shaft 
protruding below the knob was only 10mm in diameter. Allowed a real 
"eagle claw" grip. But, I wanted to make it shorter.

        So, then, I tapped threads into the Voodoo knob to as close as I 
could get to the bottom of its shaft hole -- about another 10mm or so, I 
guess. Could've gone farther but it would've necessitated grinding the 
end off a perfectly good tap and the little gain didn't seem worth it. 
Then I countersunk the open end of the hole to accommodate the conical 
area of the gear lever where it would now want to screw down over.

        The entire top end of the gear lever assembly is now about 3 
inches tall (haven't measured it) above the shoulders at the base of 
larget shaft diameter. The bottom of the ball seats at about half way 
down the conical area of the lever. This actually puts more material 
between my fingers under the ball than I'd like but, I guess, I have to 
take the bad with the good. 

        I removed the OEM hard plastic ring that formed the top opening 
of the shift boot and replaced it with a rubber O ring that will allow 
the boot to stretch over the largest diameter of the lever. That allows 
me to push the boot down all the way out of the way of my grip. Of 
course, I now have that relatively ugly, fat shift lever sticking up out 
of it but, again, I guess I have to take the bad with the good.


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        PS: Although I didn't do it, I would recommend removing the gear 
shift lever from the tranny and cutting the thread on it with it mounted 
on a bench.