General Gated shifter, anyone?

[marcus550]

I'm considering one of these gated shifter brackets with spring-loaded pins inside. I'm OK with the vague shift pattern, most of the time, but the wife would destroy my gearbox for sure. I see two distinctive features and don't know which is best: metal vs. plastic spring pins, and shallow vs. deep shift gates. Does it rattle? Does it help? Is it accurate enough to just throw it in the slot and it's always right? And how does it look in the car? With the plastic center tunnel tray.

 

[the hobbler]

I'm considering one of these gated shifter brackets with spring-loaded pins inside. I'm OK with the vague shift pattern, most of the time, but the wife would destroy my gearbox for sure. I see two distinctive features and don't know which is best: metal vs. plastic spring pins, and shallow vs. deep shift gates. Does it rattle? Does it help? Is it accurate enough to just throw it in the slot and it's always right? And how does it look in the car? With the plastic center tunnel tray.
View attachment 433608

Would I be correct in thinking you have a 5-speed gearbox in your car? If you are worried about the quality of the commercially available gates, there is a "U-tube" film showing how to make a "5-speed gate". The main things to remember is that (a) 5th gear is only a 'cruising' gear and NOT an 'accelerating' gear and (b), whoever is driving must remember that 5th is JUST ABOVE reverse, so they must be careful when dropping from 5th down to 4th.

 

[marcus550]

Yes, I've had a 5-speed for several years now. I can drive 70 MPH on the highway's around here, which are thankfully flat. It was working great until it suddenly stopped working at all. I found that the top shaft nut of the 5-speed kit was loose, and it's set screw was as well. Fixed it today and all is well. But in the process, I found out about this gated shifter online. I would still like to try it if it's worthwhile. I'm not really worried about the quality of them as much as hearing what is good and bad about it.