I'm working on a single-seater and one of the problems is the seat will be over the shifter- not comfortable. So, will a shifter that's offset about a foot (see diagram) work okay? The shifter is on the tailshaft and has internal linkage. Would an external linkage trans be any better if this isn't a good idea?
I have mine off set about 6", it works fine, I just modified some old Hurst sticks and used some heavy angle iron for the angles and welded it up, a little grinding and WALA. Seems to hold pretty well I shift pretty hard but its not a race car......
Personally, I don't see why it wouldn't. However... Can you bolt/unbolt the shifter from the trans? That might make it easier to 'demo' the shifters. How far up and down is the arm going to move when you have to switch between gears? It might make it hard to hit the gears in the middle of the throw. You might be banging off the lockouts(?) accidentally more than you'd like.
i'm in the same boat , i will bend mine like the old salt racers did...over 10" and then back up.....on a three speed i don't see any problems... a 4spd. might be a little tricky on the shift where there is three gates , getting that middle gate with an offset shift would take some practice ....depends on how sloppy the mechanism is
it doesn't matter where the shift knob is. If the shifting lever is rigid and doesn't bend, the shifter knob could be in the trunk and the trans. would shift OK. may be a bit tricky shifting but it will work. just think of drag links, tie rods and shifting linkages. they all have bends to clear components and they operate fine. all you care about is the beginning and end. everything in between is just transferring the motion. longer or shorter will inc/dec the throw but the end result will be the same.
Id try it and see, I think the shift pattern at the knob will be an unruly mess. pushing it fore and aft will want to transfer to rotation at the Trans. Going thru the middle gate will cause both the knob & the bend under the knob to change height as it travels in that arc. Increasing the length will increase the distance it needs to travel at the knob. Duplicator setup would be better IMO.
Since you didn't say what the trans or shifter is, it's kinda hard to say..... If it's a T-5, look for a tailshaft from an Astro/Safari van. They use a offset/duplicate shifter....
I had an original inline shifter on mine and reverse went under my leg, big pain Then I changed to this, works great, no binding, smooth shifts This is connected to a T-10 4 speed.
The Astro van T5 shifter is indeed offset, but to the left. Not sure if you could flip it over and offset to the right or not. Seems to me its only a couple inches as well, not 6".... take some round bar and weld up a test piece to your shifter and see how it works. It should work fine...
Like most have said the offset stick will work just fine as long as it's rigid enough, but depending on exactly how far you need it offset it may not feel as precise. If it were me I'd be more inclined to do like 31Vicky suggested and build a duplicator setup. It's a little more involved than just cutting/welding/bending up a new stick, but worth it in my opinion. Something sorta like the restomod shifter Mustangs Plus offers http://www.mustangsplus.com/tech/speedshifter/index.html . If you dig around on the Factory Five forums there are a few guys on there that built there own versions depending on where exactly they needed the shifter placed.
I'm guessing that offset is around 3" or so. Original poster wants a 12" ("a foot") offset. A few inches is one thing and 12 is going to be 300-400% more unruly than this.
That duplicator shifter is cool. Would that work in both the x and y direction for the same shifter? In other words, outboard and back. I'll have to mock it up a little better to determine what I'll need. The transmission is a tiny Pinto 4-speed that's behind a 1.6 L engine.
It is: I think I need one in my Golf. Yes, the duplicator should work turned 90°, though it would have the effect of narrowing the gate rather than shortening the shift. One might consider making it without the short-shift geometry. Also, I suspect that the torsional loads on the joints would be greater, as you'd actually be engaging gears effectively by turning the rod. If making one from scratch I'd pay close attention to the joints, perhaps wide clevises to reduce the loads at the ends. The other way would be a twin shaft arrangement, with a torsion rod for the fore-aft shifts, and a separate and much lighter push/pullrod for the cross-gate movement. If one is clever they can even be concentric. As it happens I'd just the past few days been considering an idea for a Deuce roadster with a driver's-side shifter and cut-away seat, which would need something similar, though about 18" long.
Some early f/e formula road race cars used a "remote" shifter that was essentially just a shift handle mounted to a rod end on the frame and then connected to the cut off shift handle on the tranny. Couldn't find a very good picture, but you can see the curved tube (for leg clearance) just under the steering wheel that connects the two, in this pic.
I know in your original post you mentioned moving the shifter a foot, is that 12" overall or 12" in only one of the two directions you need it moved? I guess what I'm getting at is how far outboard and how far back does the shifter need to be placed? Depending on the distances, rather than trying to overcome both the X and Y dimensions simultaneously with a more complicated linkage (although Ned pointed out a pretty clever solution), you could just put a slight bend in the rod going between the dummy shifter and the transmission (ie, if you need to move 12" outboard but only 3" back, you could put a 3" kink in the rod so now your back to only having one direct link between the two). I'm probably doing a horrible job trying to explain this, but here's a picture I found that sort of explains what I'm getting at: Obviously the link needs to be pretty stout in this setup, and this would work best if you only need to move 2-3" or so in one of your dimensions. Any more than that and you'll start running into the same weird deflection issues as you would just putting a big offset in the shifter stick.
hey bct - car manufactures have put bends in suspension parts for years and still do. everything in a straight line is great but a lot of the time it just can't happen
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