AAGH, shift lever- the custom ss thread! Options

[uberschall]

i'm trying to make a short shifter, per mywhite94celicagt's how-to,

http://www.6gc.net/howto/make_custom_short_shifter

and i've hit a couple of issues. i pm'ed him a few days back and he hasn't gotten back to me, so i figured i'd ask everyone else.

does anybody know what size/length the pin pressed into the side of the ball is? (the one that holds it in place on the lever)

i've drilled well past the o.d. of the main lever, and it still won't move when i smack the top of it with a punch.

help!


EDIT: i figured it out, see below. this will now be my thread for progress on the project. the goal is a functional short shifter for a paltry 15 bucks.
that's using a spare, you could do it to your own FO' FREE. i'll have a spare, who knows...maybe i'll make another and sell it!

EDIT TWO: really, i just want to spread the love. this is a pretty easy mod you can save yourself at least $40 by doing.

This post has been edited by uberschall: Oct 3, 2006 - 11:02 PM

[uberschall]

so here are some photos of the process thus far:

here's the bottom part, note the gouges from the edges of the vise. i had to smooth them out.


here's that pipe i talked about in the last post...it prevents said gouges...


using the punch to push the lower shaft down


here's the ball after pushing the shaft through a bit. sorry for the poor quality, but you can see the divot i drilled in the top of the shaft to guide the head of the punch.


here's a shot of the top part of the shaft, with the piece that i cut off. note the chamfer on the end so it fits back in the ball.


and lastly, these are a couple shots of the finished product, after i tig-welded it. if you're careful when you weld, you won't have to clean it up much for it to be smooth. i haven't smoothed this at all yet.