Over the weekend had the opertunity to intall a short shift kit that I had purchased ..OH so long ago.
It is one of the plate and replacement shaft ..jobbies (Weltmiester ?) Anyway, I had heard differing stories about the usefullness and the potential problems with using, and decided to give it a shot.
Some history, recently while driving I had the misfortune to have my stock shifter rod , BREAK LOOSE!
Apparently these are just epoxed in and 30 yrs of abuse took it toll. I could still drive the damn thing just kept spinning around.
So I was a little apprehensive about how this would work, but shouldnt have been
SWEET!! It now has very short precise throws with a quasi snick snick engagement. & thats w/o replaceing any of the bushings!
The only down was that the OD of the replacement shaft is just a smidge to small so the spring thingie for the shift knob is a little on the loose side.

But I recomend heartily

wait until you do your bushings. the diff is incredible. i had one in the 72' prior to ss swap. i intend to put one in the 73. i did the bushings/cup but will wait until i see how the car shifts before changing. if the big plastic cover where the rod inters the tranny is shot, spring for a new one, the boot that seals the rod too. or take the linkage apart twice. because you will want to protect your clean new setup.

kevin

super! how precise? sounds like a good deal!

did you replace the plastic bushings that live in the shifter or just throw the old ones back in? one thing i did not like were the hd springs in the shifter housing i installed. too stif against the 1st/r lock out plate. a real hassle to install, see tiny spring flying across garage, and 45 mins spent looking for it.

kevin

Kev, I took it apart, looked to be no "significant" wear so I lubed it back up and put it back together.
I recall that it either came with, or as a seperate kit, those HD springs your refering too? But my recolection is that you end up drilling parallel holes in the guide plate and intall suplementery springs & pins (ends up being 4) to cure nicking reverse?
My plate is drilled for them but I must have lost them over the years.
Anyway as installed I havent seen any need.
I will do the rest of the bushes soon. I noticed that the bush at the shifter housing is shot (as usual) and plan on trying the Bronzite setup.