I know a few of you have done his. Looking for a little help on the cable shifter for the Subaru 5spd tranny. Where can I get custom cables made? Or is there a certain set of cables that will work from another vehicle ? Any help is greatly appreciated.

Midwest Controls makes nice push-pull (Morse) cables at a pretty good price. I've used them a few times for bike-engine car stuff.

http://www.cableshift.com/Subaru/subaru%20page.html


Also Ian makes them but not sure if he is still doing Subaru conversion parts: http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?showtopic=191930

Here's a thread where they discuss cable manufactures.

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?sho...=Control+Cables

Yeah Control Cables! I ordered from them on Monday. Had them by Friday & were very reasonable. I ordered from a place in the Midwest previously. They were twice the price & they were a month out

they run about $100 each depending on materials used.

Just a heads-up, I think the photos in all those links show two cables activating the shift rod directly, with no bell-crank in line. By that I mean that the in-out cables all attach directly, pushing the rod in and out, then the rotational cable makes a loop and comes in to the shift rod at a 90 degree angle to rotate the rod, so both cables make a direct connection to the rod without any kind of intermediate mechanism. I have two 914-WRX's with Subaru transmissions here, one with a direct cable connection like those shown in the links, and the other with a bell crank. Makes it possible to compare.

The advantage of the bell crank is that both cables come to the rear of the transmission together, compactly and in parallel. That's nice, but the down side is that the bell crank mechanism makes it far less precise, more vague. It's better than the stock 914 shifter, for sure, but once you've tried the direct connection and can compare you realize it's not nearly as nice as it could be. The direct cable connections, like any of the photos shown in those links, is really nice, notchy and precise.

California Push Pull in Chico, CA (530) 893-4060Click to view attachment

+1 for Control Cables, Inc in Santa Fe Springs, CA.

When designed properly, a bell-crank won't affect "feel." On my LS1/Audi 6 speed, my bell-crank setup has zero lash. The Boxster 5 speed uses a bell-crank setup successfully.

Andys

Yeah, I don't want to be misunderstood. I'm not saying that bell cranks are bad, because I've had and used good ones myself, but there's plenty of room in the back, so if you can loop one cable around to come in at 90 degrees, connecting both cables directly to the shift rod, you've eliminated an intermediary mechanism and another possibility for slop. If I had just the bell-crank shifter here I might not even notice, but I have one configured each way so it's easy compare. Everything else is identical. It's not a lot, and I repeat that the bell-crank linkage isn't bad, it's good, but there is a difference between the two.

Just a heads-up, something I've noticed.

thanks for the FOOD FOR THOUGHT

I knew I copied a good design when I copied yours Paul. I have no shame. I can speak to the crisp feel of that design. However, it's appeal to me was simplicity. And +1 for Control Cables 562-949-0455. They are super helpful and friendly.

I really appreciate your input on this. I was planning on doing a bell crank set up on this project. But I might reconsider. If you could pm some photos of your set up that would be great.

Thanks everyone for taking the time to help a fellow enthusiast. Looks like I'll be checking on control cables.