And the best upgraaade to my shifter so far is......

a 1/2" steel galvanized pipe nipple from the plumbing Dept. in place of the nylon bushing thingy.
Went to Lowes picked up the shortest pipe nipple they had. Then went over the electrical section and got the threaded collar nuts that you use for steel outlet box penetrations.

Got home drilled and tapped a hole for a grease fitting. and put it all back together. Oh man this is tight and precise.

Just make sure that the nipple does not stick too far into the inside if the housing. It can prevent you from shifting into 1st 3rd and 5th.

Camera sucks so no pics.

Well, without pics, I'm having a hard time visualizing what you did to improve your shifting sooo...

Dude step by step.
pull cover off rear shift mechanism housing. Side shift only BTW.

Pull rear shift rod. If you can't figure this out stop now and forget you ever saw this.

Take the plastic bushing and throw it as far as possible.

Replace with pipe nipple one threaded locking collar on each side.
Put it back together and shift in peace.

I had to read this four times, but I think I understand. You replaced the nylon bushing at the rear shift housing, not the front coupler. Hmmm. That pipe nipple is harder than the shift rod tube. Better keep it well greased, or you might find a shift rod cut very cleanly in half.

damn I type slow!

This was the part that I didn't get. Which bushing. There are several of them. I replaced all of mine about 6 months ago. Helped some but I still grind going into second all the time.

QUOTE (Ctrout @ Apr 4 2005, 10:12 PM)

This was the part that I didn't get. Which bushing. There are several of them. I replaced all of mine about 6 months ago. Helped some but I still grind going into second all the time.

I think he's talking about the one that attaches to the shift fork itself... if so, I agree with Curt, I think it could break the piece on the tranny...

I know there is a picture of this somewhere here. But this is the bushing that the rear end of the shift rod rides in, where the black plastic cover goes around. Not where the end of the rod attaches to the shift fork.
Tried to find a copper pipe nipple but Lowes is limited some times. But I got an extra rear section of shift rod so If I end up "cutting through" the aluminum rod I will know not to do that again. Thats why I put a grease fitting in it so I can prolong the wear.

I understand which bushing your talking about. You can get that same pipe nipple in pvc.

Probably, I looked through the entire stock of PVC. Nothing fit unless I was going to ream it out to fit the bar. Might not be a bad alternative if I were to spend 20 bucks on a drill and or ream. I could also make a couple of them all at once because it will wear pretty fast.
Damn it now you got me thinking bettter idea that wearing the shit out of my shift rod.

even better you can get a bushing that has a head on one side and the threads on the other for about 50 cents and its made of zinc. it wont last 50 k miles but its very cheap.

Where can I get a zinc bushing? sounds cool.

Or you could get the bronze bushing from GPA, doing it the right way ....................... The Cap'n

A quick amendment for the Cap'n. He meant GPR not GPA. Sorry for any confusion.