How to: Install a 240sx short throw shifter in a FS5R30A

One additional piece of info for anyone as monumentally stupid as me…

The B&M shifter won't work for this application. It comes with its own shifter plate and the bolt holes won't line up to the Z31-flavoured 30A. For that matter, it looks like any kit that comes with its own shifter plate won't work, so the ISIS V2 and Megan Racing V2 are out as well.

Sorta still on topic: does anyone have a recommendation for the best short throw shifter you can get that actually DOES fit the Z31? I've read that the OBX has a cheap feel to it. Has anyone had experience with the Megan Racing V1 or the Nismo Solid Shifter? I don't mind spending the money; I want the best one that'll actually work.

Are you sure you didn't get a B&M shifter for the 90A T-5 trans?

Only real legit currently available short shifter for the Z31-spec 30A are the ones made for the R33-spec 30A trannies in the 2WD R33 Skylines made by C's and Nismo.

There are indeed 240sx 71C B&M shifters that have a blue plate integrated. There used to be a huge batch of them that had a high-pitch whine at 3000+ rpm because they were put together poorly. It's a common aftermarket part. I've installed two of them. I've put window-weld into the first one (early design) to quiet the fkr up. The second one didn't have that problem. I'm pretty familiar with those.

They will not work on z31 transmissions. I'm unsure if you could take out the shift lever and do away with the rest of the assembly and whether or not you can borrow parts to put into the Z31 trans as the cheaper models have.


honestly dood… there isn't much to them. I used a Mizuno Auto one that cost about 20 bucks + 20 bucks shipping, and it fit together great. The only thing I recommend is tack welding the nuts on the bottom of the C-plates that go around the shifter. Reason being that they are inner and outer threaded (not sure what the tech term is for this kind of nut). The nut threads into the C-plate. Then the bolt threads into the nut once you locate them properly. I find that removing and re-installing it 2 or 3 times will end up backing or stripping the nut out of the c-plate. So I welded them to the plates and no more issues.

Other than that… they're all pretty solid and work well if you put a genuine nissan bushing on the end. It's just a steel stick, really.

The one I just installed into Kingmans car had the nuts welded on.....maybe a revision?

no idea. they're probably made by different companies, so they probably differ from factory to factory & brand to brand.

mine is a black chrome coloured one. I don't see it on eBay anymore, so it might have been revised since then. no big deal- I have a welder so I just zapped it.

Pretty sure. The one I bought is a BM-45088 for 89-98 240SX's. The four corner bolt holes on the shifter plate look like they might line up with the stock locations, but the two in the middle definitely do not. I have no idea though if the arm would be the right length/orientation even if it could be bolted up.

Cool, thanks for the feedback. I'll probably just stick with the factory shifter for now; the main reason I was upgrading to a short throw was that I had to take the shifter arm out to replace the bushing anyway, so I figured I might as well upgrade. Now I've already done the work so it's not a huge priority anymore.

Link in original post has been fixed. I had to compress the snot out of the original and remove some fluff.
It should be viewable in your browser and downloadable.

I compared my stock shifter lever to the S13 quick shifter. I measured the length from the fulcrum ball to the tip of the lever (the part you see in the photo). The S13 quick shifter is roughly 22 mm or 0.85" longer. The spacer in the kit is only 14 mm tall. This means the shifter bushing at the tip would be 8 mm deeper inside the gear selector. I would definitely double check this and get an additional spacer of at least 5-6 mm if that's the case.

Interesting to read Alex Millward in his newbie days (post #3). I want to clarify on post #18 that the B&M shifter for the 240SX does work in a 71C non-turbo transmission. The Z31 71C has a different stock shift lever than a 240SX, so when you install the B&M the shifter is more "upright" compared to the stock one. You might notice your arm is stretched out more to shift. Not a big deal, but the B&M fits and works fine as long as you swap the shifter bushing over. Back in the day I had this shifter for my 240SX, but it was the version 1 that came with an aluminum shift knob and had the rattle. The newer version does not come with a shift knob and does not rattle.