R30a Short Shifter Install

[300zxturboftw]

So I thought this was going to be a 5 minutes project, but apparently I may have the wrong parts.

I bought this short shifter kit as linked below.

I removed everything in the cup, installed the spacer, then the spring washer then the stock shift rod retainer. Ran into an issue where shift rod retainer doesn't seat fully into shift cup and the other nylon cup does not fit in the inner shift rod retainer. Did I buy the wrong kit or am I doing this completely wrong? Plan on swapping oem shift collar to new one, but couldn't put the damn thing together so I didn't even give that a try.

[kaur]

I haven't tried installing it yet, but I got a similar kit. Z_Karma made a guide, if you haven't seen it already
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxJ...ZFE/view?pli=1

Relevant thread:
https://z31performance.com/forum/z31...r-in-a-fs5r30a

[Z_Karma]

The only issue i have is that the boot is such a tight fit over the short throw plate, it eventually rips. The oem one in the writeup ripped after a year or so (just sitting in the driveway) so another boot might need to be sourced from another vehicle.

[300zxturboftw]

Okay, I'm not crazy then. Thanks. I need to source an inner seal that fits the stock cup though. What kit did you use zkarma? Might be able to get the spacers shipped separately to me for cheap.

[Z_Karma]

I bought the cheapest ones i could find on Ebay . similar to this Probably all made at the same factory.
It's been more than 5 years since i bought them and I don't have the exact seller info anymore.

[kaur]

This kind of stuff you can usually get even cheaper on Aliexpress. It's all the same stuff that you see on eBay but less people in between taking their cut.

[Z_Karma]

Also i recently discovered, like last night when working on yet another "final assembly" that the upper cupped bushing, actually has two cupped sides, something like 80/20 split.

Not sure if this is just my kit or all the cheap ones are similar. Installed as shown in the writeup, with the deeper 80% cup facing down, it allows the ball to have some sloppy vertical play.

If i flip it around (shallow side down), it is much tighter but extremely difficult to get into 5th and reverse, so i think the solution i'm going to go with is to shave/sand ~.5mm off the deeper side so that the top plate doesn't press it down as far. When i leave the top plate loose, it shifts fine.

[510_Z31]

When I bought that kit I had trouble getting the trans into 5th and reverse. I believe the pivot point on those arm are too long for the 30a.

[Z_Karma]

When I bought that kit I had trouble getting the trans into 5th and reverse. I believe the pivot point on those arm are too long for the 30a.

I took what you said and applied it.

I punched a shim washer from 18ga (~1mm) aluminum with a 49.5mm (1.96") OD and 38.1mm (1.5") ID. (I have a Rotex 18-A turret punch at work)
I installed it beneath the stock wave spring washer to raise the ebay short throw shifter pivot point by 1mm.

I can now easily shift into 5th and reverse.

I discovered that by forcing the transmission into 5th and reverse (with the clamp assembly fully tightened and the cup bushing in the correct orientation)
it was actually shredding bottom of the nylon bushing.

With the shim washer installed and the clamp assembly tightened, it no longer hangs up on 5th and reverse.

I'm not sure how much this pivot offset diminishes the benefit of a short throw shifter. Probably not much.

If i can locate the original document, i'll update my writeup.

[300zxturboftw]

I'm having the same issues of 5th and reverse (even 4th isn't great) with the top plate fully tightened down. Is it supposed to be somewhat loose so there is slack? Won't the motor vibrations eventually pull the bolts loose? Going to give it a shot and do the washer insert as z karma states, but I still feel like I have 0 slack like the stock shifter.

[kaur]

Won't the motor vibrations eventually pull the bolts loose?

Thread locking glue could help if it would work otherwise.

[z31_boy]

I am looking into getting a cheap short shifter for my FS5W71C could the problem getting into 5th and reverse be that its not meant for the R30A? Or would i have the same problem with the FS5W71C trans ?

[bonfire79]

So I thought this was going to be a 5 minutes project, but apparently I may have the wrong parts.

I bought this short shifter kit as linked below.

I removed everything in the cup, installed the spacer, then the spring washer then the stock shift rod retainer. Ran into an issue where shift rod retainer doesn't seat fully into shift cup and the other nylon cup does not fit in the inner shift rod retainer. Did I buy the wrong kit or am I doing this completely wrong? Plan on swapping oem shift collar to new one, but couldn't put the damn thing together so I didn't even give that a try.

hey dude, just curious. did you ever get your shifter to fit in? it looks like the same shift kit I got off of ebay for my 87 300zx. and if I remember right, I ran into the exact same problem with those nylon rings. I swore up and down over and over again that they did not fit and would not work on the transmission. but I watched a few you tube videos and with some brute force and lubrication, finally got them to fit and the shifter kit worked just fine. it was also stated to fit a 240sx. based on your pictures, looks exactly the same as mine. I never had any issues with shifting gears as some others have mentioned. I dunno, maybe the kits aren't all universal. I don't regret installing mine though. feels great.

Cheers,

Bonny

[z31_boy]

hey dude, just curious. did you ever get your shifter to fit in? it looks like the same shift kit I got off of ebay for my 87 300zx. and if I remember right, I ran into the exact same problem with those nylon rings. I swore up and down over and over again that they did not fit and would not work on the transmission. but I watched a few you tube videos and with some brute force and lubrication, finally got them to fit and the shifter kit worked just fine. it was also stated to fit a 240sx. based on your pictures, looks exactly the same as mine. I never had any issues with shifting gears as some others have mentioned. I dunno, maybe the kits aren't all universal. I don't regret installing mine though. feels great.

Cheers,

Bonny

How was the throws and shifter feel after the install?

[NissanEgg]

Trying to fit a 71C shifter into 30A transmission will cause this problem everytime.

If I am not mistaken the proper shifter to use for the Z31 30A is the C's or Nismo shifter for a R32 GTS-4 with RB25 or GT-R. The R32 with 30A has the same sloping shifter plate and shifter.