Ebay short shifter review (pilotspor, c's clone).

[Chingon]

So after my brother got his b&m clone shifter, I decided to give the c's clone a try. I decided on this, because my brother's just like the b&m's has a rattle sound under throttle. Seeing how the c's makes everyone happy, I went the ebay route. A few things to note... as far as function and hardware, the pilotsport/c's and arospeed look identical.

1. Ebay shifter (plate top view):



2. Ebay shifter (plate bottom view):



3. Ebay shifter version 2.

4. C's shifter (z31, 300zx):

5. Arospeed Shifter



Installation instructions for pretty much every one:http://www.240sx.org/links/ins...t.jpgh ... ns...2.jpg

OK. Differences: (edit)The c's, pilot sport, have a different ring spacer. In leyman's, the brownish ring and white ring of the ebay's clone is a little different in the others. Also, the 1st three have provisions and come w/a dust boot. The clone does not have such provision or come w/such part. Gasket is also part of the 1st three, but not ebay ones. This in itself may be a necessity w/the design of the square part in itself, and not a "defect" of the ebay clones.

The 2nd difference is in the timble cap itself. That's the thing at the end of the shifter. The OEM one was around 16mm, while the ebay clone was 14mm. This was in itself unacceptable clearance in my opinion, but I expected this ahead of time. The material used is also of a harder/brittle nature, and may be a weak point over time (b&m clones are this way too). Be ready to remove your OEM's timble cap and replace it into the new shifter (i belive nissan has these as well). The best technique for removal/installation was w/a pair of pliers installing and removing in a diagonal position. I would expect the c's, perhaps the pilotsport and arospeed to be the correct diameter, but they may have the same issues. I did not try the smaller diameter timble cap, so I do not know how it feels. Some report looseness, and I believe this may be an issue. Make sure you measure diameters before installing.

The 3rd difference was in the threaded part where the knob installs itself. The ebay clones had a few too many mm of thread to them, and the knob started hitting the rubber part of the shifter after full screwing. This was no real problem due to the fact that the shifter knob sits flush like factory, but the rubber prevents optimal screwing (super hard). The shifter knob is secured fine, but I'm anal like that. I may cut a few of the threads off.

Another difference is that the ebay clones are a 2 piece design (the bottom part of the shifter screws onto the fat part of the shifter. I do not know if the others are this way. Personally this made installation easier, and did not present a problem.

I also want to point out, that in the ebay shifter ver. 2, the white ring spacer does not seem to be coned like in mine (brownish spacer), and may be bad design (the metal ball may not sit or slide as smooth. This is only especulation, so don't take it as law, but for safe-keep, i'd go w/the coned spacer (shifters are cheaper too).

Installation was pretty easy following the posted directions, and at 32 $ shipped it was well worth the trouble. Only time will tell if it holds up (i really don't see how ppl claim to break these things....it's just too sturdy).. but who knows. The shifter is firm and gates well, throws are a good 40% shorter, albeit not as short as the b&m clone ones (only the bottom are longer, the top seem identical to the b&m's). Don't get me wrong, they are really short, and great for the street/races. NO noise is a big plus, and I believe the way this installs makes for less hassle (rect. plate stays put). Hope this helps some...

*ps: installation tip. The square metal thing is hard to install in parallel w/the transmission (factory bolts get in the way), it's much easier to do it in a diagonal w one of the apexes pointing forward. There's no problem installing this way as its only a securing measure.

Modified by Chingon at 12:30 AM 1/28/2006
Modified by Chingon at 12:33 AM 1/28/2006

[redears240]

thats a good price man.. wat do i put in search in ebay to find that short shifter... i need one, and tell me how it goes.. if it has any problems or not.

[koukimon]

ey chingon great review. i think im going to have to pick one up. if you had to choose would you go with the fake C's type or the fake B&M

[Chingon]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors...QrdZ1

I like mine better than my brother's. I have to check something however. I think I stripped the shift knob (which would not be the shifters fault but my own). But I have to check it's not the shifter assemby itself. I'm positive it's the knob. I'll tell you guys tomorrow.

The b&m is very mechanical...it's shorter throws and takes a little more grunt. I find it a little harder to shift gear w/it as well, because it's really solid and a bit more difficult to find the gear than the c's. This is because i'm not really used to it (i don't drive my bro's ride that often). However, for ease of installation (the front 2 screws in the front are a ***** in the b&M) and no noise, this one is the winner.

btw: we found out that the noise in the b&m resonates in the knob itself, we took it off, and the noise was reduced a good 70%. This after dampening a few "key" places.

Tools neededsnap ring pliers (removing snap ring)1 phillips (removing mid console simplifies everything), one flat head (removing c ring)a bit of greaseand one of the pliers pictured in the middle to switch timble caps. If not, i'm sure the one to the lower right will work as well.

[koukimon]

thank you for this valued info. i think im gonna get the fake C's type with the nismo logo on it so i can be SUPPA DRIFT JDM TYTE BIAAACHjust kidding but i do like the fake nismothanks again chingon

[gizzerd]

I bought one just like that a while back on ebay, but I didn't have such good luck with it. It felt great when I first put it in, but then it loosened up and the C-clamps slipped off, so I finally just left it off and went back to stock. Stock feels pretty ****ty after using that one for a week, but oh well. I would buy the B&M knockoff if I were to do it again. Just my .2 cents.

[koukimon]

it seems that most peoples problems with the fake C's type is those funky looking c clamps that come loose can this be relived with the use of loc tite or a lockwasher or some good ol' fashion elbow grease? or is it more serious than this. 175$ is a lot for the B&M trying to save every pennie

[gizzerd]

Well, I actually tried to make it work by buying longer bolts for it so I would have to thread, and I put a big hose clamp around the whole c-clamp thingy, and that worked for about a week. I tried putting it all back together, but it still just kept slipping off, so I said screw it. If anybody else wants to try it, I'll ship it to them for like $10. It might work with some locktite, or a little more patience, I had neither of those yesterday when I was working on it!

[Chingon]

I don't know how it slipped. There's a machined lip on the transmission where the c-clamps grab, and lock washers are included. One thing though, you really have to push hard on the square platform to go all the way in. I could see how some would push it half-way though. If this is not the case, i guess we'll have to see...