R32 shifter play

[MB38]

Hey folks,

I've got a '90 GT-R NISMO with a bit of a wonky shifter. The car has some sort of aftermarket short shifter, but I can't identify it.

Long story short, I have a significant amount of play in neutral. The stick doesn't return to center, and the play makes it a bit tricky to find gears at times. When the transmission is hot, I find myself grinding a lot of gears.

The lower bushing in in place on the shifter and appears in good shape. It feels like I'm missing some sort of ring or bushing below the shifter circlip. The upper bushing doesn't have the stock knurled look - it's clearly a part of the aftermarket kit.

I'm being a big vague in text, but I've put together a video showing the play.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ny7aZMHurTI

Any thoughts?

[kabob]

I'd go back to the stock shifter. I effing hate aftermarket short shifters. The shift throws between gears is no longer the same for every gear and the stock bushes are too soft to handle a short shifter, anyways. Also, if they make them for the R32, see if you can find some polyurethane shifter bushings to replace any rubber ones. My old Integra Type R had a lot of slop until I replaced with polyurethane. Drastically improved shift feel and precision.

[MB38]

I'm thinking about doing exactly that. I've never been a fan of short shifters in general.

Does the R32 share a gearbox with any USDM models? I forget if the S13 or 300ZX use the same shifter...

[kabob]

The transmission internals are 300ZX but the bell housing is different. I don't know if the shifters are the same but a real deal R32 shifter should be fairly easy to locate.

[MB38]

Well my NISMO shifter arrived, but unfortunately I've figured out the issue. That blue anodized bit I was pointing to in the video? It's a spacer which raises the transfer case cover approximately 3/4" above the body of the transmission. As such, the length of the shifter "below the ball" is longer on the shifter in my car than the stock or NISMO shifter. I need to get that spacer out of there.



The problem is that I can only access four of those allen cap screws. Access to the front two is blocked by the transmission tunnel.

I'm not particularly interested in pulling my motor or transmission at this time, so here's a thought:

If I remove my driveshaft, put a jack on the transmission, and remove the transmission support, I feel like I should be able to lower the transmission an inch or so on the flex in the motor mounts to give myself enough clearance to access the hidden cap screws to remove that spacer.

I'll need to remove a few things in the engine bay [intercooler pipes come to mind] to clear up movement.

Can anyone think of any reasons why tilting the transmission back wouldn't work? I'd say I'll need one inch of additional clearance.