G50 likage

[Howard Jones]

YouTube - Mid engine shifter linkage

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzU8JT_3a3o&NR=1

Check these out. What do you guys think?

 

[Bill Bayard]

Howard,

Both look like they would do the job quite well.

The purple one is similar to Rick Merz's GTD/G50 linkage setup.

The red one is similar to the DRB setup, but with cable to bellcrank instead of rod to bellcrank.


Both will take some serious abuse. Don't ask me how I know.


Bill

 

[Howard Jones]

Bill, would you have any pictures of the ones you mentioned.

 

[Bill Musarra]

HOward,
I have a set of shifter files that have just about any type of shifter you could ever imagine. Here are the DRB type.The shifter itself.

The interior connection to the rod.

The tail shaft arrangement.

There are variation of this used by many others. Here is one for an Ultima I believe made up by Jhon Evans here in the Atlanta area.

Here is the bell crank, except smaller and closer to the tail shaft.

Here are the dimensions for that particular bell crank setup.

I used this type on my 930, but due to space constraints I approached the bell crank from the bottom of the transmission. I used the Toyota shifter, so I had to use a Z link for the fore and aft movement.

If you are interested in any other type, rod, Brandwood, right hand , center etc. I probably have a pic of it.

Bill

 

[Phil]

Howard:
I have seen a linkage similar to the one you posted, and some like Bill posted. The one I particularly like from a standpoint of simplicity and smooth operation had a setup similar to what you posted except the selector arm was split at the center, which acheived a smooth in-out motion with no side load on the rod. The arms were fabricated from chromoly, and pivots were rod ends except for the coupler at the rod . Sorry I don't have photos, but you probably get the idea. I remember the shifter unit being from a Toyota, and engine torque not being a factor as all the mounting points were on the gearbox and everything moved as a unit (Very little movement to begin with).
The only drawback I could see was the travel at the shifter..I thought it a bit excessive, but on the flip side very easy and controllable with good feel.
Just my 2c
Cheers
Phil

 

[Bill Musarra]

Phil,
The travel of the shifter is easily controlled to the degree you want it to travel. Its just geometry. If you lengthen the length of the arms, you shorten the throw of the gear shift. If you shorten some of the points of the rod ends, the throw of the shifter shortens as well. The lengths and angle of the bell crank shown in my pic were worked out by others and seem to give good results. The movement of the selector shaft is really a very small angle. I did many drawings to show how far they went with multiple lengths of the numbers in the pic. So the throws are the determining factor for what you want. Set that up and then make the lengths of the connectors that will give you that result. Just have to remember that if you shorten the throws, the force needed to make it happen, goes up.

Bill

 

[AdrianBurton]

I would like to see more of those shifter pics

Adrian

 

[Julian]

Re: G50 linkage

Should probably make mention to the CMS (Califormia Motorsports) billet side shifter too. For those not aware these guys also do some good work in beefing up G50's (billet side plates, oil spray bars etc.) for high HP applications.

California Motorsports G50 5 speed section

 

[Phil]

Bill:
I understand all the geometry, I was commenting that the setup I saw had a lot of travel at the shifter...the whole thing worked, though I would have shortened some of the moments on the linkage myself. Sorry if I wasn't totally clear on that.
I am using a rod linkage on my ZF, and I made a compromise between travel and shifter effort with a slight emphasis on more travel and its pretty smooth.
I guess its a preference thing, but if I had to make the choice between a cable shift or one of those really short travel rod setups I would go with the cable setup.
Yours looks pretty well made and I bet it shifts fairly easily.
Cheers
Phil

 

[Chip Smith]

Looks like there are many ways we all get the job done. Heres mine and yes it is a solid engine/trans mount so no movement will cause me to miss a shift. A friend of mine just got his g50/52 back from California Motorsports with the side shift, very nice.