Early ZF shifter issues...

[David L.]

Hey everyone, I have a fiberfab valkyrie with an early zf ( shifter on passenger side of transaxle ). Currently the set up uses rebar bent around the oilpan with a few u-joints for good measure. I'm trying to find a better solution with cable unit. anyone have a source for something better? Thanks,

Dave

 

[Mike Christian]

You might check these guys out:

Cable-Shift - About Us

If they can't make it, they should know who can.

 

[David L.]

Thanks Mike, I'll give them a hollar... I did see them last night while out in google-land... This rebar thing has got to go!... lol

Dave

 

[Julian]

One of GT40's supporting vendors CNC Performance Parts has everything you need to convert a ZF from rod to cable shift.

CNC Performance Parts

 

[David L.]

Unfortunately, the cable-shift company has gone out of business. All of their phones are disconnected... (

I'll try CnC...

Dave

 

[Jack Houpe]

CNC has some good looking parts. I would like to have a report from anyone who is using there stuff.

 

[David Briggs]

I have driven a couple of cars with CNC shifters, they worked pretty well.
Dave

 

[Rich E.]

I used to have a CNC hydraulic throttle and had problems with "throttle creep" ie, the longer I drove the car the more I couldn't control the throttle. I had to slow down with the brake and at lights I would have to hold the car with the brake and pull the throttle back with my toe. I called CNC with the problem and they weren't suprised. The design was for an open application and not designed to work in a hot enclosed engine bay. Turns out the hydraulic fluid expands with heat and applys the throttle all by itself..........Hence I went back to a cable.

My opinion stay away from'em
Rich.

 

[Rich E.]

Please disregard my last post. Obviously you guys were talking about cable shifters and rambled on about throttle stuff........Note to self don't post at 2:38 am.......

Rich.

 

[MikeR]

Is anyone is still trying to solve these two problems?

1 - Shift linkage for ZF5DS25-0 or ZF5DS25-1 transaxles.

2 - Throttle creep in a CNC model 290 hydraulic throttle.

I have experimented with all the alternatives discussed in this thread except implementation of a cable shifter. My configuration has a conventional left side driver linked to a ZF5DS25-1 with its shift housing on the lower right hand side of the transaxle. This is the most convoluted linkage path possible. It took three designs and fabrications to make a conventional mechanical shift linkage that works well.

The throttle creep can be overcome as well. I'm getting no more than 200 rpm increase in 100 deg Texas heat.

If anyone is still interested, I could describe how these problems were solved. It's not easy to do but both solutions work well.

Dr. Mike

 

[DaveM]

Would appreciate photos of the shift linkage Mike. Thanks.

 

[MikeR]

Per Dave's request I'm attaching photos and design notes for my shifter and linkage.

For anyone interested you will also find a brief description of my one-off handbuild car - work in progress.

Dr. Mike

 

[Mike Drew]

If I was starting from scratch and having to come up with a shifter arrangement for a ZF, I wouldn't re-invent the wheel. I'd just get the entire shift setup from a wrecked Pantera (lots of them are available if you know where to look) and plop it right down into the car.

Here's a photo of the shift lever and housing; it's a beautiful aluminum casting.

And here's a diagram from the parts book:

(Front of car is towards the bottom of the image).

Here is what happens downstream:

The nice thing is that this whole system is a SYSTEM that was engineered to work properly. Although in the Pantera application the shifter box on the gearbox is on the left side, it would be a simple process to re-route the linkage to go towards the right side for a GT40-style application.

If anybody is interested in such a setup, let me know. I'm going to look at a wrecked Pantera this afternoon, and I know of at least a half-dozen more in Ohio, and more in Connecticut....