Stock shifter into short throw?

[4drboost]

Ok, my friend just bought a 2003 Protege ES. We were playing with it tonight and we were going to try to fit my Mazdaspeed shift knob on. Well, it wouldnt fit. So we took his center piece apart, and noticed his shift lever looks the same as my MSP, but he has this silver metal piece attatched to the top. If you know what im talking about, can this come off? I know its a confuseing question, but it seems like it wants to twist off. If this makes sense, let me know

Ian

[uclap5]

heat it up with a blowtorch (off the car preferably) and twist it off. its some rubber compound gluing it on.

[RobMP5]

it would work to make it look shorter but the throws will be exactly the same length as with the extension on.

[sam1]

not to mention harder to shift because of the reduced leverage. oh and the MSP knob does NOT fit the sedan shifter, it has a different thread pitch iirc.

[4drboost]

OK, sweet, thats what I thought. Thanks guys

[zak]

does any body know if there is a short shifter for a 2002 es protege?

[Pheonix]

http://www.corksport.com/main.php3?primNavIndex=0&mainURL=%2Fstore%2Findex.php3%3Fcat%3D220747
B&M under the 99-03 category, whatever car i get next, shorter shifter will be my first mod

[zak]

thanks alot, know if it's any good, i've got a friend with a spec v who hates his b&m.

[uclap5]

b&m is supposed to be a pain to install, but the piece is well machined.

another option is a kartboy.

ive had mine about 2 years and its always been good to me.

[Hawkeye]

The B&M feels much nicer and is just as easy to install as the Kartboy. Start to finish it shouldn't take you longer than an hour or hour and a half.

[zak]

Well thanks alot for the info, how much different does the short shifter feel compared to factory?

[uclap5]

The B&M feels much nicer and is just as easy to install as the Kartboy. Start to finish it shouldn't take you longer than an hour or hour and a half.

i beg to differ. there are dozens of threads about the difficulty of the b&m install because of the perhaps to close tolerances (and thus some people having to put all of their weight into shoving it down into the hole far enough to get the snap ring back on). In addition i have witnessed the difficulty first hand watching some of the guys in socal try to install theirs.

[Leppy]

rubber mallet and a rag :) mine went in with a lil trouble, but very well worth it.

[sam1]

Well thanks alot for the info, how much different does the short shifter feel compared to factory?
no comparison. 8000000x better, although a little stiff for the first week or so.

[TrueProtege]

I took the rubber mounted extention off of my shifter on my P5. I was bored, broke, and got the bug to do something to my car. Looks SO much better. and feels a bit different. (I know it's not a shorter throw) After the top piece comes just remove all of the rubber and use a tap and die set to put new threads on it.

[Glowmunkey]

I have a stock MSP shifter if anyone with a different Protege wants a very inexpensive short shifter...