iamgod

no gated shifter for you...the pivot location and angle of the shift rod are too tight togather to create the spacing for gates.

marksportcts

I would get some of that hard/thick paper gasket material and cut out a gated shifter pattern, put it in the car and see how it takes the shifting and movement of the lever for an amount of time. If there's a lot of contact/abrasion, maybe you need a different lever. If it's good, draw one up for a machine shop and have them mill it out for you.

gstein

It would be neat to see a wood shift gait on a car, too bad it wouldn't survive unless reinforced. If I make a prototype that works well on one of my cars, and a couple people want one, I could print some extras out on my CNC next time I go down to GA. I think I'll be drinking beers in the passenger seat tonight making measurements to see if this truly is realistic, this discussion's got me all wound up! It would even be possible to mill a thin gage aluminum gate and sandwich some polished .25in quilted maple or something on top, there are no limits to the possibilities.
Good point with the aesthetics possibly creating too much of a contrast. A large chrome piece might look odd, but there are thousands of paints, metals, and other materials to experiment with, even leather.

Well, as far as the Ferrari bickering goes....
Luis, I was talking about the V12. I am always around the 250's, so I almost forgot any other GTO existed. What I should have said was: "The GTO is a thoroughbred racing 250."

Mike, in regard to the sophisticated electronics I spoke of, these are present on nearly all trans-axle Ferraris, and the new V12's. That comment was based on your original statement that the trans-axle design was poor, which I disagree with. To make things more clear, vintage Ferraris do not have trans-axles so I assumed you were talking about the more current models, you kind of switched your standing between your two posts, trans-axle or vintage? No hard feelings.

Best Regards,
Benjamin Goldstein

tifosiman

No offense, but wood in a 944 interior would be yuck squared. IMHO of course.

V2Rocket

testarossa and 348 had transaxles and gated shifters...

gstein

And, the 944 has a transaxle and soon......gated shifter. I went and made the measurements with the calipers, and used them to make three quick renderings, non will be the finished product, but they will make decent prototypes. One of the models takes into account modification to the shift lever. This is a CAD file I will print in plastic with the CNC machine next time I'm in GA. And finally, I'm off to the bars.



Best Regards,
Benjamin Goldstein

Luis de Prat

A gated shifter is a step back to the time when you didn't want to make a wrong shift and break a gear since the boxes didn't have synchros. Our cars shift so smoothly as it is. Why change a good thing?

Ah, the 250 GTO...



You must admit there's something special about the 288, though.

nh7cy

I think the initial goal here was geared towards aesthetics and not functionality.

I'd say just make it and see how you like it. You might not, but the good thing is you can always go back. One thing is for certain, it'll definitely strike up a good conversation whenever someone takes a look at the inside of your car.

Btw Ben, I'd go with the middle design on your rendering. Since this would be aesthetic and not functional, the middle design would take care of the job while still giving the shifter a decent amount of play to the left and right (this would compensate for the amount of slop some of our shifters have). Right one seems closest to the Ferrari gates and would require some extensive modifications to the shifter itself, and the left one seems like it would also be too tight.

Jaay87S

Aesthetics and originality are the only real goals I personally was considering. Like gstein said, it would be a great conversation starter too! I had not thought about a leather cover for gate. Match it up with black shift rod and a conservative shifter **** and you would surely have an original modification--and it might even match and look good.

Here's a gated mod for an older MR2 that I stumbled upon...

http://www.ndh.net/home/bertakis/shifter.htm

Doesn't look too bad, not sure why they wouldn't just make the gate piece black? Gstein, since it seems like you're on board here, what color is your interior? Mine's all black.

Funny thing is that my car is completely bone stock, and that's mainly how I intend to keep it. I posted the idea mainly out of curiosity, but it is becoming a little more attractive and realistic. Plus, I need a new shift boot anyways--good excuse, right?

gstein

Thanks for bringing up syncros Luis. Finally, a decent point on the purpose of gates. (I didn't so much like the trans-axle argument, as you can see)

Also, with your interest in vintage Luis... will you be at Monterey this year? Hope to talk in person... I will be running some cars you may find interesting. Unfortunately I will not be running any Porshes, and the GTO in my company has been sold to an unnamed buyer. With that said, we will have more than a few 250's with good racing heritage running, along with my personal favorite, a 57' Devin.

I do have one qualm with your comment on the 288. While I would say it is "special", it would not only be due to its performance attributes, it is also that it takes either a translator, or a book on Italian to start (by myself it took more than an hour).

Back to the issue at hand; Syncro's or no, gated shifters are a trend, spawned from a design which acquired a respect. In my eye, this is interesting. And, with my stubborn attitude, I want to see this completely unassociated icon come alive in a simple car like a 44. I guess it's was just a personal challenge spawned from doubts of random people. Thanks Jaay for bringing this idea back into thought. Is there a complementary gated shifter in order here?

Best Regards,
Benjamin Goldstein

gstein

Jaay, just saw that last post. I've got a couple 44's with black interiors.

gstein

Iamgood, you ever at BIR? I have tons of free time at the track this summer. If you or any friends are interested in running the new road course for a full day (including professional instruction), I can make you a pretty good deal. Let me know.... I'd like to see some more Porsches on the track.

Best Regards,
Benjamin Goldstein

iamgod

if i can get her running! lol i have a friend at my work with an e46 m3 that runs BIR