certz

Wait list! Ah man, I was going to order this soon to prepare for spring/summer. Did they mention how long the wait was?

BradB

Just a week or two. Order now! Maybe YOUR Golden Rod will be made from MY core! I'm all sentimental now.

LexVan

Hey John. LOL! I just talked with Darin last night. He recommends when your order is place, to put the date you need the parts by in the notes/comments section on their web site order form. He said business is very brisk. So, you can order now, and say you want it on a specific date, and they will do their best to meet it. They don't bill until it ships.

I wish we had a comprehensive list of all the "other parts while your in there" that could be / should be / might need to be replaced during this mod-upgrade.

FD Motorsports

We owned about 20 factory shift rod cores mid last year and added 30 more Golden Rods by building our own handbuilt cores from scratch in Nov-Dec., making for a total of around 50 cores that we currently have available.
Saying the SSK/Golden Rod combo is popular is an understatement. We got so many orders in December that it decimated our inventory. We joke that it was our "Tickle me Elmo" for 2012.
Singer uses them in their Singer 911s, other shops have begun selling them, overseas orders and core exchanges do take time to complete, which sometimes leaves us with a short waitlist.
As soon as cores come in, we build Golden Rods....there is no delay.
With the number of cores we have out there in the world, it generally isn't too long of a wait.

Anyone out there with shift rod cores you haven't returned yet, please do so ASAP as others are counting on you!

Darin "FisterD"

BradB

Yea, you bums! Share the love!

BradB

My 4S SSK and Gondenrod are on the way!

I haven't opened anything up on the car yet but I have studied the DIY and diagrams. Questions in advance:

1. Do you perform the SSK and Goldenrod procedures simultaneously or does it make sense to do one first then the other? Maybe this becomes obvious but I can't picture it yet.

2. Is the final adjustment for the position of the shifter (forwards and backwards) always necessary? Is there a proper datum setting I should be looking for? Should the car be in a particular gear?

Maybe these answers become obvious later but I am just trying to visualize the DIY to get it all right.

Thanks in advance for your input.

1stgear

About how much does this mod run - if you don't do the install yourself?

Randall921

I installed mine on my C4s last weekend (core will go back to FDM this week, sorry).

1. I followed the removal section of the SSK instruction and while it was apart, I installed the Golden Rod, then installed the SSK. Golden Rod installation is quick and straightforward. The SSK installation is a little more time consuming but still not difficult.

2. Adjustment is necessary to some degree as the forward shift rod has to be threaded onto the shifter. I was by myself and used a small section of 4x2 I had lying around to hold the forward shift **** up to the ball. I started in Neutral, then shifted into 5th and then 2nd and rechecked each time.

ABCar

Darin...nice job on getting into the Singer cars...you know you are someone when the boutique companies use your most excellent parts!

Love mine...
Keep up the great work.

LexVan

You can see FDM's prices for the parts required (GR and SSK) right on their web site. IIRC, total, is about <$500.

As for labor, Darin suggests a qualified shop should be able to do this project in about 1.5-2.0 hours. So figure a shop rate of about $125/hour.

BradB

I received my SSK and Goldenrod and installed them today. Pretty easy once you get familiarized with the parts and see how it all works together. It took me several hours but I am slow, ultra methodical and overly cautious. Spent some time cleaning and greasing parts as well. An extra pair of hands would have speeded up things a bit. Crawled in and out from underneath the car about 50 times!

The trickiest (scariest) part for me was pushing the new SSK assembly through the recess under the car. It was a tight fit and I had to really force it through hoping I wasn't hurting anything. The adjustment of the forward rod was kind of a guess. I ended up with the rod adjusted fairly short. Also of note, my stock OEM shift **** had a clip on it which, once removed, made it easier to pull off the ****/boot.

Now once this snow goes away I can get out and try it. Until then I'll just continue to sit in the car, shifting and making vroom vroom sounds!

Testdr

Freshly installed SSK + GR today in the sunny island of Singapore.
Awesome product, love the feel everytime i shift. Feel/hear the vibration coming through to the shifter thats a love/hate thing.

BradB

Finally got to test drive my SSK and Goldenrod install. WOW! Wish I had done this years ago. Very positive feel, but not notchy at all. The shorter throw feels just right. No vibrations of any kind for me. Very happy customer. Will send back my core shift rod to FD Motorsports on Monday.

FD Motorsports

Thanks for the great feedback guys. We are in the process of producing 20 more Golden Rods from the ground up (not from core exchanges) so we should have a "NO Waiting list" very soon!

NC TRACKRAT

Add me to the growing list of satisfied SSK/GOLDENROD owners! Actually, an enjoyable, trouble-free installation. More positive shifts with no slop and now, no chance of being stranded due to failure of the nylon "pop-bead" inserts in the factory rod.