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Gated Shifter In the works

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Been working on this for about a year on and off, Its been a labor of love based on one of my seemingly Unobtainable dream cars the Legendary Lamborghini Murcielago LP640 Gated V12, Since I don't have a Spare $1M sitting around I took some inspiration and decided to make a gated Manual of my own and I can finally say I have a CLOSE enough prototype to test placement and there's still a lot more to be done, but eventually it will be finished. Sorry in advanced my cars a mess, its been siting for about a year, and its disassembled currently as I swapped my dash when I had to do my Heater core and never fully put it back and I was about to install my Midship Console before Firestone left my control arm bolts loose during an alignment causing my axle to pull out and slam back in destroying my c66 trans case, shearing off the rear mount and I really just lost interest and any motivation for the car as a whole for a while. But the part works the above issue makes it a bit hard to shift into some gears and this is only compounded by a broken shift cable so its cumbersome to try to shift between the gears but the gates do fit (they still need to be adjusted to fit a bit tighter, and a bit shorter in length) and the console adapter needs ALOT of refinement. But hopefully I can get this finished and have a few for sale. I know already there's going to be comments about
1. Why not put the gated shifter plate at the opening instead of raising it up?
Well that's because our cars shifters have a pivot point almost DIRECTLY at the opening for the shift boot, and as leavers work the closer to the pivot point the smaller the movements. Long story short, there's not enough movement to have a defined gate, and even if there was the Fingers would be so absolutely small they would be brittle and it wouldn't look like a gated shifter either. So raised it is! This means when theyre finished they will have a 2-3" shift extension added to clear the gated shifter plate.
2. What material is it going to be made out of?
Likely ABS or CF Nylon. But im still a WAYS off from making that decision. I could probably have them CNC'd but cost would get a bit wild. As it is if I do produce them they will be very low volume batches.

This its a decently large undertaking due to all the small variations in everyone's spec's Short throw/Oem 6/5 speed cars ECT. so I may not be able to guarantee PERFECT or 100% compatibility with all shifters as I only have 1 Car on hand and its a 6 speed with a generic short shifter, and a TRD short shifter at my disposal. I can guestimate for a 5 speed but that only goes so far. I have a c65 Im swapping in soon and brand new shift cables so once I get it back up and running Ill keep working on this in my free time.

Love to hear what you all think about the project.



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I think spending time working on your car like this is cooler than having enough money to buy a Murcielago. Really cool project! BTW, is there any potential practical or performance benefits to this besides appearance?
... Why not put the gated shifter plate at the opening instead of raising it up?
Well that's because our cars shifters have a pivot point almost DIRECTLY at the opening for the shift boot, and as leavers work the closer to the pivot point the smaller the movements. Long story short, there's not enough movement to have a defined gate, and even if there was the Fingers would be so absolutely small they would be brittle and it wouldn't look like a gated shifter either. So raised it is! This means when theyre finished they will have a 2-3" shift extension added to clear the gated shifter plate...
I think that you have pretty much proven that this gating plate is not compatible with a short shifter. You are planning on lengthening the shift pattern just to make this possible, and even then, it looks like this will murder your little finger if you make a mistake shifting.

A lot of the features that we have come to admire from the legendary cars of our youth were connected to obsolete technology. Cars really have improved while I have been alive, and I think that most efforts to recreate them would result in a less than great car. Let us know how this works out.
I think that you have pretty much proven that this gating plate is not compatible with a short shifter. You are planning on lengthening the shift pattern just to make this possible, and even then, it looks like this will murder your little finger if you make a mistake shifting.

A lot of the features that we have come to admire from the legendary cars of our youth were connected to obsolete technology. Cars really have improved while I have been alive, and I think that most efforts to recreate them would result in a less than great car. Let us know how this works out.
The Lotus guys do the same gate in billet aluminum for the S2 Elise / Exige. They seem to like it and nobody complains. Probably because it is strictly cosmetic.
I think that you have pretty much proven that this gating plate is not compatible with a short shifter. You are planning on lengthening the shift pattern just to make this possible, and even then, it looks like this will murder your little finger if you make a mistake shifting.
Well that’s not exactly true, I have a short throw in my car and where it sits now it’s just 2-3mm away from where it needs to be to click into gear/hit the back of the gate. The Lamborghini console also sits higher, around where my shift plate would sit, so adding a 2-3” extension just to clear the plate wouldn’t be that intrusive I don’t think. Once paired with my Midship console I think it’ll fit just about perfectly
While yes a lot of that tech is obsolete the MR2 shares surprisingly alot with the older Lamborghini’s of its Era. SMT/E-gear cars for example.
The Lotus guys do the same gate in billet aluminum for the S2 Elise / Exige. They seem to like it and nobody complains. Probably because it is strictly cosmetic.
Actually got a lot of my inspiration from theirs even bought one to have to get rough measurements from, the elsie/Exige shifter also is a different diameter but even then the way theirs sit at an angle and the height of console/pivot mechanism on their console doesn’t translate to our platform and the differences add up so much so that it makes the Elsie/Exige part incompatible. I tried because I wanted to just make an adapter to run theirs instead of all the work I’ve had to do
I think spending time working on your car like this is cooler than having enough money to buy a Murcielago. Really cool project! BTW, is there any potential practical or performance benefits to this besides appearance?
Technically, Lamborghini only kept gated shifters out of tradition. The newer models never needed them. And by newer I think anything in the late 80s and on. It was never a performance tool, more of a necessity due to how their old shifters worked and had imprecise travel.
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Technically, Lamborghini only kept gated shifters out of tradition. The newer models never needed them. And by newer I think anything in the late 80s and on. It was never a performance tool, more of a necessity due to how their old shifters worked and had imprecise travel.
Tradition or not it’s still worth it to me, I’ve had the luxury of working on a gated Diablo, as well as work around a Countach. I will always love and dream of owning a gated manual and this likely will be the closest I get for a long time
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Actually got a lot of my inspiration from theirs even bought one to have to get rough measurements from, the elsie/Exige shifter also is a different diameter but even then the way theirs sit at an angle and the height of console/pivot mechanism on their console doesn’t translate to our platform and the differences add up so much so that it makes the Elsie/Exige part incompatible. I tried because I wanted to just make an adapter to run theirs instead of all the work I’ve had to do
I was really close to picking up a use one off of an Elise. Glad I didn't and went with the Hybrid Racing unit instead. Sure it's a little less classy than what you will eventually end up with but I don't think my build is about subtle class.

Are you going to have the plate milled when you're done? 5 axis work from some of the online shops has become quite affordable especially in chunks that thickness. The lead time sucks though if you don't use common materials.
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I was really close to picking up a use one off of an Elise. Glad I didn't and went with the Hybrid Racing unit instead. Sure it's a little less classy than what you will eventually end up with but I don't think my build is about subtle class.

Are you going to have the plate milled when you're done? 5 axis work from some of the online shops has become quite affordable especially in chunks that thickness. The lead time sucks though if you don't use common materials.
I’m still not sure I have 2 pretty nicely modded 3d printers at my disposal so Carbon fiber nylon is also an option but I would 100% have them milled if It was within the realm of affordable. Being able to polish them or put some old school firearm style jeweling like the attached photo onto one would be insane. Plus worst come to worse I have an entire powder coating setup at my disposal too so any color is possible for both my shifter shaft and my shift plate if done in aluminum
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IMHO this is definitely not for me. The height of the initial shifter pictures is so raised & out of place with no real benefit.

That said, I think the idea & project of doing it are cool, even if it's only 'because I want it & I can'. Interested to see what you come up with in it's final form & how it performs.
I’m still not sure I have 2 pretty nicely modded 3d printers at my disposal so Carbon fiber nylon is also an option but I would 100% have them milled if It was within the realm of affordable. Being able to polish them or put some old school firearm style jeweling like the attached photo onto one would be insane. Plus worst come to worse I have an entire powder coating setup at my disposal too so any color is possible for both my shifter shaft and my shift plate if done in aluminum View attachment 97759
Feed the CAD file into eMachineShop. Set the tolerances loose and zero surface finish. You may be surprised. I bet you can get that part between $30-$50 shipped. If you can do it just 2D it may be $15 but then you won't have that nice rounded edge.
Technically, Lamborghini only kept gated shifters out of tradition. The newer models never needed them. And by newer I think anything in the late 80s and on. It was never a performance tool, more of a necessity due to how their old shifters worked and had imprecise travel.
But what a tradition it was. A real gated shifter will not win any awards for smoother or better shifts compared to our own modern shifter. What is does is make the driving experience uniquely different. I have test driven a few cars with real gated shifters and they feel really nice with their own personality. One of the cars I have driven has a very short first gear and the owner told me it's only for very low speed maneuvers where the 2nd gear is where you get on it which I did. Not everything is about speed but the gated shifter is something I would want over the semi auto even though it is much worse. This is why the lamborghini Gallardo with the gated shifter commands more money. Some people think it's about the look which it is not.
Some people think it's about the look which it is not.
This is very true. The feel and SOUND is important to some people. I love the sound of rod linkage when the gear slips in with a nice "snick!". This is something that I miss from the Nissan GTR and my Porsche. It is really hard to get in a cable shift system. That being said, I HAVE finally accomplished this in my current MK3. Roller bearings on the transmission linkage. Solid mounted stamped steel cage and all roller bearings in the shifter mechanism. To some it may feel notchy but to me the sound and directness are amazing.

Here's what it sounds like. Try to ignore the squeaky seat. I need to tighten one of the seat bushings.

If the shift gate proposed can add the metal clank sound that the RB26 transmission had that would be amazing.
This is very true. The feel and SOUND is important to some people. I love the sound of rod linkage when the gear slips in with a nice "snick!". This is something that I miss from the Nissan GTR and my Porsche. It is really hard to get in a cable shift system. That being said, I HAVE finally accomplished this in my current MK3. Roller bearings on the transmission linkage. Solid mounted stamped steel cage and all roller bearings in the shifter mechanism. To some it may feel notchy but to me the sound and directness are amazing.

Here's what it sounds like. Try to ignore the squeaky seat. I need to tighten one of the seat bushings.

If the shift gate proposed can add the metal clank sound that the RB26 transmission had that would be amazing.
One of the gated shifters I tried had a pinging metallic sound when you locked it into gear which felt bizarrely European or foreign. Cars of today are including their shifting are clones of each other with no personality.
The people who would think your shifter is notchy would never get a real gated shifter as it would be lost on them. This is why they like the TRD shifter which to me feels like OEM with long throws and less positive feel.

Regarding the roller bearings you should try the articulating type that Frankenstein Motorworks sells. They are different than the roller bearings as they articulate to line up the lever so it goes in perfectly.
With just one installed I was able to catch lift in second gear without the grind I would get before. I installed the other and as I went though the gears it is even more of an improvement. I have the B&M copy that most people don't like because of the binding but now it feels exactly like my friends MX-5 shifter. It still has that positive feel but it slips into gear better.
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Regarding the roller bearings you should try the articulating type that Frankenstein Motorworks sells. They are different than the roller bearings as they articulate to line up the lever so it goes in perfectly.
With just one installed I was able to catch lift in second gear without the grind I would get before.
I have been feeling a little trouble hitting 4th cleanly. It feels like if I shift really fast the gate is not exactly in the same place. This is likely the cause since my cable plane is shifted 90°. Im going to take a look at this today. Thanks!
I have been feeling a little trouble hitting 4th cleanly. It feels like if I shift really fast the gate is not exactly in the same place. This is likely the cause since my cable plane is shifted 90°. Im going to take a look at this today. Thanks!
I installed one of them for a local friend on his car. The other one needs to have the factory air box off and the cable sanded so the bushing would pass so we delayed it for a better day. I was under the impression it was the roller bearing type because it looked similar. With just one installed his shifting improved to where it solved his problem getting into reverse with the Euro 6 speed transmission.
I was curious this spring so I installed his other one on my car and I was impressed.
Update: 4th is no issue shifting fast now that I have removed the transmission inertia weight.
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