Ebay T56 shifter review and teardown (pics!)

[bozodos]

Mine was from a seller called kickstart-something, I think they're all the same.

bozodos - do you mean issues with the cup that the shifter end sits in? It does feel notchier, mostly when cold, but less leverage and no rubber handle or sloppy bits bring out the t56's inherent notchyness more. It's kind of a nice notchy though.

Nah I mean that the gearbox becomes progressively harder to shift from 1-2 or 2-3. That said, occasionally I have to double clutch to put mine back into first with the stock shifter.

 

[ConstantVelocity]

Mine does that occasionally too. I find second easier to get into now, it's straight down, with the stock shifter I sometimes had to push towards the passenger seat to get second when it was cold. Feels easier despite having less leverage than the stocker. Hopefully stays that way, usually hard shifting happens when someone grinds the gears and rounds off the engaugement teeth, or if the clutch/pilot bearing is dragging a bit.

 

[graz VZ]

Please post an update once new springs are in .
I do worry about the shifter slowly deteriorating my t56, but it is so much better now for daily driving, sometimes it try's to play up a little...
Wanting to change my gearbox oil next, do you know any good additives for these boxes that go with the dex 3 to help syncros wear and tear?

Cheers

 

[ConstantVelocity]

Please post an update once new springs are in .
I do worry about the shifter slowly deteriorating my t56, but it is so much better now for daily driving, sometimes it try's to play up a little...
Wanting to change my gearbox oil next, do you know any good additives for these boxes that go with the dex 3 to help syncros wear and tear?

Cheers

Dunno about addatives, I just use transmax z, it didn't really feel much different to the dex 3 that was in there before, but should protect gears etc a bit better. The penrite 70w gear oil gets good reviews, people reckon it's smoother etc, but it might just be placebo. Syncho wear and tear is mostly controlled by driver's left hand and foot!

Springs are on their way from hong kong...

 

[graz VZ]

Hey mate, mines really not cantering well. Defiantly needs tougher springs. Might be due to the thick Grease I also used..
Wanting to do my gearbox oil, have a feeling it's low. Might try that transmax z. Cheers

 

[ConstantVelocity]

Update...

Ended up using springs from Bunnings. Part no C-664 made by century springs, 11/32" x 1-1/2 x 0.047. I cut them to about 12mm long each and smoothed off the cut end (tip - cut in a ziplock bag so bits don't go flying off never to be seen again). They fit nicely inside the original springs to make a double spring.

With a double spring on each side it was better but still didn't really spring back from the 1/2 gate. So I took out the spring on the LHS. Now it springs back nicely from 1/2 but not from 5/6, but I can live with that. Makes it "flow" nicely through the gears when accelerating.

You don't need to remove the shifter from the car to swap the springs, just remove the handle and the "lid" of the shifter.

 

[RACE5L]

I spoke to the seller before he offered them on ebay, he was trying to flog them through facebook nearly 12mths ago. Make no mistake, there is no mechanical or engineering degree, these are nothing more than a copy. The springs would be fitted with the policy "If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck....", so spring rates would be an after thought. The only perogative is to make easy cash. If new springs fix, you're set.

 

[galahs]

I would prefer to go with a Rip Shift but its much harder to justify $500 vs $150 for the knock off.

Rip Shift really needs to be looking at reducing its price to at least the $300 range to swing more buyers to their product.

 

[RACE5L]

I'd rather a RipShifter from a wrecker or gumtree for $200

 

[galahs]

Dunno about addatives, I just use transmax z, it didn't really feel much different to the dex 3 that was in there before, but should protect gears etc a bit better. The penrite 70w gear oil gets good reviews, people reckon it's smoother etc, but it might just be placebo. Syncho wear and tear is mostly controlled by driver's left hand and foot!

Springs are on their way from hong kong...

I have used both Transmax Z and Nulon Synthetic Dex 3 and had good results with both.

I used Nulon G70 additive as well last time and found it helped smooth out shifts when everything was cold.