mazda MX5 / Miata gear stick relocation

[mezy]

As some of you may know iI am currently rebuilding a Panther Lima, and modifying it as I go.
I thought this modification to the MX5 gearbox deserved its own thread as i can find nothing anywhere about moving the gear stick further
back on a 5 speed apart from makeng a dog leg stick, this was not an option as i want to make a centre console from dash to tunel.
So I had to come up with a way of doing this.

first off I made a template of the top of the gearbox where the shifter tower fits. I included an extension to the back edge

Then i cut two a plates out of 1/4" steel, one with the extension on the front edge

these were then welded together on top of each other.

I then welded an extension to the selector rod, made a cover for where the gear stick tower bolted on and a a top hat for the gear stick locate into.
All the modded parts ready for install

new seal inside the gearbox and one at the back where the blanking plug was

refitted the longer selector rod, reverse gear lock out and gear selector butterfly

original cover on the reverse gear lock out

then the extension plate with a selector shaft support on it was fitted

 

[mezy]

Followed by the new cover plate i made and the gear stick tower

then the gearstick,

This works just as good as Mazda intended, nice short throws. moved the stick back around 5 1/2 inches
and is now in line with the steering wheel.

 

[JPSmit]

amazing work, thanks for sharing!