Shifter help

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fvkagi

Member
I bought a 1990 ST185 project and the shifter never worked at all. It came with an aftermarket shift lever and I believe it is the cosmo racing short shifter with the stock housing (1990). The springs that are on the housing seem to be too weak to bring it back to neutral and it feels really shitty when you do get it into gear. I also have no idea if the shift linkages were changed or anything...

Can somebody also explain how I can shift through the gears by using the 2 levers on the actual transmission.

All help and advice is greatly appreciated! Thanks!
 
underscore

underscore

Well-known member
Assuming the order is the same as my GTS, the gears are still in an H but rotated. 1/2 are closest to the firewall, 3/4 are in the middle, 5/R are closest to the front. I can't remember which side is which for each pair but if you skim the episodes of Project Binky on YouTube one of the earlier ones covers how they modify the shifter cable bracket and shows them manually selecting all the gears.
 
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fvkagi

Member
I figured out the issue....

The PO put the wrong cable on the wrong levers on the transmission, so my H pattern is flipped 90 degrees.....
 
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alltrac801

New member
So about a year back I ordered a Cosmo Racing short shift for my ST185 and it definitely does not fit without some modifications to the housing. It sits way to low and hits the bottom of the housing. You might take a look at that and see if that's what's going on.

I'm guessing if the PO didn't tell you that they changed the cables then they probably didn't because they are a pain in the ass to change lol
 
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fvkagi

Member
alltrac801":1tk4fpq0 said:
So about a year back I ordered a Cosmo Racing short shift for my ST185 and it definitely does not fit without some modifications to the housing. It sits way to low and hits the bottom of the housing. You might take a look at that and see if that's what's going on.

I'm guessing if the PO didn't tell you that they changed the cables then they probably didn't because they are a pain in the ass to change lol
Click to expand...

I just relized they did change the cables and reinstalled them on the wrong levers. So I get to take them out and fix it... :(

Also the short shifter came with these spacers so I think it should be good.
 
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alltrac801

New member
If they changed them before maybe it wont be as bad. I know there is a pretty good wright up on here on replacing the shift cables that helped me. good luck!

Do you have the Cosmo Short shifter installed yet?
 
underscore

underscore

Well-known member
fvkagi":3gacst9d said:
I figured out the issue....

The PO put the wrong cable on the wrong levers on the transmission, so my H pattern is flipped 90 degrees.....
Click to expand...

I didn't know it was possible to put the cables on the wrong way, I'm guessing they didn't either. Now I'm curious what shifting in this pattern would be like

1-|-2
3-|-4
5-|-R
 
F

fvkagi

Member
underscore":qxqmr8g2 said:
fvkagi":qxqmr8g2 said:
I figured out the issue....

The PO put the wrong cable on the wrong levers on the transmission, so my H pattern is flipped 90 degrees.....
Click to expand...

I didn't know it was possible to put the cables on the wrong way, I'm guessing they didn't either. Now I'm curious what shifting in this pattern would be like

1-|-2
3-|-4
5-|-R
Click to expand...


Yeah that was pretty much it, but it would not go into reverse lol. I am currently attempting to swap the cables in the engine bay and it is a complete pain in the ass lmao.
 
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alltrac801

New member
Just a heads up on that short shifter. The studs on the ST185 stock housing are not long enough for the spacers supplied with he Cosmo short shift kit. You'll probably have to source or make some different spacers to fit under the stock housing. If I still had my car apart I could show you some pictures but I don't.
 
F

fvkagi

Member
This is how I have it installed...it goes into every gear now that I have fixed the cables but it feels like shit haha

Its super vague about what gear its in and it doesnt really 'spring' back into the middle of neutral like my Miata shifter does.
 

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