I installed a B&M Dual bend short throw shifter on my car (2000 Civic EX) yesterday and at first it seemed great, but now its unbelievably notchy. With regular driving it seems harder to get into all the gears, but 2nd is definately the worst -it grinds going into 2nd from time to time. Also, I have not been able to get one good high-rpm shift from 1st to 2nd, either. Some friends and I are heading to a drag strip this weekend and i would like to try to fix this before then. Can anyone tell me what the issue coule be? Thanks in advance!

 

first, did you over-tighten the bolts at the base? a lot of people do this and essentially causes the shifter to bind in the linkage.

next, you do realize that you've lost a lot of mechanical advantage with that shifter.. so it is going to be more difficult to put into gear.

finally, your miss-shifting is due to you're ricer driving. you need to change the timing between selecting a gear and working the clutch. that and banging gears with a short shifter is a sure-fire way to destroy a transmission. they are synchronized.. not dog boxed.. the slower shifts allow time for the synchros to do their job. now you're just carving the teeth off your sleeves. firm, steady, slow hand movements. you'll actually be shifting faster.

 

This. You can hop in a Mercedes with a brand new tranny and shifter and if you try and slap gears it will grind like an s.o.b. Its better to let gears fall into place on there own not to force them in.

 

There's a possiblity i overtightened them, i'll check that tommorrow when i have the time to jack the car up again.

I knew it was going to be more difficult to get into gear over the stock one, it just seemed a little too rough compared to other sts' i've used.

As for the shifting technique, I was getting more solid shifts on the way home from work today doing it slower. I'm still adjusting to the way the shifter feels.