[DeTomaso] Second Detent for shifter (Re: Here's what the Corvette folks think.)

[JDeRyke at aol.com]

In a message dated 7/26/08 5:54:38 PM, Jar wrote:

>  This bit caught my attention, as I find myself not shifting as smoothly as 
> I'd like to despite repeated and concentrated effort to do so: the 
> transaxel, apparently the designer of the car and the designer of the transaxel had a 
> lack of communication. these two systems have a tendancy to fight each other. 
> the fix is to eleminate the car system and let the transaxel do its job.....
> 
Correct. Arguably the first to do this was D Quella back in the early '90s, 
on most of the Panteras that come thru his shop. Rumor has it that since it's 
only a 5 minute job, he doesn't even charge for it. I've done this on Judy's 
'72-1/2 and it does shift smoother, although shifting too quickly, you can still 
'beat' the synchros. This can cause an unpleasant tranny noise. 
It's also possible to shift too quickly between 2nd and 3rd such that the 
long double-u-jointed gearshift rod will twist slightly, enough so the tranny 
will select 4th while the stick will slide into the 2nd gear fingers in the stock 
gate on the console. The twisted shifter-shaft then prevents the stick from 
easily coming back out of the fingers on the gate; yet another reason to use 
the later finger-less open shifter gate. There is no fix for this stick-binding; 
slowing down my shift allowed me to change gears more smoothly and ultimately 
go faster.
Almost all mid-engined cars have some sort of shifter problems (try driving 
competitively in a cable-shift Porsche 914 or a Pontiac Fiero, for instance!) 
but the Pantera's are minimal. All my above shift problems occurred during 
autocross events, in two different Panteras. . FWIW- J DeRyke



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