end MT-82 miss shifts

[skwerl]

Do you think flipping the nut/bolt around would gain any clearance?

Not much, as the bolt head is as large as the castle nut. I'm probably worrying over nothing but I still don't like having exposed nuts and bolts less than 1/2" from the rotating driveshaft.

 

[Strengthrehab]

I dont plan on drag racing my car just sime hpde's. Worthy investment?

 

[skwerl]

I'd recommend this to anybody with an MT-82 that enjoys driving and shifting. In my 3650 the MGW shifter made a huge difference all by itself. In my MT-82 the MGW shifter helped but still felt mushy and disconnected. With this bracket it's sharp and crisp just like my Tremec T56 Magnum.

 

[Scott_0]

Not much, as the bolt head is as large as the castle nut. I'm probably worrying over nothing but I still don't like having exposed nuts and bolts less than 1/2" from the rotating driveshaft.

I don't understand your concern man, I mean you could have less clearance than you already have and be fine, the driveshaft and bracket are both attached to the same piece, that being the transmission, the clearance is going to remain constant no matter what, only way it'd be an issue is if you snapped the yoke or blew the trans bearing at the snout, at which point you'd have larger issues

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[travelers]

I don't understand your concern man, I mean you could have less clearance than you already have and be fine, the driveshaft and bracket are both attached to the same piece, that being the transmission, the clearance is going to remain constant no matter what, only way it'd be an issue is if you snapped the yoke or blew the trans bearing at the snout, at which point you'd have larger issues

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Or lose you panhard bar.

 

[Wicked GT]

Just installed mine and took it for a few spirited slams through 5th gear. Here is how I would rate everything involved.

Packaging - 10/10 item was very will packaged with wrap on everything. came in perfect.

Powdercoating - 8/10 Looks pretty right out of the box but mine chipped a little when the bolts were tightened down. I lightly hit one of the supports with my ratchet and knocked a dime size chip out of the powder coating... I know its under the car and not seen but I still have to paint it so it doesn't rust.

Install - 9.5/10 All in all I spent nearly as much time taking the old Steeda body mount and busing off the shifter as I did installing the entire BFR bracket. I knocked it a 1/2 point only because the back bolts are a pain in the ass to get started when you don't have long fingers or a hoist. Outside of this install was a piece of cake.

Shift Feel - 10/10 I didn't notice ANY grinding or feeling that things weren't meshing together with this bracket on.

Power Shifting - 9-10 I did a number of 2nd through 5th gear power shifts and think I need to re-calibrate my arm... First two 2-3 shifts were exactly like before the bracket, slammed the shifter right between first and third (had hand on top of shifter). I tried a few more times with my hand holding the shifter like a glass and a little slower and it went right in. I think I may be too used to the sloppy shifting and now need to rework my shifting for the solid feel... time will tell. Over the next few days I will continue to slam 2-3 and see if things improve.

NVH - 6/10 This is a first impression score, just want to point that out as I still need to move the bracket around and see if I can get rid of the noise/vibration. My concern isn't with a small amount of vibration in the shifter, I actually kind of liked it. My issue is when I get on the gas between 1500-3000 rpm the shifter knob sounds like it has marbles in it. Definitely need to get this fixed or it will be a deal breaker. I WILL be updating this once I move the bracket around to try and find the sweet spot...


Overall impression is I would buy it again in a heartbeat. Just the basic feel of the shifting is worth the money, especially when I wouldn't need to buy an aftermarket shifter... I could have used the factory one. Considering the Steeda shifter and bracket were $250, this would have been nearly the same price and did a heck of a lot better job of cleaning up the slop.

 

[Strengthrehab]

Just installed mine and took it for a few spirited slams through 5th gear. Here is how I would rate everything involved.

Packaging - 10/10 item was very will packaged with wrap on everything. came in perfect.

Powdercoating - 8/10 Looks pretty right out of the box but mine chipped a little when the bolts were tightened down. I lightly hit one of the supports with my ratchet and knocked a dime size chip out of the powder coating... I know its under the car and not seen but I still have to paint it so it doesn't rust.

Install - 9.5/10 All in all I spent nearly as much time taking the old Steeda body mount and busing off the shifter as I did installing the entire BFR bracket. I knocked it a 1/2 point only because the back bolts are a pain in the ass to get started when you don't have long fingers or a hoist. Outside of this install was a piece of cake.

Shift Feel - 10/10 I didn't notice ANY grinding or feeling that things weren't meshing together with this bracket on.

Power Shifting - 9-10 I did a number of 2nd through 5th gear power shifts and think I need to re-calibrate my arm... First two 2-3 shifts were exactly like before the bracket, slammed the shifter right between first and third (had hand on top of shifter). I tried a few more times with my hand holding the shifter like a glass and a little slower and it went right in. I think I may be too used to the sloppy shifting and now need to rework my shifting for the solid feel... time will tell. Over the next few days I will continue to slam 2-3 and see if things improve.

NVH - 6/10 This is a first impression score, just want to point that out as I still need to move the bracket around and see if I can get rid of the noise/vibration. My concern isn't with a small amount of vibration in the shifter, I actually kind of liked it. My issue is when I get on the gas between 1500-3000 rpm the shifter knob sounds like it has marbles in it. Definitely need to get this fixed or it will be a deal breaker. I WILL be updating this once I move the bracket around to try and find the sweet spot...


Overall impression is I would buy it again in a heartbeat. Just the basic feel of the shifting is worth the money, especially when I wouldn't need to buy an aftermarket shifter... I could have used the factory one. Considering the Steeda shifter and bracket were $250, this would have been nearly the same price and did a heck of a lot better job of cleaning up the slop.

Grest review. I like the stock shifter. If it helps that feel solid ill pick one up. If I still have a car that is. Haha

 

[UltraKla$$ic]

Anybody here put the bracket on with a stock shifter? I'm thinking of going back to a stock shifter with this bracket.

 

[Ray721]

Mine is stock shifter and Blowfish bracket.

Mine also has the "marbles" sound from 1500-3000ish.

I'll fuck with it some more to see if I can make it go away. Can't get under there for another day or two though. If you manage to do it before me please share what your findings

 

[travelers]

Wicked GT very nice evaluation. I can't do mine till the weekend.

 

[ford20]

Go back over to BMO and ask. A lot of the beta testers had stock shifters.

Just let me know when you do, I want to miss the responses.

 

[GallopingFord]

Nice review... the NVH is a bit of a downer, but I hope to hear a solution.

 

[skwerl]

The NVH is only in the shifter handle itself, not in the console. If you have buzzing then you need to loosen the 8 nuts and bolts connecting the upper and lower brackets and adjust the height. You may have it too high, pressing against the underside of the trans tunnel.

 

[Wicked GT]

The NVH is only in the shifter handle itself, not in the console. If you have buzzing then you need to loosen the 8 nuts and bolts connecting the upper and lower brackets and adjust the height. You may have it too high, pressing against the underside of the trans tunnel.

I started with mine most of the way down (by accident). I pushed it up as far as I could by hand not realizing that I was only taking it 1/4 of the way up. I had to slide a jack under the car with me with a 2x4 and some deep 1/2 sockets so I could force it up further. I moved it up about an 1/8 inch and will test it tomorrow. If that doesn't work I will continue moving it up until I find the sweet spot.

I assume there is a spot that will have much less "noise" in the shifter and I have to find that spot, thus my mention of having to move it around and update my post.

 

[slvr08gt]

Get that bad boy on and report back!! I'll probably STILL be waiting for a reply much less a tracking number.

Got mine installed today. A quick overview:

- Installed it in my parking stall on a set of drive on ramps. Being lowered on FRPP K's almost made this impossible to install (Thank god I'm a skinny SOB, LOL)
- I have a one piece o/r X and the top bracket piece was definitely a tight fit snaking it up through the X junction and around the DS
- Install was pretty easy / straight forward (I didn't even read the instructions)
- I tightened the two brackets together at the lowest point of adjustment possible.
- Tightened everything up asshole tight and started the car (no real increase in vibrations while idling in nuetral. Rowed through the gears while parked and could easily tell it just felt tighter and more direct.

TEST DRIVE:

- Stock shifter, NO upgraded clutch cable, NO trans mount, NO upgraded motor mounts. Had a Barton 2 post shifter bracket on it before the Blowfish Bracket.
- Like others have said, shifts are very direct and precise feeling
- Butter smooth shifts (not exaggerating)
- The only vibration I FEEL in the shift knob is when the RPM's get above 2500+(even then it's not horrible but it definitely noticeable). I don't HEAR any vibration or rattle at all through the entire RPM range.
- HANDS DOWN THIS IS THE FIX FOR A MT82 CAR!!


SUMMARY:

When I had the Barton 2 post bracket, it made a pretty significant improvement over the stock bracket. I would say the Barton bracket took notchy shifts from 50% of the time to 15-20%. Shifting during slow turns would always follow with a notchy shift or completely locked out with the stock and Barton 2 post bracket. The Blowfish bracket shifts just as smooth during turns as it does driving in a straight line. What ever you throw at it, it just works!!

PACKAGING: 10/10
FIT AND FINISH: 10/10
EASE OF INSTALL(ON RAMPS): 3-4/10
PRICE FOR WHAT IT DOES: 100/10

-Nick

 

[UltraKla$$ic]

All good reviews and seeing the simplicity of this design in conjunction with it's intent, I couldn't see how it wouldn't have worked. It tied everything together for rigidity just like the one piece tailstock/shifter transmissions.

Brian, you had a T56, is the NVH more, less, about the same with the BF Bracket/MT-82 vs. the T56??

And is the trick to ridding the NVH moving it up or down or somewhere in between? I can understand if the bracket is hitting on something that it would cause unwanted noises but if the bracket is clear from obstruction, I'm just curious why it would matter where it is??????? I wish I had a pit to drive the car over like those oil changing bays, that way the suspension and drivetrain would maintain the proper alignment loaded and putting the bracket on would terminate in it's neutral position........

Having said that, I'm going to jack mine high enough and set it down on ramps on all 4 wheels to load the car/drivetrain and see if this makes a difference.

I hope this bracket didn't "fix" one problem just to expose another.

 

[skwerl]

Only driven it a mile or two but I think the Chinese MT-82 has a little more vibration than the Tremec T56 Magnum. The semi-remote stock mounting arrangement hides a lot of that vibration. With this bracket, the MGW shifter works amazingly well. On every shift the shifter just falls into place with no drama whatsoever. Before it felt like a nice shifter on a crappy transmission but now it just feels precise.

 

[UltraKla$$ic]

Only driven it a mile or two but I think the Chinese MT-82 has a little more vibration than the Tremec T56 Magnum. The semi-remote stock mounting arrangement hides a lot of that vibration. With this bracket, the MGW shifter works amazingly well. On every shift the shifter just falls into place with no drama whatsoever. Before it felt like a nice shifter on a crappy transmission but now it just feels precise.

So you do like the MGW/BF Bracket combo for shifting? I was concerned that the short throw and stabilization of the trans would create an unwanted feeling. What about spirited driving with the combo? Been able to do that yet?

 

[skwerl]

No, it was raining last night.

 

[travelers]

If you think about it the NVH comes from the engine and the trans as they are mounted together with both ends of the shifter now. You may be able to wrap the shifter shaft with something like hush mat.