end MT-82 miss shifts

[TGR96]

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

Great review Nick. Thanks for posting this.

I have been on the fence about this thing, mainly for fear of untolerable increase in NVH. NVH is one of the big reasons I took off my Steeda Tri-Ax shifter and mounting bracket. Currently, I am running the Barton shifter, and have the two post mounting bracket in my garage, just waiting to get a chance to install it.

After your review, I am contemplating selling my BNIB Barton two post bracket and jumping on the Blowfish bandwagon.

 

[qwikhuh]

Guys the clearance at the top of the shifter some of you are describing is key. I actually played around with mine after did the video and the difference is huge. Push the bracket all the way up and you will get a huge NVH increase and a bad rattle in the shifter because you are basically forcing all your driveline vibrations against the transmission tunnel. That 1/8 gap is key, moved mine back down and I had almost no vibration. Trimmed the bottom of my Whiteline horizontally to shorten it and it feels like stock NVH wise now. Drove my 2011 with the 100% stock shifter setup and then went back to the 2013 with the Barton/Whiteline/Blowfish combo and the NVH difference was almost none.

 

[slvr08gt]

Great review Nick. Thanks for posting this.

I have been on the fence about this thing, mainly for fear of untolerable increase in NVH. NVH is one of the big reasons I took off my Steeda Tri-Ax shifter and mounting bracket. Currently, I am running the Barton shifter, and have the two post mounting bracket in my garage, just waiting to get a chance to install it.

After your review, I am contemplating selling my BNIB Barton two post bracket and jumping on the Blowfish bandwagon.

Your welcome!!

Guys the clearance at the top of the shifter some of you are describing is key. I actually played around with mine after did the video and the difference is huge. Push the bracket all the way up and you will get a huge NVH increase and a bad rattle in the shifter because you are basically forcing all your driveline vibrations against the transmission tunnel. That 1/8 gap is key, moved mine back down and I had almost no vibration. Trimmed the bottom of my Whiteline horizontally to shorten it and it feels like stock NVH wise now. Drove my 2011 with the 100% stock shifter setup and then went back to the 2013 with the Barton/Whiteline/Blowfish combo and the NVH difference was almost none.

Yup.

I used the lowest setting possible and vibration is minimal as well. Only slightly increases one you get a little higher in the RPB band. Day to day normal cruising feels the same as a stock setup in terms of NVH.

-Nick

 

[skwerl]

I finally got to drive mine and I have a definite rubbing when turning left under power. By the time I got home it wasn't doing it as much but I need to let the car cool down so I can get it back up on jack stands and take a look.

Removing the MGW heat shield resulted in a lot more noise coming through the shifter area. Since I'm not going to be racing the car I need to address that or else the bracket is coming off so I can reinstall the heat shield. I want it to work correctly but I'm not going to drive around in a race car. I like my creature comforts.

 

[JEWC_Motorsports]

Is this available for an automatic?

 

[UltraKla$$ic]

I finally got to drive mine and I have a definite rubbing when turning left under power. By the time I got home it wasn't doing it as much but I need to let the car cool down so I can get it back up on jack stands and take a look.

Removing the MGW heat shield resulted in a lot more noise coming through the shifter area. Since I'm not going to be racing the car I need to address that or else the bracket is coming off so I can reinstall the heat shield. I want it to work correctly but I'm not going to drive around in a race car. I like my creature comforts.

What needs to be done to retain the heatshield and still use the BF bracket?? If mine was here, I'd know the answer..................

 

[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.

So I raised my bracket about an 1/8" last night and just had the opportunity to drive it. The marbles in the shifter are now 3,000-4,500rpm instead of down lower which is a plus for me as a DD. Now I have not changed my rating of 6/10 yet as I still have "Marble's" but am thinking a lot of the noise is the stock shifter handle. while driving I removed it and most of the noises were gone. As I don't have another shifter ball to swap it out with I can't tell if that is 100% the culprit but am leaning towards that being much of it. If anyone has replaced theirs and can do a test run with both to see if that is the issue please do and report back!

 

[Strengthrehab]

Sounds like this eiukd be a better investment than a shifter assembly huh?

 

[Wicked GT]

So far I would say yes... if you wanted to only do one or the other. Obviously going with a short throw will improve other aspects of the drive but just cleaning up the sloppy shifting can be pretty much cured with the BF bracket.​

 

[Scott_0]

Sounds like this eiukd be a better investment than a shifter assembly huh?

lol wut???



sent from HTC M8 using tapatalk

 

[UltraKla$$ic]

So the "marbles" sound have been reported with 2 stock shifters. What's the "noise" sound like with aftermarket shifter, preferrably the MGW??

 

[Wicked GT]

So the "marbles" sound have been reported with 2 stock shifters. What's the "noise" sound like with aftermarket shifter, preferrably the MGW??

Just for clarifications sake... mine is a Steeda shifter with the stock shift knob. The knob is what I am attributing much of the noise to.

 

[UltraKla$$ic]

Just for clarifications sake... mine is a Steeda shifter with the stock shift knob. The knob is what I am attributing much of the noise to.

Gotcha.

What if the noise yall are hearing was already there but now since the trans/shifter act as one solid unit now, it resonates inside the cabin?

We had a similar issue with the '07 Harleys and HD came up with all kinds of rubber dampeners to decrease the noise. The Harley crowd thought the transmission were going to grenade and were junk, but HD Corp came up with rubber dampeners to appease the crowd and quiet the noise.

Noise may be something we have to live with when applying this bracket by stiffening up the driveline now. Earplugs are cheap............lol

Just like an enthusiast to "Fix something till it's broke!!!!!!!!!!" LOL

 

[Ray721]

Just like an enthusiast to "Fix something till it's broke!!!!!!!!!!" LOL

Lmao!! So true!

 

[Wicked GT]

Ultra, it is funny you mention rubber dampers as that is what I had in mind if I could not get it to decrease significantly. I have some rubber bushings from something else I was planning on trimming down and putting them between the bracket and the piece that goes around the shifter. Also thougth about putting some silicon on the shifter and then lightly tightening the bolts until cured and then tightening it all down to build a little cushion...

 

[UltraKla$$ic]

Ultra, it is funny you mention rubber dampers as that is what I had in mind if I could not get it to decrease significantly. I have some rubber bushings from something else I was planning on trimming down and putting them between the bracket and the piece that goes around the shifter. Also thougth about putting some silicon on the shifter and then lightly tightening the bolts until cured and then tightening it all down to build a little cushion...

I'm telling you this sounds all to familiar when I had my Harley. The "older" guys that rode Panheads, Shovelheads, and were Knuckleheads(LOL) couldn't stand the fact the newer generation wanted "quieter" Harleys. Appauling to them but Harley wanted to cater to the new generation to sell bikes and so the rubber dampeners(isolators) came into the mix to quiet the noise that straight cut gears vs. helical cut gears make. Truth be known, these dampeners actually degraded the integrity of the transmission vs. how it was BEFORE they quietened it all down. LOLOL!!!

The answer, IMO, is aftermarket shifter + BF Bracket = stronger, longer lasting transmission and components. I have no proof other than the mechanics this combo presents............IMO. The "noise" may take getting used to.

 

[Wicked GT]

outside of the rattling/chatter (aka: marbles) during a specific rpm rand I am happy with the slight NVH that comes through the shifter and the vibration... I kind of like it. If someone has a stock/aftermarket shifter that has this issue with a stock shift ball and can swap with an aftermarket or non-plastic shift ball I would like to hear the results. I truly think if I can get rid of the chatter I could list this as "even greater than sliced bread"!

 

[slvr08gt]

Wicked. Do you have the round style(401A) shift knob or the big toe shaped normal shift knob?

 

[Ray721]

I can add that I have the round style. I get the "marbles" sound. I'll be looking into it this weekend hopefully sooner

 

[Wicked GT]

Wicked. Do you have the round style(401A) shift knob or the big toe shaped normal shift knob?

Is this the toe you are referring to?