Long time owner...looking for a Ripper shifter for the M5R2

CaifanSC

SCCoA Member
Doing some maintenance on my 35th 5speed. Going to do a fluid flush on the trans and it's a good time to also do a ripper shifter. I figured I'd try my luck on the forum since these are no longer available anywhere. Any help appreciated!
 
Someone on the FB page is working on what looks to be a very nice replacement. Have not seen an update in awhile though. Hope it becomes available.
Creighton
 
Still looking for a ripper shifter.

I'm not on facebook, so not sure what's going on with that replacement that was mentioned above.
 
Still looking for a ripper shifter.

I'm not on facebook, so not sure what's going on with that replacement that was mentioned above.

I just got off farcebook recently because I'm tired of them having a god complex, so I haven't posted any updates there. The CAD drawings of the new shifter have been completed. I'm working on sourcing out machine shops to do a production run. I want to make sure they can be produced affordably. I know there won't be much profit to be made so I'm not looking to get rich off this. I want people to be able to have access to a good short-throw shifter. The testing phase went extremely well. The shifter performed perfectly. The shifting was firm with near zero play. I couldn't have been happier with it.

Here are the pics of the prototype that I originally posted. I will continue to update here and on the Super Coupe page on MeWe as things progress.

Shifter 01.jpg

Shifter 02.jpg

Shifter 03.jpg
 
That looks quality. And, I see what I think are adjustment bolts to adjust the throw? I'm very much looking forward to your finished product! I noticed you're using the correct SC-specific M5R2-RKE "top" "lid" "hat" or "boot" that is shaped like a "D." The aluminum housing has a flat side to accommodate the lid.

If I may offer some quick feedback, those SC-specific D-shaped lids are getting very hard to find...if not impossible. I happened to stash two away when I noticed they were becoming unobtanium. The more common mazda/ford ranger M5R2 shifter rebuild kit uses a full round lid which I think has to be slightly modified for us to use (it's been a while since I used one of those, I usually went with rippers vs rebuild). That mazda/ranger kit is very easy to acquire on the interwebs and it's probably what most folks will be using. I'm not sure you have to make any adjustments, but have you tried using one of the round ones to make sure it fits correctly? It sounds like you are still in time to make design adjustments before the final production run , if necessary.

Sorry if you covered this on facebook, but does that mean that your set up also uses the factory internals? Like the thin metal shims, plastic cup washers, etc? What about the neutral return spring? I always did like the stiffness of the spring in the ripper to get the shifter back to neutral.

Great job man!
 
That looks quality. And, I see what I think are adjustment bolts to adjust the throw? I'm very much looking forward to your finished product! I noticed you're using the correct SC-specific M5R2-RKE "top" "lid" "hat" or "boot" that is shaped like a "D." The aluminum housing has a flat side to accommodate the lid.

If I may offer some quick feedback, those SC-specific D-shaped lids are getting very hard to find...if not impossible. I happened to stash two away when I noticed they were becoming unobtanium. The more common mazda/ford ranger M5R2 shifter rebuild kit uses a full round lid which I think has to be slightly modified for us to use (it's been a while since I used one of those, I usually went with rippers vs rebuild). That mazda/ranger kit is very easy to acquire on the interwebs and it's probably what most folks will be using. I'm not sure you have to make any adjustments, but have you tried using one of the round ones to make sure it fits correctly? It sounds like you are still in time to make design adjustments before the final production run , if necessary.

Sorry if you covered this on facebook, but does that mean that your set up also uses the factory internals? Like the thin metal shims, plastic cup washers, etc? What about the neutral return spring? I always did like the stiffness of the spring in the ripper to get the shifter back to neutral.

Great job man!

The internals are a completely different design from both the stock and the ripper. I feel it is a much simpler, stronger and far more stable design. I intentionally didn't include pics of the internals...for obvious reasons. :) I've had 2 safety innovations stolen by one official in Indy Car. I have to protect my interests this time. I'm sure everyone would understand that.

I'll have to look at the Mazda/Ranger lid. I've seen that they're available. I might order one to make sure it would work. That was smart of you to stash away a couple of those lids. When I heard about the formerly-unobtainium status of the early crank sensors, I decided to order a new one for my 95 while they are still available. Ofc, I understand that as soon as I need it, I'll have forgotten where I put it. lol Btw, although I know the Mazdas and Rangers use this transmission, I hadn't noticed that the lid was a different shape, so thanks for that info.

When I first offered up the idea of making these shifters available if there was interest, I didn't get much response. I get that. People don't know me, my skills or if my opinion of my own design was reliable. Luckily, another club member who has a ripper was at a cruise night. He got to feel my shifter. When he posted that mine felt better than his, a lot of people showed interest. That's a great thing because, if there wasn't enough interest, I wouldn't be able to make them available. It's good to have witness's statements. lol
I ONLY own vehicles with manual transmissions. Even my SUV is a stick. I know how good it feels to have a great shifter, and how much more fun they are to drive. I don't want fellow SC owners to not have that option. I hope I get some good quotes for the machining. I'd love to do it myself, for the equipment at work won't accommodate reliable repeatability. Without the digital displays on manual machines, it's too time consuming, with too much waste. I refuse to release these if they aren't top quality.
 
Totally hear you, Norm. You should probably even research a patent ;). That shifter design should also work for all the other M5R2 cars, so you have a good potential market with the mazda, ranger and I think the v6 manual trans F150 crowd. Food for thought :).

Glad to hear the guts are all custom. The factory parts just degrade so quickly and all the remains just fall straight into the trans.

If you can't find the round top, let me know. A few years back I bought two or three kits wanting to refresh some old factory shifters to have handy, but I never got around to it. I should have them around here and would be happy to send you one for your project if you need it.
 
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