ok i found this on a 3000gt forum, DSM’s have the same setup and this should helpout anyone else with a cable type linkage…
Alright, I figured out a way to make the existing shifter’s throw considerably shorter for the cost of a few nuts and bolts. Preliminary tests seem to indicate that it works great. Its very easy to do, cheap, and fully reversible. You can even decide how much shorter you want the throw to be.
Basically, I realized that by shortening the lever arm for the tranny side of the shifter, you can do the same work with less movement, so all you have to do is move the cable mounting points. The first picture shows pretty clearly both of the new, completed mounting points. The second shows where you should put the new mount for a 50% reduction in throw. Move it farther out for less of a reduction, move it in for more of a reduction (I would NOT recommend going more than 50%). On my 5 speed shifter arm there was actually a crease right at 50%, so I drilled there. The last picture shows the other arm with the new point point. You can see its just a regular bolt (I used M8x30 bolts) with a jamb nut holding it onto the arm. Use lock nuts on the end so they don’t get vibrated off. Total Cost: $3.45 if you reduce the throw both ways.
Also, in case you were wondering, I drilled the front/back arm while it was in the car, as I couldn’t figure out how to remove it. I drilled the other arm removed. All of this stuff happened right above the tranny. Remove the MAS/air filter, and intake pipe, and move the Y-pipe out of the way. I also removed the front turbo inlet pipe and the left hose that goes into the y pipe. Then you should have enough space to work.
Observations/recommendations: I tried reducing the side to side throw (by 50% as well), and I did not like it. It makes the gears so close together that I’d be afraid of hitting the wrong one at high speed. I put it back to stock, but it feels like it might benefit from a slight reduction, possibly one third less distance (the total distance is about 3", so move the mount down 1" for that). It is way easier to not even worry about the side to side throw, because then you don’t have to remove any of the shifter parts from the car (that arm in the last picture is kind of a pain in the ass to get back in…).
For the front/back throw, I’d try reducing it by less… maybe 40% instead of 50%. Doing that would require drilling above the crease, which would mean drilling on a slight slope, so it will make it a bit more difficult, but I think it would be worth it. 50% is a lot, and it makes shifting noticably harder. It also feels like its slower to shift, I’m not sure about that though. My tranny isn’t in the best shape, so that could be part of the problem. I’m sure after driving it for a while I will like it a lot, its just very different.
Also, there is a cable stay that holds the front to back cable in place; it should probably be bent slightly to keep the cable pointed straight. I didn’t do that, but I should.
It does feel extremely crisp and nice though, so that is one plus. All of the inherent play in the cables has been reduced by 50% as well, so that’s a good thing.
