short-shifter thoughts (or, longer ain't necessarily better)

[Phil Rose <pjrose@servtech.com>]

I consider the shift lever of my '91 200q a bit too long for (my) comfort,
and recently I've been doing some shifting by grasping the lever _below_
the knob, ya know--where it abutts the top of the shift boot. Well, call me
delusional, but I keep concluding that I'm getting smoother, more precise
shifting that way (although a bit more effort).

Is it possible that the long, stock shifter causes some "over-leveraging",
which tends to work against smooth gear engagement? [BTW, the shift lever
passes the "centering test" as described in Bentley.] Anyway, I would
prefer a shorter lever, so: how best to get the shifter shortened by about
one inch?

There is close to an inch of _un_threaded shaft that shows _above_ the top
of the shift boot, and I wonder if the shift lever could simply have the
threads extended down toward this "limit"; then just nip off the top 1" of
shaft, trim the knob to fit, et voila! Any BTDTs? Would procedures used on
earlier models work as well for the '91 200q? I recall someone posted a
shortening procedure on the qlist, but it was for another model I believe.


Phil Rose				Rochester, NY
'89 100 (For Sale, 111K, automatic)
'91 200q				mailto:pjrose@servtech.com