.I have had severalemails from  customers regaurding  the shifter and  
vibration & sloppiness.. Bottom line is the shifter spring  If it is gone
then it is your problem.
1982 Fiat Spider    Restored Turbocharged WHOA Brakes 
1979 Lancia Beta Zagato  Fine Example of the Breed 

Replacing the nylon cover and the two metal plates with work wonders on the 
shifter...

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This is a little spring that goes between the nylon shifter ball and the round 
opening on the end of the horizontal shift rod. Mine was missing and Jim was 
correct in telling me that a substantial number of 124 gearboxes are missing 
this little spring.  Your gearbox will shift fine without it...little loose 
play at the lever end.....and that's why most of us don't realize it's 
missing. Don't go looking for it in the parts book, it's not even shown.


Jim Fierst wrote:
: .I have had severalemails from  customers regaurding  the shifter and  
: vibration & sloppiness.. Bottom line is the shifter spring  If it is gone
: then it is your problem.
: 1982 Fiat Spider    Restored Turbocharged WHOA Brakes 
: 1979 Lancia Beta Zagato  Fine Example of the Breed 
Carl in Virginia

1980 spider  IDFs/Whoa Brakes
1991 Miata

So, without spilling the beans, did you ship one or two to southern michigan 
recently?  Say, to a young lady who professes to know nothing about shifters, 
or Fiats....but, who dearly loves her father?



Sign me....
Nearly 50, and still can't wait 'til Christmas

Mike Bouse
Coldwater, Michigan
1978 Fiat Spider (Gia)
1980 Fiat Spider (Queenie)
1969 Triumph Spitfire (FrankenStein)
Preferences reset 08/30/06 10:14 p.m.

This has nothing to do with your post, but I thought I'd take this op to post 
another positive testimonial.

I bought one of Jim's short shifters for Twila's 2L Spider, and both she and I 
like it.  For us both, it lowers the lever to a more natural/ergonomic height.  
Being a shorty, Twila likes it because it shortens the throw - that is, she 
doesn't have to reach as far to get to first, third, fifth.  I like it because 
I'm the "service manager" of this car and I'll never again have to deal with 
those frakin' plastic and rubber bushings on the stock lever!!!!  Very 
thoughtfully engineered!  Thanks, Jim.

John O.
http://www.dcfiats.org
http://www.ovingtonpaint.com/fiat
'86 Bertone      (Daily driver)
'76 128 Wagon    (When will you make an end, Buonarroti?)
'76 Scorpion     (On the road! WIP)
'72 128 Sedan    (going soon)
Please God, No More!

Jim is now working on a kit to adapt a Brava lever for spiders so ex-truckers 
who like those long three foot shifters will feel right at home in their 
spider.


........this is, of course, a joke...Jim is not working on such a kit but for 
anyone with a spider who wants a shifter right up above dash level such a 
conversion would work...get that 60s Rat Fink look in your car...I know Denise 
would love it.



Carl in Virginia

1980 spider  IDFs/Whoa Brakes
1991 Miata

 That your kit involves shortening the upper part of the shifter and that if 
any of the lower pieces are missing, worn or the lower fastening nut has come 
loose, that there will still be 'looseness' in the feel. 

As an added bonus, you might offer various separate lower pieces as an 
accessory enhancement, obviously for an added charge. 

Nice shifter enhancement BTW- kd 
      

Kelly Dicker           kd@wcmotors.com
Wine Country Motors    http://www.wcmotors.com
755 Sixth Street       707-255-8697
Napa, CA 94559         707-255-6466 Fax

Hey, no peeking. You have to wait til Christmas to open your present.

an 850 Short throw shifter?
The 850 Spiders shift is just too long and has a real long throw. I practically 
throw my arm out shifting at speed.
Any chance this shifter would fit an 850?

3 Fiats
1 Mini
1 Motorcycle
2 Quads 
1 snowmobile (if I could fix it, I could sell it)
3 kids
0 sense

Mira,

: Any chance this shifter would fit an 850?

Nope, totally different.
To shorten the throws on a 850 you'd have to lengthen the part below the pivot -
 assuming there is enough room underneath.

Csaba

'71 124 Spider hi-po 2000, A/C, big brakes, r&p, 3.9 with LSD
personal: http://www.geocities.com/f124ss/
work: http://www.vickauto.com

Back when I had my 80 coupe...they were new cars when I bought mine in 
67...there were two ways to shorten the shifter...get Cosentino's kit with was 
a nice shor lever that slid over the stock lever after you cut it off real 
short...same idea as Jim's shifter but the set screws kept coming loose.  
Other guys even cheaper than me would just cut the stock shifter to the 
desired length and thread the end for a  shift ball.


Carl in Virginia

1980 spider  IDFs/Whoa Brakes
1991 Miata

Carl Friedman wrote:
: Jim is now working on a kit to adapt a Brava lever for spiders so ex-truckers 
: who like those long three foot shifters will feel right at home in their 
: spider.
: ........this is, of course, a joke...Jim is not working on such a kit but for 
: anyone with a spider who wants a shifter right up above dash level such a 
: conversion would work...get that 60s Rat Fink look in your car...

lol - the 124 sedan shift lever is about 2" longer than the 124 spider/coupe 
for that baby rat fink in training node.

Pete

Carl Friedman wrote:
: Other guys even cheaper than me would just cut the stock shifter to the 
: desired length and thread the end for a  shift ball.

This actually sounds like a feasible solution. How did it feel after 
shortening it?

Many moons ago, I got a beautiful bent shifter from a company called:

Classic Accessories Co.
10 Nancyaleen Drive
Wappingers Falls, NY  12590
(914) 298-0379

I paid 60 bucks w/core back in 1995.

Good Luck!

Sam






Mira (Vernon, CT) wrote:
: Carl Friedman wrote:
: : Other guys even cheaper than me would just cut the stock shifter to the 
: : desired length and thread the end for a  shift ball.
: This actually sounds like a feasible solution. How did it feel after 
: shortening it?

I actually have one that mounted in a display plaque in my office.

BRUCE'S PARTS BIN   Italian Auto Parts on the INTERNET
New Warehouse:: 6 B Enterprise Court, Sewell, NJ 08080
Phone: NEW AREA CODE: 856-582-7770   856-582-7444 
Internet: http://www.fiatparts.com
E-Mail: bruces@fiatparts.com     PARTS AT A DISCOUNT!
Fiat Catalog: http://www.fiatparts.com/fiatc-00.htm Revised 1/2006
Alfa Catalog: http://www.fiatparts.com/acpage0.htm
Secure order form: https://ssl.sonic.net/fiatpart/orderfm.htm

I forgot the guy's name, but he died about 5 or so years ago.  The family was 
devastated and as far as I know, didn't continue the business.  If I remember 
correctly, they were trying to sell all the Fiat stuff.  Of course, I didn't 
have the funds....

Arman


sam alam wrote:
: Many moons ago, I got a beautiful bent shifter from a company called:
: Classic Accessories Co.
: 10 Nancyaleen Drive
: Wappingers Falls, NY  12590
: (914) 298-0379
: I paid 60 bucks w/core back in 1995.
: Good Luck!
: Sam
: Mira (Vernon, CT) wrote:
: : Carl Friedman wrote:
: : : Other guys even cheaper than me would just cut the stock shifter to the 
: : : desired length and thread the end for a  shift ball.
: : This actually sounds like a feasible solution. How did it feel after 
: : shortening it?

I don't recall how it felt, that was almost 40 years ago!  Must have been 
wonderful, I was collecting autocross trophies on a weekly basis back then.


Carl in Virginia

1980 spider  IDFs/Whoa Brakes
1991 Miata

Darn, I was going to ask Jim to make me up a three footer so I could mount my
24" draft pull where everyone could see it.  


BTW, Karen confiscated my two short shifters Jim just sent me and said if I was
a good boy, I might see them again (Actually I never got the box open to see
them the first time) on the 25th.

That's what happens when she gets home from work before I do.  



Ken Dickson
Continuous Fiats since 1968
Under Restoration 71 71 76
Current Fiat is "Red" #4 of 7
Visit MOFLO http://www.moflo.org
Live in the St. Louis Area? FLOSTL http://www.flostl.org
Me:  http://www.kendickson.com/car/Fiat.html

I'd have to get on my knees to shift into fifth.  If you really want to see 
something funny, let me take you for a spin in my 78 Chevy dually.

Denise Burchette wrote:
: I'd have to get on my knees to shift into fifth.  If you really want to see 
: something funny, let me take you for a spin in my 78 Chevy dually.

Only if one of the rear wheel arch extensions is ripped mostly off and you have 
dual chrome exhaust stacks up the side of the cab.


Carl in Virginia

1980 spider  IDFs/Whoa Brakes
1991 Miata

Carl Friedman wrote:
: Only if one of the rear wheel arch extensions is ripped mostly off and you 
have 
: dual chrome exhaust stacks up the side of the cab.
: Carl in Virginia
: 1980 spider  IDFs/Whoa Brakes
: 1991 Miata

Sorry, both rear fenders are secure but I have a nice, big turbo wing and 
lighted diamond plated running boards..(wink, wink).  Oh, and a dual 
flowmaster exhaust system.

There is a picture of what Carl is describing here:

http://www.sacred-cactus.com/g2/v/troy/fiat/ricambi/img191a.jpg.html

- troy

1972 FIAT 124 Spider
http://www.sacred-cactus.com/fiat/

troymckaskle (san ramon, ca) wrote:
: There is a picture of what Carl is describing here:
: http://www.sacred-cactus.com/g2/v/troy/fiat/ricambi/img191a.jpg.html

Thanks Troy. Is it the big spring in the picture? Carl said something about it
not being show in the parts manual and that had me puzzled and thinking there
was some other part I'd never been aware of.

............................................................
Rich Stephens, Pacifica, CA
Former Fiats: two 1500 cabs, a Dino, two 131 wagons, a brava
Surf van:'72 Fiat 238 Weinsberg 'Wohnmobile' CamperVan
Daily driver:  '69 124 Spider
One of every Fiat project: http://www.3jar.com/fiat
Bay Area Running of the Fiats club: http://barf.mirafiori.com
............................................................

(Edit)  I'm pretty sure that there's only one spring in the picture, but the
number is 4289499 to clarify.

I have a pretty early parts manual; first edition printed in '72.  It's
different than most other parts manuals I've seen, so I figured I'd check.
Equally plausible is the fact that I could be completely wrong about the
part Carl is referring to...

1972 FIAT 124 Spider
http://www.sacred-cactus.com/fiat/

http://www.fiatparts.com/850shift.gif

BRUCE'S PARTS BIN   Italian Auto Parts on the INTERNET
New Warehouse:: 6 B Enterprise Court, Sewell, NJ 08080
Phone: NEW AREA CODE: 856-582-7770   856-582-7444 
Internet: http://www.fiatparts.com
E-Mail: bruces@fiatparts.com     PARTS AT A DISCOUNT!
Fiat Catalog: http://www.fiatparts.com/fiatc-00.htm Revised 1/2006
Alfa Catalog: http://www.fiatparts.com/acpage0.htm
Secure order form: https://ssl.sonic.net/fiatpart/orderfm.htm

I'd like the shifter to be about the same height as the steering wheel, but the
actual throw of the lever would have to be much shorter than stock. Simply
putting a longer stalk on it would be ridiculous.

I've never much cared for "short shifter kits" that are basically just shorter
stalks without shortening the actually throw. Having to take my hand further
away from the wheel eliminates the benefits of the reduced arc due to the
shorter stalk. I understand there are clearance issues with moving the pivot
points, but there has to be something that can be done...

-Dan
'77 Spider
'81 Strada
'79 Bronco