Jammin Gears: Shift Your F-Body With B&M Precision
Yeah you've got power, looks and a lot of tire, but how fast can you power through the gears in a 4th Gen F-body? The answer: only as fast as the shifter will travel. Since the dawn of the muscle car there has always been a question of how to get through the gears the fastest. Is it power shifting, clutchless shifting, or some unique blend of homegrown gear slamming? Compared to the old school Rockcrusher the T-56 shifts like a go-cart, but there's always room for improvement.
No matter how you prefer to get through the gears there is always the length of shifter travel limiting shifting performance. To remedy this problem the tech gurus at B&M Racing and Performance designed the Precision Sport Shifter. Yeah it looks cool and carries the B&M logo but as the name implies, it cut our shifts down by about 30%. Using the simple principal of leverage the Precision Sport Shifter changes the pivot point allowing the Ôthrow' to be reduced. The actual length of the shaft can remain the same but by utilizing a different pivot point the distance the top of the stick travels is shortened.
Like a couple of kids at Christmas we tore the B&M box open to play with our new billet shifter. We were impressed with the construction to say the least. All the hard parts shipped to us were CNC machined using a combination of 303 stainless steel and 6061-T6 aluminum. The shifter base was anodized a cool shade of B&M blue and came with a drop-on rubber boot along with Allen head bolts and adjustable alignment washers that allow for stock, forward or rearward shifter positioning.
The long and short of it: 10 feet of rubber banging second and a solid chirp for third was proof positive that our shifts were clean and lightning fast. If you have your new B&M Precision Sport Shifter shipped overnight you'll probably have it by 10:30 the next day which gives you 90 minutes to have it installed before a cool cruise to lunch or in our case, an excuse to power shift our way to the 7-11 for a couple of Twinkies.
Installation
Complete with shifter, mounting hardware, rubber boot and adjustable washers the B&M Sport Shifter was nicely packaged complete with instructions.
We started by removing the factory shifter knob. Be sure to keep the knob, as it will be reused on the new B&M Shifter.
Next, we remove all six mounting bolts. Two are located on the side of the console under the dash, and the remaining four are located inside the console itself.
The smaller inner console can be removed first.
With the smaller console out of the way, the main console can be removed. Be sure to pull the emergency brake as high as possible.
Removing the cigarette lighter and second power plug will allow you to completely set the console out of your way.
We chose to remove the external shifter arm, however you can leave this part attached if you like, but be careful removing the inner boot over the arm.
Unscrew the small sheet metal screws and remove the OE boot.
After removing the four main bolts holding the shifter into the transmission, pull sideways on the shifter keeping in mind you are breaking loose the factory sealant.
After scraping off the old sealant, check to see how the shifter feels when set in place. As a cool option from B&M we had the ability to mount the shifter in the stock position, forward or rearward using different washers. Once youÕve decided how you want your Precision Shifter mounted, apply fresh RTV to the surface where the shifter mounts and set the B&M in place. Be sure the plastic bushing that cups the ball end of the shifter is correctly attached.
Using the four supplied Allen bolts and spacer washers (normal, forward or rearward) bolt the B&M shifter in place.
In the spirit of cleanliness B&M also includes an inner boot and retaining ring.
Reinstall the factory boot.
Reconnect your electrical connections.
Replace the console and snug up all six bolts.
Screw the OE shifter knob back in place and head to the track!
Source
B&M Racing & Performance
9142 Independence Ave.
Chatsworth, CA 91311
www.bmracing.com
818/882-6422
L.A. Performance Division
10155 Canoga Ave.
Chatsworth, CA 91311
www.thelapd.com
877/843-5273
Back to the article index.
