My car is a freak of nature....

[Plays_with_Toys]

My car is a 1996 (built 1995) legacy L. It has the 2.2 liter motor in it with single port exhaust heads, but hydraulic lash adjusters. It also has the cable clutch and hill holder. I just opened up my center console to figure out what shifter I need and wouldn't you know it, I have the newer 97 and up style shifter (the fork is not on the shifter but the linkage between the shifter and the transmission).

Ughhh....

Anyway, my question is, for those who have installed short shifters on your 97+, does the shifter need to have the ball at the bottom of the shifter? There was a rubber coverat the base of my shifter, and I didn't want to remove it and tear it or something.

[RadeOn]

Good, someone will be a test monkey for me :)
Your linkage probably is like mine (new on top, and old on transmission side), so probably short shifters for 97+ should work, but I did not try those since it could be that even though top linkage looks "new" style, its not yet the same (because the transmission linkage is older type, so who knows what exactly is on top).
So please make you post back when you get some 97+ short shifter :)

[Plays_with_Toys]

Well I'm trying to decide which shifter to get as well. Kartboy is pretty expensive, and is only one inch shorter in overall height. I'd like a really short shifter both in throw and in height.

[stanz]

im scared to even deal with this mod with my 95 L

[Reason]

Kartboy is pretty expensive

Are you kidding me?? I think they have the best prices going for our cars. I had the same problem with an early production car. My 97 was built in 96 and my ignition and a few other parts were from a 96. The Nology wires I had need to be custom made, Nology hooked me up.

[AJM]

Single ports unite...or untie...er...

[ooberdoob]

kartboy FTW!

it's so cheap! 130 for bushings shifter and knob, cmon now

[Plays_with_Toys]

What? Where? It was $150 for the shifter and the bushings from what I saw. Where are you getting your numbers?

[Reason]

ummmmm www.kartboy.com (http://www.kartboy.com)

[Plays_with_Toys]

150 with a knob. I see now it's $100 for just the shifter, and another $20 for the bushings.

[Wiscon_Mark]

Whoa, wait. Take that panel off and check out the bottom. There is a possibility of a difference in size. I know my 95 has a larger joint than the newer style has.

I doubt it, but you should check.

Oh, and all EJ22s came with the cable clutch, it wasn't really year dependent.

[Perdue]

Umm...Cobb Short Shifter ftw. It's not a lot more, IIRC, and it's adjustable for the prefect feel and look. The trans itself is pretty much the same, but the linkages are different between those years.

[peugoby]

im scared to even deal with this mod with my 95 L

Truth! My mechanic David at RalliTek told me that AVO makes a short shift kit that will fit my 95 L. I'm hesitant though.

[Wiscon_Mark]

The cobb short shifter is actually a bit cheaper than the KB last time I looked.

[Plays_with_Toys]

ok... So after reading this:

http://www.legacycentral.org/library/shifter.htm

and measuring my shifter, my shifter is narrower at the fork and the bolt that goes through the shifter. Knowing that and that Kartboy does not offer a model in this width, I'm going to probably buy a cheapie steel shifter from ebay and mill down the piece that connects the shifter a little narrower. Apparently it's about 10mm narrower. So I'm looking at something like this:

clicky (http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/02-05-SUBARU-IMPREZA-WRX-JDM-RACING-SHORT-SHIFTER-03-04_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33736QQihZ005QQitemZ150140075063QQrdZ1)

So I'll hold off until I am back at school and have a vertical mill I can use. I liked at the COBB unit, but if I am going to mill it myself anyway, I'd like to start cheaper in case it doesn't work in the end anyway. It looks like those of you with a 96 are seriously bum out of luck. Worse than the 95 guys even. Seems like if you have this setup it was quite an oddball run of parts.

[Wiscon_Mark]

You should contact Tom @ Kartboy. It wouldn't be hard for him to make a few narrower shifters, it doesn't really involve changing the design.

[Plays_with_Toys]

Well I looked into it further. Apparently not only is the barrel width different, but the ball at the end is also a different diameter. So. Screw it. Come august I'm going to turn my own shifter on the lathe. And then I'll have to mill something custom for the barrel. It'll probably have an adjustable height kind of like the perrin unit.