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This is an entirely driver-feedback oriented modification. Your OEM shifter linkage is fairly short in throw, as stock setups go. One thing your OEM shifter may lack is precision; this can be remedied by installing Turn-In-Concepts or Torque Solutions shifter bushings. These are the bushings that steady the bracket through which the shifter is leveraged as it goes into the transmission. These are stiffer replacements and eliminate some play, offering a tighter, more precise feel in your shifter.
Once you've got a set of those bushings, you now have a legitimate reason to drop your driveshaft (it's easier than it sounds) and get in there to install a short throw. An STS is best when paired with a short-throw, aggressive sports clutch; once you get yourself dialed into the car with the shorter-throw, more accurate shifter, and the short and quick clutch, you'll be banging out money shifts (the good kind) rapidly.
There's no reason to not get an STS given the price, ease of installation, and improvement in shift feel when used with shifter bushings.
There are a handful of kits available, as always order from the reseller of your choice.
- TWM Short-Throw Kit -
$274 (MSRP)
Arguably the finest quality brand for this application, TWM's shifter offers a solid and accurate product that has been machined with nice, tight tolerances - and it offers a degree of vibration dampening as well. The cheaper an STS, the looser the manufacturing tolerances, and thus the less accurate it will feel, and the more it will vibrate. TWM is the pick of the pack; it's also the most expensive.
- Torque Solutions STS - $179 (MSRP)
A massive drop in price, this kit appears (visually anyway) to be the same kit sold as "Ralco". The mfr's website advertises "installs in 30 minutes". There are a handful of parts on this car that snap-on in half an hour; this isn't one of them. If this is the same as the Ralco kit, it's reasonable quality, definitely a good buy at the price. It's recommended that you shim this shifter with some thin lock washers (the type that have small teeth facing inwards, usually #10 diameter) when you install the lowermost crossbolt that secures the aftermarket shifter to the OEM shift rod that goes into the transmission. Shimming the crossbolt's fitting where it secures the fork to the shifter eliminates as much play as possible; in most cases, shimming a cheap, lower-end shifter like this will yield results equal to the TWM for less.
- Ralco RZ STS - $139
This appears to be the same product as described above, though don't quote me on that, that's just a guess. This shifter is a great buy at the price, and I myself have installed quite a few of these, and for less than one dollar, I shimmed it with toothed lockwashers from Home Depot (using some patience and a flathead screwdriver) and got an STS thats just as sharp and precise as the TWM that costs twice as much.
- ATQ STS - $200 (MSRP)
So far the only STS to pass the rigorous testing
and inspection by Snoopy. Copying the design of the OE pivot ball it solves the strain on the synchros that some others present with. It's basically a factory shifter but with a shorter throw and a beefier construction. Not much to say on it other than it works, doesn't require any extra hardware what-so-ever and won't help your synchros have less teeth than the average hillbilly.
- Turn-in-Concepts STS - $??
This thing disappeared, TiC no longer lists it though they show up for sale here and there. If you can find one, they are made in-house at TiC and a great product, like most everything they make.
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