The shifter’s more or less complete; it needs a few more bits and a more robust pivot bearing but I’m very happy with it. I have to give credit to Locost builder Alan for how he did his shifter, and to Honda for the OEM shifter I dissected. Dang if there isn’t any other obvious way to control a transmission using two push-pull cables – it’s just geometry – so they can’t help but work similarly.
It won’t be until the push-pull cables arrive can shifter effort be evaluated and the linkages altered to suit. Final shifter placement will also have to wait for the cables since with nothing connected there’s no shifting effort – no fair fixing its position only to find it’s uncomfortable once connected. Guess that means I need to get them on order… Kimini’s shifter fabrication took weeks so it’s good to see this one moving along much faster. I’m not a fan of the shift knob; it was just sitting around. A leather one that doesn’t heat-soak to 160 degrees in the sun would be better but may not weather as well. A knob better suited for sitting in the weather is probably one off a convertible like a Miata.
Oh, I frequently get e-mails asking something along the lines of, “I’ve been looking to build a car like Midlana, do you sell plans?” Sigh… I guess I need to put in large font on the front page that the book’s not done yet. It’s a dead giveaway that they aren’t reading past the first page. Speaking of the book, the manuscript’s currently at 221 pages.