Hey all,
So I received the Barton Billet Shifter Bracket and Barton's white ball shift knob today and promptly ran out to install. I had been having problems with the 2-3 shift at full throttle. It's not that it would grind or was notchy, it just plain wouldn't go in! It felt like the 1-4 lockout but for 3rd gear. (I know it's not the economy shift lockout cause I unplugged the lockout solenoid) If I shifted a little slower, the shifter would slip right into 3rd gear. My theory after reading about the trans and remote shifter setup was that under load, the motor and trans is torque'd a little to one side causing the linkage and trans to be out of alignment with each other. When shifting slower, there's enough time "off load" for everything to drop back into alignment and allowing the smooth shift. I wasn't sure the Barton bracket would really help since it's just holding the shifter even more rigid to the body, but for $79, what the heck, I'll give it a try.
I won't go into detail about the install since there's a video out there that's pretty accurate. I will just say that space down there is tight and it was a little bit of a challenge to get the top two allen screws tightened.
Did it help? Hells yes. As others have mentioned, it definitely removes the mushy feeling of the stock shifter. The rubber on the stock bracket is incredibly soft. After I put the Barton bracket in, there was a more direct feeling to the shifter. A little notchy, but not really harsh. After driving around a little bit, I now know why the rubber on the stock bracket is so soft. I definitely felt more vibration through the shifter with the Barton bracket in. Anyway...on to the 2-3 shifts. On my way to the highway, I decided to do a quick 2nd to 3rd gear blast to see if it would even go into 3rd. The tires started spinning at the top of 2nd gear and kept spinning when I banged 3rd! That never happened before because either 1) it just wouldn't go into 3rd or 2) the slow shift dropped the rpm enough and gave the tires time to get grip again. Later on during the night, I got onto a highway onramp and stayed in 2nd gear and punched it as I got onto the highway. I shifted 3rd again and had the rear step out ever so slightly. I am definitely one happy camper now!
The shift knob did add a little length to the throw being that it sits a little higher than the stock knob so I can't do a direct comparison of how the Barton bracket feels from stock. Either way, the shifts are really nice now. I used to get a little bit of a notch when upshifting into 4th and sometimes into 5th. Those are gone now.
Anyway, I know there were a couple of you waiting to hear how the Barton bracket feels when used with the stock shifter. I don't have the serious 1-2 or 2-3 grind that some are experiencing so I can't comment on whether will help that issue or not. All I know is that it really tightened up the shifting and now allows me to get into 3rd gear at full throttle.
Sorry for the rambling. Here are a couple of pics:
Stock bracket vs. Barton
New Barton White ball shift knob with the correct pattern for 2011 GTs:
Let me know if there are any questions about the install and I'll answer to the best of my ability.
Thanks,
Jerry
So I received the Barton Billet Shifter Bracket and Barton's white ball shift knob today and promptly ran out to install. I had been having problems with the 2-3 shift at full throttle. It's not that it would grind or was notchy, it just plain wouldn't go in! It felt like the 1-4 lockout but for 3rd gear. (I know it's not the economy shift lockout cause I unplugged the lockout solenoid) If I shifted a little slower, the shifter would slip right into 3rd gear. My theory after reading about the trans and remote shifter setup was that under load, the motor and trans is torque'd a little to one side causing the linkage and trans to be out of alignment with each other. When shifting slower, there's enough time "off load" for everything to drop back into alignment and allowing the smooth shift. I wasn't sure the Barton bracket would really help since it's just holding the shifter even more rigid to the body, but for $79, what the heck, I'll give it a try.
I won't go into detail about the install since there's a video out there that's pretty accurate. I will just say that space down there is tight and it was a little bit of a challenge to get the top two allen screws tightened.
Did it help? Hells yes. As others have mentioned, it definitely removes the mushy feeling of the stock shifter. The rubber on the stock bracket is incredibly soft. After I put the Barton bracket in, there was a more direct feeling to the shifter. A little notchy, but not really harsh. After driving around a little bit, I now know why the rubber on the stock bracket is so soft. I definitely felt more vibration through the shifter with the Barton bracket in. Anyway...on to the 2-3 shifts. On my way to the highway, I decided to do a quick 2nd to 3rd gear blast to see if it would even go into 3rd. The tires started spinning at the top of 2nd gear and kept spinning when I banged 3rd! That never happened before because either 1) it just wouldn't go into 3rd or 2) the slow shift dropped the rpm enough and gave the tires time to get grip again. Later on during the night, I got onto a highway onramp and stayed in 2nd gear and punched it as I got onto the highway. I shifted 3rd again and had the rear step out ever so slightly. I am definitely one happy camper now!
The shift knob did add a little length to the throw being that it sits a little higher than the stock knob so I can't do a direct comparison of how the Barton bracket feels from stock. Either way, the shifts are really nice now. I used to get a little bit of a notch when upshifting into 4th and sometimes into 5th. Those are gone now.
Anyway, I know there were a couple of you waiting to hear how the Barton bracket feels when used with the stock shifter. I don't have the serious 1-2 or 2-3 grind that some are experiencing so I can't comment on whether will help that issue or not. All I know is that it really tightened up the shifting and now allows me to get into 3rd gear at full throttle.
Sorry for the rambling. Here are a couple of pics:
Stock bracket vs. Barton
New Barton White ball shift knob with the correct pattern for 2011 GTs:
Let me know if there are any questions about the install and I'll answer to the best of my ability.
Thanks,
Jerry
