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Mazdaspeed Competition Aluminum Shifter Bushing Findings

4K views 14 replies 12 participants last post by  demoniam 
#1 ·
Hey Guys,

I just skimmed through the other aluminum shifter bushing thread for Planet Miata and saw that people were having fitment issues with these bushings. I personally purchased these bushings from Mazdaspeed Motorsports Developement and I just wanted to share a couple of things that I found with mine.

I ordered two of these, one for my turbo NA and one for my NB. I decided to change the one on my NA first as it is older and probably more worn.

I used some high temp grease to press the shifter ball into the bushing. I did this by putting the bushing flat on my work bench and put my weight onto the shifter pressing it in. Once the bushing was in, I noticed that it did not want to move at all. It seemed that the bushing didn't fit (way too tight), just like others had experienced. I put it into the turret and noticed that it was extremely hard to shift and that the shifter would not spring back into its neutral position when you let go of it.

I took the shifter out and used a rag and pliers to move the bushing around. While doing so, I actually put cut marks and nicks into it with the pliers even though the rag was around it (as it required that much force to move around the shifter ball). So I automatically assumed that I received a bad one.

I installed the second bushing in the same manor and had experienced the same tight symptoms. However, this time I just installed the shifter anyways. While the shifter was installed, I kept shifting through the gears. After about 5 minutes of shifting with the car off, the bushing seemed to move a little easier, however it still wouldn't spring back into it's neutral position and would stick when I let go of the shifter. I drove the car around for a little while hoping that the heat would expand the aluminum and allow it to "break in" more. Please note that while doing this it was very difficult to shift properly into the correct gears. After about 2 hours of driving, the bushing seemed to have worn in and the shifter would move more freely and spring back into it's neutral position.

The shifter is definately much more tight while in gear and has less play. However, I still don't know if I like the feel. I almost think that replacing the bushing with a new plastic one would have been the way to go.

Anyways, I just wanted to share this with you guys to let you know that the Mazda Comp bushings will work after you break them in for a little while.

Also, FWIW. Aside from the fact that I chewed up the first bushing and used the second one I had in my NA, instead of my NB. I will not be buying another one of these to put into my NB. The plastic bushing is still in good shape at 59k and when the time comes I will probably just purchase another plastic bushing.


Cheers
 
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#2 ·
Thanks for the review. I hope it helps members and hopefully someone at Mazda Motorsports Development will see this post and do something about it. Actually, you should probably e-mail them to let them know directly. Sorry to hear about your bad experience. I bought mine about 4 years ago and I didn't have any fitment issues. Perhaps their quality has drifted a bit since then.
 
#3 ·
Great review. I actually had a different experience in terms of fit than you.

The bushing I received was too loose in my 1991. Meaning that there was no interference fit when I slipped the bushing onto the ball part of the shifter. Regardless I tried it out and I had similar experience with the feel after I installed the aluminum piece. Really hard to shift, and it just didn't feel "right". Almost feels like you're crunching gears. Long story short I ended up going back to an OEM plastic piece.
 
#5 ·
Just noticed this thread, I had same experience as OP. Really, really tight going in, had to pre-grease both shifter/bushing and tab with a rubber mallet to get it in. After button everything up, shifter does not want to spring back to neutral position after coming out of each gear. I almost want to take it back out and put in the extra plastic one I have. Since this is not my daily driver, I worked it another ~10 minutes days later in additional to the 5 minutes after the initial install. It is shifting normal now without any sloppiness feel.
 
#14 ·
Has anybody used the collar with a C's Short Shifter, was much improvement had?

When i installed my shifter i noticed that my boots were ripped and i still have been waiting since i have been lazy. When i do replace the boots if there is improvement to be had i will replace the collar as well.
 
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