C's Short Shifter

Like with many other components for the RX-7, short shifters are a dying breed. Aside from eBay, the majority of offerings are out of production and no longer available from their respective manufacturers.

C’s is one maker I’m especially keen on, but given that the company itself is now out of business, it’s safe to assume their RX-7 shifter is DEFINITELY no longer available. While a shifter is relatively basic in its mechanics, quality and detail can still be appreciated. C’s specialized in making short shifters and held a reputation for high caliber construction.

The stock shifter is already nice, which is basically what the installed RE-Amemiya shifter was, so I wanted a shifter that wouldn’t depreciate the feel by being overly notchy or stubborn to work. The general consensus from users who have trialled multiple shifters is that the C’s offered the best refinement. Of course, this is all subjective, but was a positive notion nonetheless.

I sent over a candid email to a contact (same guy who sold me the RX-7 in the first place), who is known to have stockpiles of random RX-7 parts, and inquired on a short shifter. By a stroke of luck, he happened to be in the middle of a part-out on a car that conveniently had a C’s. I jumped on it, of course, since this was a rare chance for me to try one of these shifters.

Here are all the parts laid out after cleaning.

The brand of authenticity:

And here’s the C’s juxtaposed with the RE-Amemiya short shifter. I don’t think it’s accurate to call the latter a short shifter. As depicted in the picture below, the “arm” of the shifters are different lengths. The C’s has a longer arm, which raises the fulcrum. The RE-Amemiya is the same as a stock shifter, only the top portion, where the shift knob threads in, has been lowered…

Installation was easy and straight forward. I remade a pair of the paper gaskets myself and greased up the pivot ball prior to dropping in.

After going through all the gears with the C’s, the feel is a welcomed change. The stock throw was nothing to complain about, but it was softer in feel. Now with the C’s, shifts are truly like the proverbial “lever-action of a well greased rifle”.