Take note, this is a fairly complex project to make one simple and durable part, but will take a sh*tload of stress out of the warrior's shifting slop. You'll need quite a bit of tig/mig welder experience to complete it, or simply know someone that does + a box of donuts to bribe them to do it. At this point if you wonder if it's worth the trouble, f*ck yeah it is!!! ;D
Well here goes, the shifter you want to order for this one should be a stock steel shifter from a banshee, which I chose a 2001 since it was guaranteed to use the same splines. Be sure to cut the shorter segment at 3 1/4 inches about, since I refer to it as the 2 1/2" piece. That is simply because you have to go out 2 1/2" from the end of the shift shaft to clear the big bear components. For the first step you want to straighten the lever by correcting the bends that are at the red circles in the diagram below:
You want to keep the bend that goes down the whole lever following the blue line, which gives the lever a little more strength. You'll then want to cut the lever using a diamond cutter or a saw that will leave a clean edge for the future welding. All of the cuts are represented by the yellow lines in the pic. The cut that is at the block with the splines should be right up to the block, leaving no stub, so the round surface of the spline piece is all that's left. Afterwards cut a segment at about 3 1/4" (2 1/2" OUT FROM THE END OF THE SHIFT SHAFT + THE WIDTH OF THE SPLINE PIECE!) further down from the spline removal point on the shifter. Place a brass rod in the splines and clamp it slightly to draw excess heat from the welding, and prevent damaging them. You'll want the threaded side of the spline piece to be pointed up when mounted also, since it will allow the tightening bolt to be applied through the bottom and out of the way of the big bear assembly. If you have to install it through the top, it'll be quite a pain in the ass!
The welder I used was a tig welder, which allowed easily controlled heat, since you don't want to go too hot on this project. See the diagram below for proper weld bead setup for the 2 1/2" outward segment and the spline piece:
The segment with the rubber piece should then be welded to the shorter one at a 90deg angle following the image below:
All of the welds should be done by a experienced welder, just so the weld isn't made too hot, and a very strong bead is made. The lever will be dealing with quite a bit of abuse by a kicking foot, so it's definately a good idea to make it as strong as possible. After all the welds are complete it can then be sanded to prep it for the paint. When I did this I removed all the old paint, and used a moderate grit sandpaper to remove any marks from the clamps used to straighten the lever initially. The paper should also leave a roughened surface for the paint to stick to. I used a gloss black for the color, but anything can be used here to apply about three coats, one every ten minutes or so. The ten minute interval is to allow each coat to half dry and just become tacky for the next coat to stick to. Allow the lever to dry for about a day or so afterwards, hanging it up by the rubber piece so the paint can completely dry. Here is a pic of mine when I finished it, sorry it's a little dark and dirty!
Well here goes, the shifter you want to order for this one should be a stock steel shifter from a banshee, which I chose a 2001 since it was guaranteed to use the same splines. Be sure to cut the shorter segment at 3 1/4 inches about, since I refer to it as the 2 1/2" piece. That is simply because you have to go out 2 1/2" from the end of the shift shaft to clear the big bear components. For the first step you want to straighten the lever by correcting the bends that are at the red circles in the diagram below:
You want to keep the bend that goes down the whole lever following the blue line, which gives the lever a little more strength. You'll then want to cut the lever using a diamond cutter or a saw that will leave a clean edge for the future welding. All of the cuts are represented by the yellow lines in the pic. The cut that is at the block with the splines should be right up to the block, leaving no stub, so the round surface of the spline piece is all that's left. Afterwards cut a segment at about 3 1/4" (2 1/2" OUT FROM THE END OF THE SHIFT SHAFT + THE WIDTH OF THE SPLINE PIECE!) further down from the spline removal point on the shifter. Place a brass rod in the splines and clamp it slightly to draw excess heat from the welding, and prevent damaging them. You'll want the threaded side of the spline piece to be pointed up when mounted also, since it will allow the tightening bolt to be applied through the bottom and out of the way of the big bear assembly. If you have to install it through the top, it'll be quite a pain in the ass!
The welder I used was a tig welder, which allowed easily controlled heat, since you don't want to go too hot on this project. See the diagram below for proper weld bead setup for the 2 1/2" outward segment and the spline piece:
The segment with the rubber piece should then be welded to the shorter one at a 90deg angle following the image below:
All of the welds should be done by a experienced welder, just so the weld isn't made too hot, and a very strong bead is made. The lever will be dealing with quite a bit of abuse by a kicking foot, so it's definately a good idea to make it as strong as possible. After all the welds are complete it can then be sanded to prep it for the paint. When I did this I removed all the old paint, and used a moderate grit sandpaper to remove any marks from the clamps used to straighten the lever initially. The paper should also leave a roughened surface for the paint to stick to. I used a gloss black for the color, but anything can be used here to apply about three coats, one every ten minutes or so. The ten minute interval is to allow each coat to half dry and just become tacky for the next coat to stick to. Allow the lever to dry for about a day or so afterwards, hanging it up by the rubber piece so the paint can completely dry. Here is a pic of mine when I finished it, sorry it's a little dark and dirty!
