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Dar
14-02-08, 11:35 AM
Internal Cavalier gear shift

If you want to run a big exhaust system on your Nova you will find that the OE gear stick causes a problem hanging there right in the way of where you want the system to run. The answer is to install the gear shifter from a Cavalier.

Tools

Welder, or someone who can do it for you.
Jigsaw (for cutting the hole in the bulkhead)
Hole cuttter (for cutting the hole in the bulkhead)
Grinder
Drill


The last thing you should do is shorten the the Cavalier gear stick. It's a good idea to get the car preped first and then bolt the gearstick down where you want it to go. Measure how much needs to come off of it. Once the car prep is all done shorten then gear linkage and straighten it:thumb:

Shortening the gearshift rod

Method 1
Chop the rod off at the bend and then take 3" off of it (standard position). Then reweld it back together so that it is now 3" shorter and also straight. If you don't have a chopsaw to cut the bar as straight as possible or you have already done this part and it's too short. Then method 2 is where you want to look next.

Method 2
When shortening / straightening the rod, cut the bend off the rod leaving it as long as possible then chop the rod off the origional Nova shifter. This part now slots inside the rod on the Cav shifter (will slide in / out to give correct length). To get the right length connect it to the linkage with the box in neutral then hold the shifter in neutral weld the 2 parts together.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v485/DPursey/Gearlinkage/DSC06543_640x480.jpg

You have to remove the carpet support that sits across the tunnel in front of the gear stick. Then remove the original gear stick mounting.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v485/DPursey/Gearlinkage/Dsc06088_1_640x480.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v485/DPursey/Gearlinkage/DSC06092_640x480.jpg
Ignore the removal of the metal across the car. That was to do with something else.

Then plate over the hole and give it a bit of primer
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v485/DPursey/Gearlinkage/DSC06094_640x480.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v485/DPursey/Gearlinkage/DSC06095_640x480.jpg


Now you have to cut the hole for the internal linkage to go through. The hole must start 80mm rearward of the tunnel to the bulkhead body seam. It should measure roughly 80mm by 25mm. That is what the competition build manual says, however in practice it's best to make it extend 20mm or so. So the dimensions should be 70mm rearward of the tunnel to the bulkhead body seam. It's also a good idea to give yourself a few mm widthways as well. So it should measure roughly 100mm by 30mm.

It is tight under there and I have had great difficulty in cutting the hole. However I have found the best way is to:-

Get a hole cutter and cut two holes top and bottom.
Then get a jigzaw and cut out the bits linking the two holes.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v485/DPursey/Gearlinkage/holecutting.jpg

Then paint it all and refit the interior if you took it out (which you should have done since you would have been grinding in there)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v485/DPursey/Gearlinkage/DSC06100_640x480.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v485/DPursey/Gearlinkage/hole.jpg

Then last but not least fit the gearstick. Try and get it as near to the origonal position as possible. If you want it in a different position to the origonal then you must think about how long/short you need to make the gearstick. It connects to the gearbox linkage in exactly the same way as the origonal linkage. I put a thin piece of latex rubber over the hole but it's not nessacary.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v485/DPursey/Gearlinkage/DSC06539_640x480.jpg

Additional Notes

You can obviously put the carpet back in to your car. The example shown was on a Sprint car which didn't have any carpet in the first place. You may want to add a bit of additional support to the sides of the tunnel so that the carpet has somehthing to rest on. One idea would be to not chop the whole of the carpet support out but just cut it down the middle and fold the insides down and reweld them to the floor. However you will have to take the rear part of the carpet support out to give you room to cut the hole in the bulkhead.

dan23
14-02-08, 10:29 PM
you dont haveto remove the carpet you can make a hole for the shifter to pass through
an you can patch up the origanl hole so you cant tell it was there
will ad pic later

Paul
14-02-08, 10:44 PM
I cut a 30mm x 100mm hole, just to give a fe mm extra clearance either side of th stick :)

ashtal
13-04-08, 11:21 AM
Some pics for when i fitted mine



http://img1.putfile.com/thumb/2/5512560315.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=4855362)

http://img1.putfile.com/thumb/2/5512560490.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=4855363)

http://img1.putfile.com/thumb/2/5513054614.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=4855434)

http://img1.putfile.com/thumb/3/6209085856.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=4905228)

http://img1.putfile.com/thumb/3/6209085944.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=4905229)

The Simps
13-04-08, 11:40 AM
Excellent guide :thumb:

Is it right that the cally shifter is perfectly straight unlike the cav one?

Paul
13-04-08, 02:12 PM
my cally one is similar in appearance to a banana ;)

saloonwoody
13-04-08, 04:08 PM
im tempted to do this but im not sure ?:( anyone fancy doin it for me ??:):):)

trackdaynova
13-04-08, 04:12 PM
Simps - mine was a Calibra one and had a very slight bend in it that still needs removing, however the Astra/ Cav ones have a full blown kink...

Some pics from my build diary, repetition to whats above, but its always good to see as many pics as possible!


In preperation to do the internal shifter mod, I removed the excess metal tonight
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q161/neocapture/nc0657.jpg

During... spot weld drill bit made a mess, ended up going through both layers! doh
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q161/neocapture/nc0658.jpg

Metal gone...
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q161/neocapture/nc0659.jpg

Got fed up with poxy drill bit, do got the grinder on the passenger side - much neater lol
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q161/neocapture/nc0660.jpg


Took the internal shifter than I bought from John H, and cut the kink out by removing 3 inches, as per the guide written by Dar, however the kink wasn't as great as some I seen - but Lee had told me it needed to be straight straight
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q161/neocapture/nc0662.jpg

However the other end of the shaft has a slight bend in it - is this correct? or has it been damaged previously?
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q161/neocapture/nc0663.jpg

Welded back up, 3inches shorter and kinkless
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q161/neocapture/nc0664.jpg

Made sure it was straight by putting the two halves in a vice and putting a spirit level across the join
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q161/neocapture/nc0665.jpg

Then I marked out the 100mm x 30mm hole, however I went to 40mm wide just so I had a bit more clearence, and I set about using the air nibbler to nibble the hole out, as there is no space for a drill and jigsaw with the dash & heaters in place, the outcome... fairly neat!
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q161/neocapture/nc0668.jpg

Paul
15-04-08, 03:04 PM
im having a bit of trouble with the calibra one, any gen on whether it actually fits?

Adam
15-04-08, 03:45 PM
Thats a cally one above going by Ollys post, so yeah it must do....

mulletor
01-05-08, 10:10 PM
does any1 know if the gearstick is held in neutral position then how much is the rod protuding.need good measurement.
as i have an astra 1 and it has already been cut and chopped. and is the hole in the bulkhead the same if you use a f28 and c20let.

dan16v
28-05-08, 01:55 PM
Good guide!
I thought about doing this a few times, but in the end just rose jointed the standard linkage, my exhaust guy also said there were no problems running the 3" exhaust under the car with the standard shifter in place, so i suppose its personal preference!

beef@novadose.net
19-06-08, 09:31 PM
Can someone measure the diameter of the Cavalier rod? The bit that you have to straighten and shorten...

nyabinghi
09-09-08, 07:19 PM
Very good guide, thanks for this!

This guide is only for cavalier shifter ? Does astra mk2 ones fit ? What the difference between astra mk2 and cavalier shifters ?

loggyboy
10-09-08, 09:25 AM
To be honest anything 'should' work as its all got to be retrofitted, so as long as you have a half decent tech head you should be able to get it all to fit. Measurements etc are pointless as this job is largely an 'on the fly' job, meaning you have to just play with it on the car and cut and weld things once trying them in place once or twice.

I started as above by removing all the centre consol excess metal, then cut the hole in the bullk head roughly in the right position. I then cut the end off my Nova linkage and fed it through the hole:

http://www.loggyboy.com/images/MeritMk2/CavShifter/CavShifter1.jpg

I then cut roughly the right length off the cav shifter bar ready to weld the 2 together.

http://www.loggyboy.com/images/MeritMk2/CavShifter/CavShifter3.jpg

Before welding the bars together I welded part of the Cav tunnel to over the top of the novas so it lifted the shifter up towards me (this is personal preference and you can mount urs however you see fit.)

http://www.loggyboy.com/images/MeritMk2/CavShifter/CavShifter4Base.jpg

I then centralised (ie neutral) the gearbox and the gearstick to get them roughly alligned.

http://www.loggyboy.com/images/MeritMk2/CavShifter/CavShifter5.jpg

then it was time to weld the two together. then allign/adjust them in the normal way.

http://www.loggyboy.com/images/MeritMk2/CavShifter/CavShifter6.jpg

heds
21-11-08, 11:54 PM
2 things please,

1. do you remove 3" from the straight section then reweld the end with the kink back on or should it be straight all the way with no kink at all?

2. im using c20let with f28, do i use the original unmodified f28 linkage on box or the modified one using nova arm and shortened shaft which i had working before hand?

R1CH
22-11-08, 02:07 AM
2 things please,

1. do you remove 3" from the straight section then reweld the end with the kink back on or should it be straight all the way with no kink at all?

2. im using c20let with f28, do i use the original unmodified f28 linkage on box or the modified one using nova arm and shortened shaft which i had working before hand?

1. You remove the kinked part so it ends up being straight

2. The Cav shifter just bolts up to the linkage the same way as the std Nova shifter did, no need to change / adjust the linkage at all.

heds
21-12-08, 09:57 PM
do you still need to shorten the rod on the linkage or flip the white plastic block or should these be left as they where made?

R1CH
23-12-08, 08:17 PM
You'll still need to modify the linkage to fit the F28, you've gotta shorten the rod that the white plastic bit fits to - cant mind by how much, 40 - 50 mm ??
Whether you use a std box or an F20 / F28 you'll need the linkage to suit, the Cav shifter will bolt up to that linkage in the same way as the std Nova shifter would.

hc coupe
24-12-08, 10:23 AM
Would anyone know if a Vectra B linkage would work ?

http://i17.ebayimg.com/05/i/001/1e/36/dfe4_1.JPG
http://pics.ebaystatic.com/aw/pics/s.gif

loggyboy
24-12-08, 11:10 AM
By the looks of it, it should work fine. As you will be cutting and welding it to line up pretty much anything will work..

supernovaxe
13-07-09, 02:45 AM
nice one mate, will be giving that ago, what quickshift linkage works with that?

corsae16se
03-01-10, 08:47 PM
just a quick question iv got a gte will i be able to fit centre consloe in because my elec window switches are mounted here ? pm me withe answers please

loggyboy
03-01-10, 09:41 PM
The short answer is no.
I guess its feasable, you would need to get the linkage bar set so low that it goes under the upper tunnel frame that the centre consol is bolted to.

AlexW
03-01-10, 10:08 PM
This is somthing i was thinking about, Im planning to try and do somthing so it looks factory. Or just make another centre console.

corsae16se
03-01-10, 11:00 PM
was also wondering if i could use a corsa linkage as iv go a few hangin about is this possible ?

AlanH
13-03-10, 10:17 AM
on doing this myself, will post pics up of my results. top guide and really helpful

Iain
13-03-10, 01:07 PM
I'm struggling to find a shifter that'll fit straight in, without using part of the Nova rod. Most other Vauxhalls seem to have a "slide in to the linkage" end of the shifter rod rather than the "slide over" that the Nova needs?!

Adam
13-03-10, 01:38 PM
Yup/\ Hence why ive had to put two pieces and 2 welds in mine

You need to find the one Olly H uses. Looks like it may not have been a cally one, mk2 astra maybe??

Iain
13-03-10, 02:18 PM
Today I checked various years of Corsa Bs, mk3 Astras, Cavaliers, Vectras and a Calibra and they all looked wrong at the linkage end.

Paul
14-03-10, 12:29 AM
chopped the nova bit off and welded that to the end of mine...

dave beety
16-03-10, 01:00 AM
im trying to fit a seh engine in my nova sr and cant get the gears to work lol

Rich
16-03-10, 08:14 PM
You need to flip the white universal joint around that connects to the turret of the gearbox.

Wrong place to be posting this really lol

AlexW
02-08-10, 12:18 AM
Was having a think about this the other night. The Cav/corsa etc shifters have the slide Over rod end, so if you used a corsa (at least i know that fits) linkage bit you could replace that bush rather than having the linkage bush bit drop off all the time.

If that makes sence?

_Jake
09-07-11, 12:01 AM
Can you still select reverse allright with one of these? as in it will still push down and go over allright?

Lee
09-07-11, 12:10 AM
Cav shifters have a lift up sleeve to select reverse, but as all vauxhalls of that era had reverse in the same place, it works fine.

TeddyThom
21-11-11, 01:45 PM
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v485/DPursey/Gearlinkage/DSC06539_640x480.jpg


With this setup is it possible to reattach the centre console?? Or would it rub and make things generally very difficult??

Adam
21-11-11, 05:35 PM
Not really as the "box" of the shifter is about the same width as a centre console.
I suppose you could with a fair bit of modding though.

Malacin
21-06-12, 09:31 PM
hi....when making the internal cavalier shifter, it's for a F28 gearbox please...and then what kind of linkage should i use for an f28 with this shifter? thx

stuartp
23-01-13, 07:30 PM
http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q203/stuartp741/IMAG0542.jpg
Whats this one out of chaps?

Adam
23-01-13, 08:31 PM
Looks like a mk3 astra i think

Malacin
17-07-14, 04:45 PM
hi mates can someone tell me what model of the cav fits the vauxhall nova as shown in the first page please?? as my frien at the scrappy wanted to know what year the cav is grr!!

Iain
21-07-14, 02:58 PM
mk3 Cav will have it.

Malacin
21-07-14, 05:59 PM
cheers mate :)

matty gte
04-03-15, 07:23 PM
Would this work on a corsa b to plz say yes lol

Iain
04-03-15, 07:23 PM
Yes.

matty gte
05-03-15, 10:39 AM
Happy days lol cheers