USAFPILOT

Is it possible to go into reverse on accident with that shifter?

Graybeard ZR1

Possible? Of course. But highly unlikely. Look at the pattern.

- The only way that could happen is from a fourth to fifth shift, and there's no need to speed shift from fourth to fifth.

- Fourth to fifth you are shifting away from you, reverse is back.

- Most important, there is a strong spring that helps you avoid that gate unless you really want reverse.

Try a car with this type shifter, you'll see what I mean.

HammerZR1

I know of one that was put into reverse on the 5-6 shift. Not pretty. Plan on a $3k trans rebuild if that should happen. I always felt uneasy when I had the Hurst in my first ZR-1 after seeing that happen. I went with the ZF Doc shifter that maintains the reverse lockout on my present ZR-1. Yeah, the reverse lockout is a pain, but not as much as the possibility of having to pull the trans and send it to Bill.

93Polo

He must have been hitting 6th rather hard. I bumped it a few times skipping gears going from 4th to 6th, never a problem, and I used to speed shift the ZF. As posted above the pattern of the ZF makes hitting reverse with force to do damage unlikely.

mnstrlt1

I don't own a ZR1, but I've had two c4's with the six speed. One with the B&M and the current car with the Hurst. Both are an improvement over the stock shifter. The B&M takes a bit more effort to shift, and I had Bill install it. The Hurst in my current LT4 car feels great.

I also drove Bill's personal vehicle with the LS1 swap, using the ZF 6-peed and his short shifter, in rating these I'd say ;

Bill's is most similar to stock, shorter shift with least amount of effort.
Hurst, no modification needed, nice solid feel, with more effort to shift.
B&M, needs slight modiifcation, shortest shift, with the most effort.

cv67

I doubt hitting R by mistake could be done very easily.
Have gone from 5th to 4th a few times by mistake both with the ZF and T56 makes a kind of strange jog compared to 3-4. Driver mod

FU

Good move IMO.

erikszr1

I replaced my transmission with the later model. it doesn't have the ring on the shifter for reverse. Will bills shifter be any different for reverse than what I have know? or will it be the same, just shorter and tighter? Im thinking the reverse lockout is in the transmission on these later units, not the shifter. please correct me if im wrong.

HammerZR1

Reverse lockout is not in the transmission, I believe the '95s had what's called a crash thru shifter, similar to the Hurst. The '90 to '94 shifters were all the same, they had the reverse lockout. Your shifter must be from a '95.

USAFPILOT

The shifter on a 95 with the crash through feature will not go into reverse, and part of the reason as understood by me is there is something different on the transmission itself that prevents going into reverse. Or I think we would all just install the part from 1995 to get rid of the reverse lockout.

erikszr1

yes I changed my transmission a few years ago with a brand new unit I found. it has the crash though shifter. so if I get the hurst shifter will it be anymore prone to miss shifting into reverse vs. the stock shifter I have now? or is it the same just tighter/shorter?

HammerZR1

Can't answer that, somebody with a '95 that's installed the Hurst should chime in.

Zrxmax

Been using the Hurst with my 6 year old Blue Label for a long time and it works fine. The amount of left to right effort required to move to the reverse gate is so high I find it hard to believe somebody could actually do that on their way to 6th gear.

Z51JEFF

One benefit of using one of the aftermarket shifter,doing away with the reverse lockout.A few years ago my car wouldnt go into reverse,found the set screw was stripped and it wouldn't grab the lockout rod.I was able to find a new **** at the time.As stated,I cant imagine how anyone could grab reverse by mistake but I suppose its possible.

erikszr1

yea, now that I thought about it, reverse error would be a tough one. im not gonna worry about it. thanks guys. I have not driven this car much lately. it needs injectors, im ordering new ones this week actually, and I figured while I was in the mood I might as well do shifter also. looks like ill have a nice ride for the summer again! looking forward to it. ill let my 08 ZO6 rest a lil bit.

cv67

Ask ZF Doc abou the short throw T handle shifter he sells

Looks like its out of a '63 with the T an in or two under the chrome **** looks badazz. Was 350 or 375 I think.

mike100

I have the Hurst shifter, but I think Bill's custom shortened shifter might be a little better from the one time I tried one out.

The shifter is one part, but having the synchro teeth and sliding ring parts blueprinted is what really contributes to butter smooth shifting. When Bill B rebuilt my 91 ZF, I got the crash-thru shift rod and detent from a 95 car (which I really like).

Dominic Sorresso

Personally I like the mechanical feel of the Hurst. You get a positive indication of it going into gear with a clear "snic,snic" to it.

93RubyZ

Very happy customer of Bill. He installed the shifter himself and have been very pleased with the results.