Method has not be tried on a Automatic, but works for a Straight Shift. This is a method to Shorte

You Will Need..

Torch (Propane one will work with alot of patience)
Sandpaper
Clear coat & Appropiate Paint
Pliers
Gloves

Optional
Wire Fed Welder & safety measures required.
Blacktape.

Step 1 Decide if you want your shifer to have a small or Large bend. A small bend i reccomend unscrewing it and putting it in a vice for the job if you want a large bend take the seats out and put a box to represent the seats (prefer wood) and place a heavey (25lb works) vice to anchor the shifter in 2nd gear.

Step 2 Second towards the middle use the torch to lightly warm the metal. you will see it glowing red careful not to cut it you just want to warm it up to make it bend easy.

Step 3 with gloves on use the pliers to bend teh shaft whiel using other hand ot hold the base while bending.
*if your going for a large bend make sure the shaft does not touch the box you put in the cab or it will touch your seats!*

STep 4 when put a Acceptable Angle release and let cool.

Step 5 when completely cool (< 45mins) sand the bend down, paint and clear coat it to match.

Step 6 replace if you took it out to begin with. I reccomend using a wire fed welder to reinforce the bend to make sure it's stability is not compromised.

Step 7 put back in, if you did a small bend it will make a wide angle and may have to put it in 4th gear with the seats out if you put to large of a angle.

YOUR DONE! should cut your shifter throws in half. Becareful not to cut your shifter shaft when heating it up, keep distence dont put the flame directly on it unless its not hot enough otherwise!

How does bending the shifter cut the throws in half?

The shorter a shifter is, the shorter it's throws are. The throw is just the distance the topmost part of the shifter has to move. By bending the shifter at half-way, for instance, you have reduced the distance to the highest point by half, as well as the throw.

actually your semi right but the way you did it you didn't shorten the shaft just bent it
when i did mind i cut 8 inches off the stick drilled a hole in the center and put threaded rod in and bought a T handle to put in that mad quite a bit of difference but a true short throw shifter changes the pivot point of the shifter raising it up allowing more lenth below the pivot point making it take less to move
when i had my home-made one I shortend the distance between first and second by about 1/3 now that i have the hurst shifter from first to second is like 2 inches it barely moves and the shifter is up high like it was from the factory

By bending the shaft you stopped the height at the bend and reduced the distence in which it travels. If you dont mind it being a little shorter, and on a tight budget it works great.
Ex. (lets say the shifter is 18 inches im guessing here)

18 inches you move 9 inches going from 1st to 2nd

bending it at 9inches up reduces the distence from 1st to 2nd by 4 1/2 inches, the downside to not being a true shortthrow is you will lose about 2 1/2 inches of height on the shifter.

ALL NUMBERS ARE ESTIMATED!! DO NOT FLAME FOR BEING INACCURATE TO A TEE!

but they serve the purpose of explaining how it works.

Cutting your throws down to half or more will show on the 1/4th mile runs.

the good thing is if you mess up you can just tap weld it back into place how you want it, we did a toyota for a friend of mine and he got his torch to hot and cut it off so we cut a 45 degree angle on both pices and tap welded them together.

Everyone prob could figure this out but thought i would post it anyway :P

you have any pics?? would like to see them

so basically you are bending kind of an s into it

Just slanting the shifter back towards the seat about halfway up, only a small slant to so you can screw it back in. a large slant means removing the dash to unscrew your shifter. I'll try to get a pic when i see him next.

The shorter a shifter is, the shorter it's throws are. The throw is just the distance the topmost part of the shifter has to move. By bending the shifter at half-way, for instance, you have reduced the distance to the highest point by half, as well as the throw.
I understand that, but why not just cut a section from the center then weld it back together? I see little or no shortening of shifts putting just a bend in it.

You have the same effect, where you cut or bend is where the height of the shifter ends. Bending it at to a 45 degree angle and cutting and rewelding at a 45 degree angle still gives you a 45 degree angle on your shifter. The only difference is bending doesn't jepordize the integrity as much. A Weld will never be as strong as the original cast. That is why its better to bend and maybe tap weld with a wire feeder to reinforce.

And the Height of the shifter will drop just a small fraction but the total lenght will be the same. a friend explained it to me like this

Point A 2inches up the shaft moves 3 inches from 1st to second

Point b 4inches up the shaft moves 6 inches from 1st to second

Point c 6inches up the shaft moves 9 inches form 1st to second

where you bend the shaft is what the distence will change to. the total lenght will not change but if you compare a 12 inch pipe to a 12 inch pipe with a 45 degree angle at teh middle, there both 12 inches long but the straight pipe will be taller (height wise).

I understand the entire theory of what your saying, I think that shortness of throw compared to stock would be minimal. To me if I was going to do all that work, I would just cut about 4-5 inches out of the center and weld it. That's how my friends and I did it in our mustangs when we were broke high school kids lol. The welds never broke, and trust me the cars were shifted hard.

That would work too :P i listed the bending method cause it can be done with a simple Propane torch, if you dont have access to a weld.

arent the 5 speed shifters plastic. in the 94's.

actually, a real short throw shifter reduces its throw below the pivot point, most of them shorten the handle for comfort. You could have a stock height shifter with shorter throws, kinda sleeper I guess.

Correct Red Range, aftermarket short throw shifters change the distance between gates, not just shorten the handle.

arent the 5 speed shifters plastic. in the 94's.
uhhhh, no

Redranger is correct, shortening the handle only makes it a "ricer short throw shifter" and does absolutely nothing to shorten the throws, it just changes the geometry relative to your hands position, the actual throw of the ball on the bottom of the shifter arm is still the same

just save your money and go buy the Hurst Shift plus for $199

anything that saves me money is worth it to me..

But how valueable is your time???

What Do U Mean?

time = money

i assumed by your first response that you would rather modify the shifter yourself

but, is the time you would spend doing that worth less than 199$ that it would cost to buy an actual short throw shifter?

very many subscribers of this forum are here to learn as much as they can about their trucks in order to get more for less, so yes, they would rather spend the time and save the money for things in life that they CAN't do themselves, whereas others, who have a bit more cash to spare, or deem the expense totally worthy, would quickly pony up the $200 for the hurst.

I'd rather have the hurst, but I'll probably just bend or cut.

to each his own.

or those of us that think "if you ain't gonna do it right, don't do it at all" would fall in the category of buying the hurtst as well.

basically what Cyril279 said. whatever is easier is what id rather do.

What I would wonder is,
Would taking the cheaper, easier route, in the form of cutting out a center section affect the wear and tear on the synchos and other transmission interals? I remember hearing a few people refer to cut shifters as "syncho busters" This is pretty much the only reason I haven't done is yet, that and Im broke as a joke so the hurst is out of financial reach.

or those of us that think "if you ain't gonna do it right, don't do it at all" would fall in the category of buying the hurtst as well.
I agree. However if you still think that the hurst is not worth the money, do your mod right and cut below the pivot point.

I agree. However if you still think that the hurst is not worth the money, do your mod right and cut below the pivot point.

What pivot point are you talking about? If you were to cut below the pivot point youd be cutting below the shifter arm. It still does not make it a "short throw shifter".

I used to have my shifter cut down and it did help some yes it didn't shorten the throw but it did shorten the distance that your hand has to travel however I have had a Hurst shifter in mine for about a year now and it is unbeleavable the difference it is so much better and not only does the hurst shorten the throw with an almost stock shifter height it has stops built in the base so you don't hurt the synchros or shift forks like someone said earlier In my opinion the hurst shifter has been the best mod I have done/bought for my truck to date

Personally, the synchros wont have anymore wear and tear because tehre will be no difference to it. just to the lenght you have to move the shifter. and no this is not a mod intended to for the pivot point but 1/3 to 1/2 way up the shaft. While this wont shorten as much as a shortthrow it will reduce your times, doesn't cost anything hardly, makes a great do it yourself project, and doesn't do any dmg to your vehicle as long as you mind bending the shaft and do well to reenforce the bend. Personally $200 is alot of money, and RPS moto from what i understood is "make with what you got" andif i had the money to fling 200 around on little things i could think of better things to spend it on such as rent. But im not rich but if i was going to invest more then 2k in a ranger for performance i would consider a buying a f150 or mustang because they have more potential with the stock motors. thats just my opinion though.