b.obsdian | b.orginal

After installing the Cobb short shifter, I realized that there was still some play in the shifter. The only thing I haven’t replaced is the TS u-joint that came with my 6MT. It is no secret that I am not a huge fan of TS. While some companies are “inspired” by existing designs before making their own, TS has stayed in a lane of inspiration. I don’t think they have a single piece of their own design in their catalog. I am slowly removing all TS parts from my car for good.

Delta Motorworks is based in Maryland, and they have designed several Subaru parts from scratch. Most of their exhaust catalog is gone; however, their shifter parts have remained a part of their lineup.

Their initial u-joint was made out of stainless steel and bronze if I remember correctly. Their Gen 2 u-joint is made out of solid titanium. They also make a version with replaceable needle bearings, but I opted for the solid titanium version. It is a very nice piece! I wish I had snapped a few more pics, but I was in a hurry.

A friend of mine offered to help install the u-joint with his lift, so I loaded up the car and drove an hour to his shop. Working on a lift makes life so much easier. One of my garage goals is to put a lift in my garage (maybe not the one I have now).

The install is a little tedious. We tried to sneak it out of there. However, we realized we needed to drop the transmission crossmember. We also needed to release the reverse lockout cable. Next, we had to unbolt the shifter stay arm from the transmission. We removed the shifter stay bracket before we could get clear access to the u-joint. We also tried to avoid removing the spring pin; however, one of the bolts in the u-joint was hitting the transmission, so we couldn’t fully remove it. We almost cut it off before opting to punch out the roll pin. Which immediately split in two. After about thirty mins of hammering, the pin finally came out.

I hate those pins.

Installation is the reverse of removal. Make sure you place the offset to the right! I highly recommend placing the nut on the transmission side of the u-joint as well. That way, you can remove the joint without touching the roll pin. My friend has a spare spring pin, so we punched the new one in place.

We got everything, shifter related, buttoned back together. We tested it to make sure nothing fell out, and everything seemed ok. We put the rest of the car back together.

On the way home, I could definitely tell the shifts were tighter and smoother. There was still some play in 3rd and 4th gear. But after looking things over again, I tightened the u-joint down a smidge more to remove the remaining play in the shifter linkage. The rest of the play is clearly in the transmission. I suspect the selector fork pads are probably worn down a bit. I have no idea how many miles this 6MT has on it. Probably a lot. Overall, I am happy with this mod. In the future, I will probably opt for the DMW U-Joint with the bearings.

The fall semester is starting soon, so the updates will be less frequent again. I have a couple of posts in queue that I want to release soon. One is a ball joint adapter that functions as a roll center adjustment for stock ball joints. The other is a battery/wiring upgrade that I think solved my EPS issues. I want to talk about downgrading my front swaybar to improve handling, along with designing a manual brake setup. I also plan to post more of my automotive themed maps here soon.

Cheers!