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I recently installed a Perrin shifter and was given a B&M to try out, I took PICS of each shifter, showing throw lengths etc. I also discovered a couple of additional modifications that greatly improved the short throw action.

First the basic comparison;

The B&M does shorten throws by about 30% as advertised, but most of that 30% comes from shortening the upper shift lever (about 1"). This puts the shift lever in an even more awkward position for fast accurate arm movements, not good. The nice part about the B&M is that it is a direct replacement requiring no modifications.

The Perrin has wide range of adjustability allowing for very short throws and actually raises the lever higher than stock (very nice). You can also rotate the angled lever to change the relative position of the shift lever to suite your individual tastes(also very nice). The down side is that it does require a fair amount of modification and tweaking to get your optimum shift action, IMO it's well worth the effort.

The stock shifter is on the right, Perrin is in the middle and B&M left.

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All shift throw measurments were done with the shift knob removed (add about 1" with the stock shift knob). Left to right movements are similiar for all the shifters with the B&M and Perrin less than 1/2 " shorter.
As you can from the following PICS, the stock shifter has about a 4" throw front to back. The B&M is about 2.75" (30% less) but again mostly due to the shorter top half. The Perrin was a little less than 2.75" but with an even longer upper half compared to stock. Later after taking these pics I found that you adjust the Perrin even further, reducing the throws to 2" (50% as advertised). see following pics;

stock 1st gear

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stock 2nd gear

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B&M 1st gear

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B&M 2nd gear

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Perrin 1st gear

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Perrin second gear

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Here are some additional install tips regarding the Perrin shifter:

After seeing the mounting for the shifter assembly I immediatly saw the benefit of switching to the urethane bushings, but I did not get them. Instead I cut the metal inserts down, put a 1 " washer above and below the rubber bushings and bolted it down. This allowed me compress the rubber bushings and stiffen the assembly most likely more than the urethane bushings would have.
The kit comes with spacers to raise the entire shift assembly, so you can get clearance for the lower shift lever, this also helps bring the shift lever up to a more comfortable hieght. The problem was when I went to put the final top cover with the pleather boot on, it would not snap into place because it was hitting the shifter assembly. I assumed this had something to do with the added washers I used, but some one else I know had the same problem.
There is a white plastic piece that keeps the pleather boot in position, this is what was hitting. I removed this part and attached the pleather boot using very small screws (see pic). The other person I know says they used spacers to raise up the entire plastic center console assembly a couple of mm. So there are ways around it, but Perrin will need to address this. It could be that the spacers are just a little too thick.

The rest of my comments are more calibration than installation so I will put those in a seperate reply, that will be the more interesting infoanyway.

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The stock shifter has a relatively long and easy throw, so having to reach down and bend your wrist slightly is not that bad. When you shorten the throws, the action becomes harder (more positive) and this movement becomes irritating. Also the stock lever has a counter weight, but both of these short throws do not. The counter weight helps to remove the vibration harshness generated through the linkage, and provide a smooth fluid motion. With the short throws this mechanical harshness is only increased (especially with the Perrin adjusted very short). So they have no counter weight and they actually need more, so your going to have to add some.

My first recommendation is to not use the stock shift knob. It's fine for the stock lever but it's still to short to get the optimum movement for fast effortless shifting, (and it weighs almost nothing). BTW the shift knob uses a 10 mm wit a 1.25 thread pitch.
I had an old FD RX7 pistol grip style knob (had to adapt it), it weighs over 1 pound and is about 4" long. Even with this knob I wound up adding almost another 1.5 pounds of counter weight, (see pics).

So now I have the shifter set to near it's shortest possible throw, and the bend facing forward. With the longer heavier knob (and additional counter weight) the shift action almost effortlessly falls into each gear and has a smoother more positive engagementwith shorter throws. I love it, (see pics).

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first gear

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Second gear

BTW for the momment I am using a couple of large 1/2" sockets and a plumbing fitting for counter wieght.

DrMerl

Awesome post, thanx for taking the time to go over this with people. In the first picture I saw what looked like an extra weight on the Perrin (what I thought was the Perrin, but was the stock one), so I was stoked....but then after you did in the install... I'll stick to stock for now until someone adds more weight to things. I've been using short shifters like yourself and I'm a stickler when it comes to my tranny, you'd think Perrin would have thought about or addressed the issue of counter weight - it's such an old trick.

Zeus

iTrader: (66)

Good stuff

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Yes, but all you really need are a bunch of large 1/2" washers and a longer shift knob with some weight to it. The shifting is sooo much better than stock, it literaly transforms the driving experience to a higher level, IMO this should be your first mod.
Don't get me wrong, I thought the stock shifter was ok, but occasionally under hard driving I found my elbo hitting the armrest. Also with quick shifting the longer/softer shift made me wonder sometimes if I had it fully in gear.
I just can not adequatly describe how much better this is, you guy's (and girls?) really need to feel this for yourself.

If you would, do a little test sitting in your chair right now, with your hand as it normally is over the stock shift knod (over the top?), with your hand just above your leg, move back and forth about five inches (pretend to air shift).
Rotate your wrist 90% (like your holding a gun) and move your hand up 3-4 inches, now practice the same air shift only moving back and forth about 3 inches. Does that feel better to you?
Also keep in mind the shift action is (with proper counter weight) is actually smoother, more defined, positive. It turns into one of the best shifters I have ever used.

Mad_SB

iTrader: (8)

Awesome write up man. What are you useing to keep the sockets from clanking around on the shaft??