6G Celicas Forums

hi i have a 97 auto just wondering if anyone has put a ratchet shifter in there car or something else to make driving there auto a little more fun thanks

What exactly is a ratchet shifter?

You must not be familiar with the world of muscle cars then. They allow for more precise "manual" shifting of the gearbox, and also have a reverse lockout among other features.

Eh, as far as I know all the ones I've seen are for RWD transmissions. Though I imagine anything is possible. Personally I'd say just buy a manual. Stock engine with an automatic just won't be fun at any level.

So that's like mechanical version of semi-automatic shifter (known as tiptronic in europe)?

Eh, sorta kinda not really. You can "manually" shift any stock automatic gearbox. You start in 1 then go up to 2 and then into drive. The point of the ratchet shifter is that it makes it so you can't accidentally go from 1 into reverse and destroy your transmission. That and they make it easier to go from 1 to 2 instead of 1 to drive and etc..

so you basically want a hurst shifter for a stock celica.. just do a transmissio sawp and go to full manual, it'll probably be cheaper than making anything like this work.

Ok, so I'm almost done with this project but thought it kinda pertained to this.

My button that allows you to select gears was jamming. Off with its head!

I removed my auto shift knob and put on a manual one.

No you can't just accidentally throw it in park while driving, yes you can get it out of park. You just push down on the entire shift knob, much like getting into reverse in some 6 speeds. And now it looks similar to a manual gear select.

If there's interest I can put up pictures and make a tutorial.

Here's what the finished product looks like

How misleading.

Aww how cute hes even got the e-brake up like you would in a stick

I'm confused though, is it just an auto that looks like a manual, or did you actually make it a ratchet shifter?

It was, but I just traded it for a transmission cooler. I used 1/4in metal plate and cut then grinded it to make a almost bolt on ratchet shifter. There is a little bit of cutting the stick involved. But the novelty of a ratchet shifter is not as practical compared to keeping the transmission at a safe temperature when racing. I may still have the templates but they were designed with extra metal so that you can slowly grind it as needed to get proper operation. Also you won't be able to see what gear your in as the stick moves to the left about an inch so the plastic must be removed. But to be completely honest, if you need the template to make it you probably will have too much trouble getting it to function to even make it worth trying. I was lucky enough to have guidance from a friend who had assembled ratchet shifters before.

Damn man! Looks good! Btw, noticed you are missing the trim piece that goes around the radio and includes the clock, vent and hazard switch. I have an extra one if you're needing it

If you look really closely the trim around the boot isn't on all the way either. I have all the parts I'm just painting them to match my gauges. So I didn't bother putting it all together, thank you though.

No problem! Post pics after paint!