Hi all...Well I finally decided to get with the program and get Sherwood's Gate-Shift kit and give it a go.

I have the factory short-shift kit installed so I had to enlarge the opening in the side of the shift housing a bit to compensate for the raised pivot point of the shifter itself. Another thing I did was to use larger fender washers in addition to the wavy lok washers supplied in the kit for holding down the top plate with the add'l 1st & 2nd gate tabs.

After reading Sherwood's tech bullitin #003 concerning welding of the shift arm gate tab I became a bit concerned over the real-world, in-use ability of a solitary hose clamp to hold this critical piece in place.
Well, I don't have ready access to a welder, and after thinking about my options and not wanting to have to come back and re-do or fix anything, I decided to use JB WELD epoxy in addition to the hose clamp.

I started by sanding the paint off the shift arm where it was determined that the gate tab should go, cleaning all surfaces with laquer thinner, next I applied the JB WELD to the back of the tab, then reclamping it in the exact spot using the hose clamp. I then rechecked tab position as well as operation of all gears incl reverse.

Then I applied JB WELD liberally yet neatly, all around the edges of the shift tab. Now rechecking shifting operation again, I now crank the hose clamp REALLY tight using an 8mm socket wrench. I rechecked everything once again, all is good!!

As a finishing touch I got out my semi gloss black enamal model paint and touched up everthing, painting over the JB WELD and all sanded, nicked spots. Looks very clean indeed.

I've driven only 100mi. since I did this. so we'll see how my decision to use JB WELD pans out.

Once one gets used to the new "gated" operation, this is really an improvement over the original parameters as well as cheap insurance against an unintentional 5th to 2nd downshift.

Well done Sherwood. I highly recommend this upgrade !!

John Risvold