what does the rubber insulator do anyways? I need a shifter that will go right into 3rd without any guesses or hesitations.
Mike, the rubber insulator basically dampens the vibration of the transmission and driveline that can be felt and heard from the driver seat in your hand. You know, like some luxury car guy would complain about neutral gear rattle.
My firsthand opinion about short throw shifters is they are not worth it. The stock shifter with a shorty stalk(Rubber isolator removed) and THE PROPER shifting technique will lead to 99.999% perfect shifts.
Aftermarket shifters have the pivot point raised and adjustable stops... If they are not adjusted properly, the shifter can overtravel and jam it too far into gear which is obviously not good. Now undertraveling the shifter can result in partial gear engagement which can surely blow up the transmission.
==> John Lingenfelter once replied to me that "stock is best" when I asked him about dry sumping the engine. I know this has nothing to do with a shifter but the principle stands. This is also why I believe that stroking the motor cannot be better than the stock stroke/rod angles/etc... This is just my opinion.
As far as a faster 2-3 shift is concerned, I recommend getting your elbow into the 3-4 groove as soon as you get into 2nd. Then 2-3 is simply straight ahead--> You should never miss it! Relax and you will be fine!