Modding the stock shifter?

[vernal]

Posted this in the bolt-ons sections, but no responses. I guess the availability of ready-made parts has spoiled the crowd, but I grew up before there was a major aftermarket (and without the money to buy aftermarket if it WAS available) and if you wanted to do something you had to figure it out yourself.

I'm shopping for an aftermarket shifter, and I'm looking for one like I put on my 92 5.0. It was a Hurst, had adjustable positive stops, but most importantly for me it had a variety of return springs that I was able to customize for my purposes. I put a medium spring in from the 1-2 gate to center, and a really stiff one going to 5th, which helped me hit 3rd really easy because I had to really muscle the shifter to get into 5th - the springs helped it shoot into 3rd.

I've read some reviews of the shifters available for the Camaro, and I haven't seen anything like this mentioned even on the (2?) Hurst shifters available. Does anyone still make a shifter like this? Has technology moved on so that they figured out another way to help it into 3rd? I need a better centering spring at minimum, because if I'm not careful I keep accidentally going into the wrong gear when downshifting.

Any input would be appreciated! As far as I can tell, the MGW is the only one that even mentions the return springs.

Any ideas where I can get a picture of the inside of the stock shifter to see if doubling/replacing the stock springs is do-able? Every pic I've seen leaves the rubber boot in place, so I don't know what it looks like under there.

This whole shifter thing is confusing me. Are people really spending this much money to what I guess is essentially changing the fulcrum point and replacing the stock lever? I talked to a dealer about the Hurst, and he said that it was 2 1/2 hours of labor to change it. However, I figure Hurst had to have a reason for changing what to me was a great, simple design, I just don't know what that reason was.

Although the current feel of the shifter does leave something to be desired and I'll probably want a beefier stick to haul on without worrying about bending/breaking anything, my primary motivator for changing the shifter is the 2-3 shift. I'm not sure about the tech behind Steeda's Tri-Ax for Mustangs but they advertise an improvement in the 2-3 shift. Might this be something the aftermarket just hasn't had a chance to develop yet for the Camaro?