For those of you who feel the stock shifter is too tall and/or you have a lot of side-to-side play in
your shifter while in gear, this mod will give you a shorter height shifter and replacing the bushings
will give the shifts a more notchy feel. The throw will still be the same though. This is also a great
opportunity to replace your leather shift boot if it's in bad shape.

NOTE: Breaking the shifter apart is much easier when the car has recently been driven.

Stock height shifter

Shortened height shifter

Here's what you'll need...

Phillips head screwdriver

10mm socket and a 6'' extension with either a 1/4'' or 3/8'' ratchet

vise clamps

pipe wrench

green truck shifter bushing

white shifter bushing

tall shift knob that uses set-screws to hold it in place

1st step...

Remove shift knob and the black
trim around shifter and air
conditioning control unit.

2nd step...

remove 4 bolts holding the metal
trim around the shifter (see yellow
circles in picture------------------->

3rd step...

pull back the last rubber boot and
remove the 4 bolts holding the shifter
to the tower of the transmission

once you get the 4 bolts out, just lift it
straight out of the transmission

4th step...

take the vise grips and clamp it
around the thinner silver metal part
of the shifter. Put the pipe wrench
around the black piece of the shifter
and give it a good twist!! This is
where having the shifter slightly
warmed up will help!

Once you break the rubber inside
the black part, it comes right off.
and you've separated the two
pieces.

Here's what you'll see when you
remove the shifter from the
transmission tower. Yours may need
to be wiped clean of excess grease
buildup. This particular car got beat
up around the transmission hole, so
yours shouldn't look like this!! There's
a thin black rubber bushing that sits
beneath the two pins sticking out.
remove it and replace it with the new
green truck shifter bushing----------->

Here's the white bushing that
you're going to replace. You can
use a pair of channel locks to
remove it. The new one pops on
easily with your hands.

Reassemble everything in the reverse order you removed it. A tall shift knob is
recommended as some people feel the shifter is too short after it's broken apart.

Here's the stock height shifter
removed from the car.

If you have any questions regarding this procedure, lemme know.

Thanks go out to Zach for allowing me
to take pictures of his beat-up car!! ;-)

This page last updated on Thursday, June 19, 2003

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