Car prepping - shifter

Installing the manual shifter mechanism was a little messier than expected. As mentioned somewhere else, the auto shift mechanism is:

• taller, so as a result, it sits lower in the recess and
• uses a smaller "hole" below its footprint

So locating the manual shifter mechanism to the correct x-y-z position requires it to be raised by 2"/50 mm, and the foot print cavity enlarged (because the auto shifter only moves forward/aft whereas the manual shifter also moves side ways) .

The shifter mechanism was in relatively good shape; it only needed a quick sand blast to get the old crud off: (Pic)

I then ordered:

• Stainless gear change lever from Delorean Industries
• Shift Boot and stainless frame from PJ Grady, and
• Metal shifter knob from DMC, Houston.

Installing the new SS shifter required a disassembly of the shifter mechanism. Pounding/pressing out the main pin was fairly easy:


Pin is pressed out half way

Some have done this with it assembled but it seems very difficult to get to the E-clip underneath. The SS shifter did not come with any other hardware, so once I had installed it along with the spring and E-clip I noticed that the shifter was catching while moving it up and down (like, when you lift it to put it in reverse) and I found that the E-clip was rubbing on the ID of the shifter barrel. Weird! So, I took out the Dremel and grinded the OD of the E-clip from the original 12.9 mm to 12.6 mm. This took care of the problem. After checking with Josh at DPI I learned that the SS shifter is supposed to come with a SS E-clip that has a slightly smaller OD. By that time I had already pressed in the pin so I'm gonna assume that the modified E-clip will work just fine

 

The roll pin that acts as the reverse lock-out looked bent ands beat up...:

Reverse lock-out pin

 ... so it was replaced with PN 98296A912 from McMaster Carr.

And here I totally got immersed in fitting the adapter plate, including the four stand-offs, to the frame to try to make it move freely without interference. Install, find where it was rubbing, remove and modify. Over and over again. I totally forgot about taking pictures.

As the hole in the frame was getting bigger and the adapter frame continuously hogged out I was getting more and more frustrated but it finally came together:


Manual shifter installed

In this picture you can see the Dynamat clad cavity with the hole through which the shifter pokes through. This hole had to be cut open quite a bit towards the driver's side. Then, on top of that the adapter plate (heavily modified) bolted to the frame, then the four 30 mm stand-offs and finally the shifter on top of that. It is all held together with 50 mm M6 bolts shaved to about 47 mm length. Sounds messy? Yes, it was. 
  
Looking back, the simplest way of achieving this would have been to follow Nicholas Roedl's advise and simply mount two modified 2 x 2" angle irons to get the shifter into the correct location - read all about it here - but not knowing anything different I had already opted for Martin G's adapter plate, ref (earlier log) a few months prior.

Above you can also see the new roll-pin, the stainless gear lever and in the top right corner you can also see the cross gate cable attached. Yes, a hole had to be cut thru the frame for that too, but that wasn't too big a deal. It's all framed top and bottom by the supply/return fuel lines.

But all was forgiven in the end. The shifter was clicking from gear to gear with ease and they clicked into gear with the sound like  a .... Never mind that there is no gearbox (yet). It looks marvellous:


Auto shifter

Manual shifter