- Aug 25, 2006
- 4,436
Well finally I decided to simply take a couple hours and tackle the short shifter installation. Even though I have a OEM Ford dealer services CD to follow I also chatted with a board member Mike; a Master tech at "Polito Ford" a dealership in Canada an hour or so north of Toronto. A great guy and certainly made the process emotionally much easier. He has worked on several of the gals and had installed a few of the shifters.
My gal has the sub the it had to come out; NBD, then the center console side panels; once again NBD, the I removed 8 small TORX that secure the center console into place, removed the shift ball, raised the parking brake handle taped around the bezel and removed it. It was at this point that I taped all of the remaining areas that I saw as “at risk” and then lifted the rear of the center console enough to see and unplug the connector at the heat/A/C controls. Once this was done I slowly lifter the back and then feed it over the parking brake handle and the piece came out easy through the driver side with both seats slid all the way back.
Once this is completed the mechanics of removing the OEM shifter and swapping in the new Ford Racing short shifter is very easy. I elected to use the optional machined mounting plate bushing based on the input from Mike rather than the OEM rubber for what I expect to be an even crisper feel.
My only word of caution is “do not” loose the two small wire retaining clips on the two shifter cables. In my exuberance I did in fact drop one and luckily was able to immediately locate it. I have a vast array of clips in my facility but none of these as I suspect they would be a fricken “must order” part.
In any case I swapped the shifters on the mounting plate during which the new one was methodically lubed with the “Lubriplate” grease that arrived with the shifter. FYI; the shifter removed appeared dry relying only the bronze bushings for self lubricating. Now FYI; Mike shared that he has found the same thing on the OEM shifters he removed as well.
Once the new shifter was installed I checked for movement and all feels great; I then installed the custom ball that Jay @ GTsaver.com offers and wholla…………. “PERFECT”. Nice crisp feel through all of the gears. 1-2…easy as the dent remains….then 3-4 move naturally in the center of the shift pattern and then 5-6 easy with mild pressure for the outer detent position. As for reverse it was found easy too; however I feel like it requires a bit of a snapping wrist action to get the far dent for reverse but smooth and consistent every time.
So my initial opinion is the short shifter is wonderful however when added with Jay’s custom shifter ball which lowers the upper portion of the shaft approx 5/8-3/4” it is “PERFECT” in both feel and the lower ball height without the securing nut looks much nicer.
BTW; the picture with the two shifters has the new one being shown on the left.
Takes care
Shadowman
My gal has the sub the it had to come out; NBD, then the center console side panels; once again NBD, the I removed 8 small TORX that secure the center console into place, removed the shift ball, raised the parking brake handle taped around the bezel and removed it. It was at this point that I taped all of the remaining areas that I saw as “at risk” and then lifted the rear of the center console enough to see and unplug the connector at the heat/A/C controls. Once this was done I slowly lifter the back and then feed it over the parking brake handle and the piece came out easy through the driver side with both seats slid all the way back.
Once this is completed the mechanics of removing the OEM shifter and swapping in the new Ford Racing short shifter is very easy. I elected to use the optional machined mounting plate bushing based on the input from Mike rather than the OEM rubber for what I expect to be an even crisper feel.
My only word of caution is “do not” loose the two small wire retaining clips on the two shifter cables. In my exuberance I did in fact drop one and luckily was able to immediately locate it. I have a vast array of clips in my facility but none of these as I suspect they would be a fricken “must order” part.
In any case I swapped the shifters on the mounting plate during which the new one was methodically lubed with the “Lubriplate” grease that arrived with the shifter. FYI; the shifter removed appeared dry relying only the bronze bushings for self lubricating. Now FYI; Mike shared that he has found the same thing on the OEM shifters he removed as well.
Once the new shifter was installed I checked for movement and all feels great; I then installed the custom ball that Jay @ GTsaver.com offers and wholla…………. “PERFECT”. Nice crisp feel through all of the gears. 1-2…easy as the dent remains….then 3-4 move naturally in the center of the shift pattern and then 5-6 easy with mild pressure for the outer detent position. As for reverse it was found easy too; however I feel like it requires a bit of a snapping wrist action to get the far dent for reverse but smooth and consistent every time.
So my initial opinion is the short shifter is wonderful however when added with Jay’s custom shifter ball which lowers the upper portion of the shaft approx 5/8-3/4” it is “PERFECT” in both feel and the lower ball height without the securing nut looks much nicer.
BTW; the picture with the two shifters has the new one being shown on the left.
Takes care
Shadowman
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