OK, I'm at the point of reassembly. But when I put the new short shifter ball in the plastic coupler on the cable, the platic/cable drags/rubs on the carpet on the tunnel. What am I doing wrong? Also it's called a short shifter kit but it makes the shaft longer? You have to put the new piece on top of the original shiter? I think it's inserted all the way. I've put loctite on it and it won't budge now. If it's not all the way in and I need to take it off, how do I do it? Thanks.

 

If it's dragging on the carpet, you need to push the short shifter piece farther up on the shaft. It should be off the carpet by a centimeter (or less than that, maybe).

How much is it dragging? Is it digging into the carpet, or is it just brushing the top? Is it affecting the shift? If not, don't worry about it.

Yes, you do put the short shifter on top of the original shifter, and it makes the shaft longer. If the bottom of the shaft is longer, it will take less travel in the shift knob to engage the shift cables properly. Hence, the term short shift.

Good luck!

 

Thanks for replying. Yeah it's rubbing more thant I'd like. I can feel the drag when I move the lever. I was able to pull it back out. I don't see how it could go any further up the original shaft? This is most frustrating.

 

That's tough. If it were me, I'd try to rig up something under the short shifter to push it up on the shaft more. You'll need a lot of leverage, though, and it's not the easiest spot to work in.

BTW is this the Comptech SS?

 

Yes it's she Comptech one. Here is a picture of the shifter assembly with the SS installed. As you can see the plastic ball is lower than the assembly itself. Is this normal?

 

Where are the four bushing mounts? Because that would add about 6mm to the bottom of the housing for more clearance.

 

I took them off because I'm replacing them with the metal ones from speed-source. There seem to be a depression under the carpet in the tunel. If the carpet was glued there I would have clearance. Maybe I can just cut the carpet where it rubs?

 

First when you put on the adapter it will "click" into place when it's where it needs to be, this will make it hard to get off even without the hex head locks tightened. So if you didn't get the click then push it on harder. That'd be problem one.

Problem 2: when you are reinstalling you see that lil white plastic rectangle box attached to the shift "pole" You need to push that onto the white ball until it "clicks" then after that reattach the lil wire "lock" around the white box. That then goes over the ball and holds those two pieces together.

Problem 3: Just like JT stated, you need the spacers, so you wont be able to fit it with out them, so you may have to put them back on or wait for the metal ones to show up. Why you spent money on metal spacers I have no idea, do they add 5 ponies or something? Anyways! that'll fix it.

And looking at your pic I can tell you right now you didn't push the adapter till you got a "click" its not on completely. Hope you didn't already put the loctite on or your in for a PITA fix

The reason the adapter makes the shaft longer is the fact that it engages the gears with a "shorter" throw feel because of the length. Example: (arbitrary numbers) say with stock the throw to engage a gear is 3" you would then see the shaft fully forward or back no imagine your shifter being a few CM longer, that would then reduce throw by that amount creating a shorter throw.

 

Oh BTW I can tell you by looking at your pic you didn't push the adapter on till you got the "click" In other words it's not on completely so I hope you didn't put on the loctite because you'll be in for a PITA fix if you did.

 

I did hear it click when I put it on. I have the metal bushings. They're used to have a more direct feel than the rubber bushings.

 

ok if you heard the click then make sure you get the white ball fully seated in that plastic rectangle box on the shift pole I was talking about. To do it you'll have to finagle your fingers in between the gaps on the housing while it's connected to the floor. Use one hand to hold it in place and the other to push it together, then hook up that wire U clip that holds it all together and make sure the wire goes ABOVE the white ball. It has lil slots on the plastic box in the front and sides, make sure the ends that are bent are facing down and towards the back of the car. This should hold up the box just millimeters above the carpet. Then attach the cable on the right and make sure you are engaging the gears fully, try that and let me know.

 

I finally cut a small square of the carpet. No more rubbing.

 

did you push the SS up the stock shaft as far as possible? you should try loosening both set screws and pushing it up further. but if its working for you, then problem solved i guess

 

Yeah, I did. It would not go any further up. Thanks to all for the replies/suggestions.