Dont sweat it.... I had NEVER done an install to this degree before and I had no problems at all.... just ignore all the blood in the pictures....

 

Okay, Just finished putting it in. I have a ton of pics to add to this if anyone wants. Just some extra shots of the innards (thats a word right?) and the only problem I ran into.

Basically, I think I spent 3-4 hours doing this after all the time I spent playing with the panels and trying to get that black piece and the metal piece off.

I'll add some more comments later and my pics but from what I've driven, the car feels amazing now. Seriously better than my 350Z's short shifter. No regrets.

I have to go now but thanks again JMB for the write up. Definetly helped supplement comptech's instructions.

 

I love Japanese cars... Parts are cheap.

If you want to make this mod reversable, you can buy the entire shifter assembly from your favorite online parts dealer for $46.

54100 SEP A01 - Gear shifter assembly 46.71

Once installed, it'll be difficult to reverse this due to the permenent adhesive used. I bought a spare shifter assembly to install if I ever want to go back to stock (trade in, etc...)

 

AWESOME.... glad it helped! the black piece and the metal piece are the worst.... glad it worked out for you!!

 

that my friend is a great idea....

 

Did anyone else run into this problem? I put it in the picture but in any case, after the install I couldnt get rid of a small gap despite everything lining up perfectly. Odd...

and....



I don't know if JMB said this piece needed to be removed but it can stay during the install so you can just keep the bolts in place. Also, I bought an 8MM socket for them and it didnt fit so maybe the size is off. In any case, just work around this piece if you want to save yourself the trouble of removing extra pieces.

Finally, I cut myself about 10 times during the install.

It was worth it. The short shifter is amazing for $50. I actually even enjoyed installing it so if anyone needs help, I'd sell my services or something or help out though the install really isn't tough. Looking at the pictures of all the pieces is scarier than it is hard. Once you take it apart, putting it all back together again is simple enough.

 

I drove ITL's car with the CT SS installed and all I can say is wow! This is my next mod without a doubt.

 

That gap is usually because you didn't push the arm-rest/center storage unit towards the front of the car hard enough. Make sure those screws underneath the rubber mat are loose and push that unit towards the front of the car. That should get rid of that gap.

 

I don't know about whether its the result of me not pushing. I def. put a lot of effort pushing it forward. It was strange. I would attempt to maybe try to get rid of it but I rather not disassemble the interior again and risk breaking clips.

I ordered the carbon fiber trim pieces for the front and am hoping that the large piece that goes around the storage/cup holder will make the already small gap even less noticable.

I just wanted to put that out there for people to be aware of and what not.No one else seems to have had a problem though so it could just be me

 

When you put it back together, you need to tilt the rear up slightly, and push it forward. When you put the 6 screws in, just keep pressure on it and it will go back together fine.

 

Anyone undertaking this SS mod please take some pics showing how to remove the shift and brake lever boots. I'd like to use/post them in another thread.

Thanks

 

Maybe that will help triggle. The brake lever boot is stapled on though I didnt pay much attention to it. Good luck

 

The shift boot just pops off...Grab the silver collar, twist a little bit and pull it down.

 

had the same problem.. get a helper, have him/her push the rear console forward with a lot of pressure, then tighten the screws.. !!

 

Yep, I guess I should have mentioned this.... I had a small gap in the front of the console so I took it back apart and just made sure everything was tight when I put it back together.... Great advice!!!

This mod is seriously the best thing you can do to a 6MT for the money....

SilverStoneTTL... I mentioned the blood on my pieces..... Fair warning and all that.... But when I drove my car, I could have cared less if I had bled out afterwards.....

 

the car shouldve come this way...

 

Okay, well to make up for the gap which I could maybe have gotten rid of I ordered the carbon fiber trim piece from Acura and just installed the big piece and left out the smaller one. Actually looks pretty good though it was an expensive solution at $50.

In any case, I've been enjoying the short shifter but I forget to mention that I forgot to put the loctite. I've noticed that a slight rattling, as if the pin came lose or something. So today in between classes I began to dissameble the pieces again to put the loctite and check to make sure my shifter isnt going to fall apart while I'm driving. The slight rattle made me nervous the other day when I drove it.

Triggle: To remove the shift boot, you need to remove the whole piece surrounding it. Once that piece is out, you'll see that there are a few screws underneath holding the whole shift boot and the pieces in place. Don't have pictures but I will try to take some tomorrow when I finish.

 

but.. but.. but.. what would we have to talk about??




we could go back to 'Why did the HP drop from 270 to 258 this year?'
Then I could myself

 

Alright guys i wanna do this... but..... having a shorter throw doesnt it just make u wait longer for the rpms to drop and hold. Atleast with the stock shift by the time u shift into gear (at a normal pace not racing pace) the rpms are there. When i shift fast on my stock shifter and release the clutch pedal it jumps cause the rpms are too high. This doesnt happen when the engine is still cold (open loop) cause it doesnt high rpm in this mode.

any feedback would be appreciated

 

Ummmm....well, I don't know about that. Someone else can reply with a detailed response. I can tell you that I have not noticed any downsides to this mod so I am inclined to believe that what your concerned about isn't important.

When you actually have it in, you'll realize that there are no downsides to this mod.


Oh, and I like your lights

 

i see well i guess i'll just put it in.. its only $55 shipped anyways.

and Thank you

 

guys

i'm having trouble removing the last 2 black plastic clips on both sides of the HVAC unit on a 2006 TL. I even bought the trim hook tool that was recommended. Try as I may, I still can't pry these clips off. I'm afraid I might break them if I use any more force. Does anyone have any suggestions/advice?

thanks
tony

 

I finally finished installing the comptech SS today. Took me about 5 hours total. The removing of the 2 trims took the longest, as I didn't want to break any clips. I even bought the trim tool(pick) from Kragen to ease the removal of those nasty "C" clips. After about 2 hours of carefully fidgeting w/ those clips, I was finally able to pull off the trims.

For the yellow housing & shift cables portion of the install. I only removed the metal brace for one of the shift cables. I left the black plastic one alone and just turned the yellow housing sideways to remove the plastic bushing w/ the comptech tool. I didn't put any extra grease back into or on the exterior of the bushing when I put it back onto the comptech SS though. I hope that's not going to cause any problem later on

Putting everything back together was the easy part. I sprayed a little of WD-40 onto every screws/bolts/metal clips before putting everything back to ease the process.

I took a test drive of my TL afterwards and definitely felt the difference. It takes a little more effort to shift into gears now, but other that than, it feels great. I'm going to take it on the freeway tonight and try out the 5th and 6th gears.

tony

 

For those of you with a '04 or '05, Buy some silicone spray.

The two linkage rubber lines run through a rubber gasket. Over time, these items dry out and everytime you grab the shift knob or switch gears, you will hear squeaking. Very Annoying indeed...

Since you have gone this far to remove the center console, it only takes 30 seconds to spray this area where these gear lines run through the rubber gasket.


Voila! no more squeaking ( an issue we all will inevitably have).

 

First post

Has anyone gotten any noises since duing this mod from taking the center console apart? Or is it just as tight as before it was taken apart?

Thanks

 

no noise for me.

 

no noise here. Just make sure everything is tight and snug when you put all the parts back together.

 

Just installed...in about 2 hours It is unreal at how short the throw is! no cuts, just broke 2 unnecessary clips

 

Well kids, my hat goes of to jmbnova, since if it wasn't for his detailed pictures this project would have taken me the 3 hours that it's an average for this install.
I started at 10 am, had breakfast in between and was done test driving the car at 11:55 am , my , it's worth every penny, and as I was saying to the wife, why doesn't Honda do this to all the standard transmission vehicles it makes and I would bet that it would sell these at a higher rate than any auto.
My review is that it doesn't feel like a short shifter but a more precise shifter, like there is a feel of security as you feel the gear engage and well I can't describe it any better, so in one word...BUYTHESHORTSHIFTER.....................if like me it' will be one of if not the best mod you've invested in....

jmbnova thanks, gracias, arigato, merci amigo!!!!!!

 

Well said!!

 

Thanks JMBNOVA! The SS is awesome. I installed it on Saturday. Your directions were so helpful. I wanted to come to the meet and ask you guys to help me out, but I was too siked to do it myself. I felt accomplished that day. This mod has made the car more fun to drive. Hopefully, i'll meet up at the next meet.

 

hey jmbnova, I finally got to the SS install. Well i was mainly doing the media player install, but i figured since i have the whole center ripped out, i might as well do the SS too.

Your writeup helped a lot. I didn't even look at the comptech instructions. The hardest part for me was getting that metal ring off the linkage cable. It took me 1 hour to get that off! Total time for install outside of that was about an hour.

As for the shifting. It's completely different. The shortened length of the throws surprised me. Thanks again for the detailed writeup.

 

Awesome!!

Glad it was a help... It really does make enough difference that the first time you drive it with the SS, it's like WOW....

 

okay so i did the install last night and boy oh boy does she feel much smoother now. somebody had said it felt like night and day...YOU ARE CORRECT SIR! my room mate with the M3 gave her a spin last night and in his exact words "man, i'm too embarassed to let you drive the M3" it's just THAT good!!! anywhoo, the install took me a little over 3 hours cuz when i was putting it back together, i put the center console back on and realized i forgot the HVAC tubes. freakin A. 4 cuts on my right hand...i think i escaped with minor wounds...haha..thanks again for all the input!

 

Please Help!! I tried to install SS today. Everything was smooth until the time when I tried to remove the yellow housing. All four of the bolts are too tight to unscrew that even the 12V electric drill(12mm socket was used) can't get the job done. I am stuck. What else could I do to remove the bolts? any inputs are appreciated. thanks

 

uwccpan,

You'll have to use elbow grease! Get a good socket-wrench set and those bolts come off no problem.

 

^^^ i agree. Use a good socket wrench. don't use an electric drill.

 

Thanks for your suggestions. I didn't have any good set of tools with me so I took my car to the body shop to have them loosen up the bolts for 10 bucks lol. Anyways, I finally got this thing installed. Woot! What a difference SS makes. Feels like shotguns when doing rev match down shifting. Awesome feel. Thanks to this thread!

 

I got my Comptech SS installed today. Jmbnova, thanks for the detailed DIY - I read it so many times I coulda done it with my eyes closed. The CT instructions suck - I perused them before I started and they say remove this, remove that, but don't tell u how. Took me abt 2.5 hrs to install plus 2 broken clips, scratched bleeding fingers but it was all well worth it! I also installed a cheapo aftermarket (momo like) shift knob with blue battery powered LED lights on the top to match the blue LED interior lights I have. Still on the fence abt whether or not to leave it on there but the shortness of the shift throws now is very nice. Not a night and day difference (close to it) but the shifts feel more calculated, precise and solid. There is actually driver/tranny interaction now IMHO. Love this mod. For $55 u cannot go wrong. thnx Excelerate. I'm jus pissed that I've had this car 2+ yrs and shoulda done it sooner................

 

Does this install void the warranty?