I've had several requests for these instructions, so I guess that it might be more convenient to post them here.
I plan to add some photographs later when I have abit more free time.
SHOrt Shifter Installation Instructions
Remove the center console.
(I apologize for the following tips on removing the console, but it was so long ago I did this, that I may miss a step.) Please refer to the SHO service manual.
1) Remove shift **** by turning **** counterclockwise.
2) Remove cup holder to access screw and remove.
3) You should be able to pull up the Console Top Finish Panel. It is held in with pressure clips.
4) Open arm rest door and remove screws under mat.
5) Remove two screws at front of console, behind the ashtray, which attach console to dash panel.
6) Unplug any electrical connections.
You should now be able to remove the entire center console.
Removing the Stock Shifter, Shifter Rods and Mounting Brackets.
1) Raise the car and place stands underneath the frame.
2) Remove bolt holding Shifter Stabilizer Bar to transaxle.
3) Remove Shift-Rod to Transmission Shift-Shaft retaining nut and bolt.
4) Remove the two nuts holding the Control Assembly (Shifter Box) to the Lower Mounting Bracket.
5) Remove the Control Box and the Shifter Rods.
6) Remove the 4 screws holding the Stock Shifter and separate from the Control Box.
7) Remove the 4 nuts holding the Lower Mounting Bracket.
8) Now you can also remove the Inner Mounting Bracket from inside the passenger compartment.
9) Remove the rubber boot attached to the Lower Mounting Bracket.
Note: The service manual specifies that you must remove the resonator pipe from the "Y" pipe to remove the Shifter Rods. I do not believe that this was necessary. Again, please refer to the service manual.
You will need to enlarge the opening on the Mounting Brackets and on the floor of the unibody in order to fit the SHOrt Shifter body. I have induded a template which you can use as a guide.
The Mounting Brackets are hard to cut. Vou can use a jig saw with a metal blade or an abrasive cutoff wheel attached to a drill.
The Mounting Brackets are also hard to hold down while working on them. I found that the best way to hold them down is to bolt them to a piece of wood.
Mark the bolt holes on a board, drill them out and bolt the Inner Bracket to the board. Before you do this, cut out the center of the board using the template provided. After you have cut out the necessary *********** to the Inner Bracket, place the Lower Mounting Bracket under the Inner Bracket, mark it, and cut out the same size ***********.
Both openings in the Lower and the Inner Brackets should match evenly when bolted together.
Use the Inner Mounting Bracket as a template to mark and cut out the floor of the unibody on your car. You can use a jigsaw here since the metal is thin and will cut easily.
If you find this particular step very difficult to do, you can send me the brackets, and I will cut them out on my milling machine for a small fee plus shipping. I will ship them out the day after I receive them.
After you have performed all these steps, re-install the Shifter Rods, Shifter Control Box, and Mounting Brackets. The SHOrt Shifter is installed from inside the passenger's compartment after you have re-installed the Shifter Control Box.
You may want to take this time to fashion some sort of seal to keep the outside elements (water, noise, heat, dust, etc.) from intruding into the passenger compartment. The large hole that you cut to install the SHOrt Shifter, now needs to be sealed, since the original shifter seal will not fit over the aluminum body. The easiest method I have found is to use a rectangular piece of rubber about 6X7 inches. Make a cut halfway down the middle, and cut out a round hole 2 3/4 inches in the center to fit the round waist of the shifter.
Once you install the shifter body, you can test fit the seal and trim accordingly. Eventually you may want to use silicone to adhesive to secure the seal more permanently.
Installing the SHOrt Shifter aluminum body
1) Drop the 4 metric bolts through the mounting ****** of the Shifter Body.
2) Wiggle the stripped down Shifter Body through the opening on the Inner Mounting Bracket, through the f1oorpan, and align the bolts with the holes on the Shifter Control Box.
3) Using a 6mm Allen wrench through the holes in the top of the shifter body, tighten the four bolts in a cross pattern. You will probably need to use leverage on the Allen wrench to tighten these bolts snugly.
4) Lubricate and install the 2 Shift Springs and Spring Caps into the V2" holes on top of the shifter body.
5) Lubricate the ball and the pivoting mechanism of the Shifter Engagement Rod, and slip through the top of Shifter Body. Make sure the ball end fits into the Shifter Rod bushing inside the Shifter Control Box.
6) Install the Shift-Limiting Stop-Bolts with the locking nuts on the outside of the Shifter Cap before bolting the Shifter Retaining Cap to the Shifter Body. You will have to compress the alignment springs. Tighten the bolts in a cross pattern to avoid binding.
7) Bolt Shifter Handle to the right side of the Shifter Engagement Rod. Choose the height settings which fit your shifting style best. Make sure the nub on the Shift Handle faces to the rear.
8) Bolt the threaded **** Handle to either side of the nub end of the Shifter Handle. You have a choice of three different reach settings.
9) The higher you install the Shifter Handle, the more leverage you will have when engaging the gears, and the longer the shift throw will be. Even at its highest setting, the shift throw will be about 40% shorter than the stock shifter. At its lowest setting shift throw will be reduced about 50 to 60 %.
Setting the Shift-Limiting Stop-Bolts.
1) The Shift- Limiting Stop-Bolts should not come into contact with the handle at this time.
2) Make sure that you can engage all 5 forward gears and reverse before adjusting the Shift-Limiting Stop-Bolts.
3) Engage 1st gear and bring the head of the Stop Bolt until it comes in contact with the Shift Engagement Rod. Turn the bolt back about half turn and snug down the counter nut.
There should be a small gap between the bolt and the handle when you release forward pressure on the handle. You should be able to slide a business card between the two. If you put forward pressure on the handle, you should be able to trap the card, but when you release forward pressure, the card should freely slip out ..
YOU DO NOT WANT THE BOLT TO BE EXERTING PRESSUR AGAINST THE SHIFTER HANDLE WHEN YOU RELEASE IT. This could cause the gears not be fully engaged. You will be immediately alerted with a horrible grinding noise if the gear in not fully engaged because the Stop Bolt is not allowing full travel.
4) Repeat step (1) with 2nd gear.
5) Once you have set up 1st and 2nd gear engagement, check the set Stop Bolt set up through the 3rd, 4th, sth, and reverse gears using the business card method between the Shift Handle and the Bolt Head. All gears should all set up the same without any further adjustment.
The Shift-Limiting Stop-Bolts are there to limit Shifter Handle over-travel after the gears are fully engaged. When set up correctly they will help to protect your transmission shift forks and gears by absorbing the impact from hard shifts.
This does not mean that you can abuse your transmission, but it will provide some stress relief to your tranny's internals, every time you shift gears.
Installing and Setting up the Shifter Braces
1) Install the larger brace toward the front of the shifter using the three button-head machine screws, and the smaller brace at the rear.
2) Install the two 1 V2 inch socket-head machine screws with a lock nut into the threaded side of the braces.
These machine screws will act as legs on a table. They will not be attached to the car body, but, instead, they will support the shifter body on top of the floor pan, and stabilize it.
The shifter, (which is mounted to the shifter box, which in turn is attached to the underside of the unibody of the SHO with two bolts), has to be somewhat free to move, along with the engine and transmission.
For example, if you have bad engine mounts, allowing excessive engine movement during acceleration, this movement will be transmitted to the shifter box since they are connected through the Shifter Stabilizer Rod. If the shifter were firmly attached to the body of the car, excessive engine movement would put a great deal of stress on the Transmission Boss, which could cause it to fail and break off. The Transmission Boss is where the Shifter Stabilizer Rod attaches to.
This is the reason that the Shifter Control Box is not attached solidly to the unibody. You will see and feel the shifter move from side to side (along with the control box), when you go from 2nd gear to 3r<!. The side pressure that you need to access the gate is enough to rotate the Shifter control Box along with the shifter.
This rocking side to side can be greatly minimized with the correct setup of the SHOrt Shifter Braces.
You need to balance the 4 stabilizing bolts so that they all exert equal pressure on the f1oorpan.
3) Back of the locking nuts, and turn one bolt at a time so that it comes into contact with the f100rpan and lifts the Shifter Body a bit. Go to the next 3 bolts and do the same. Go back to the around again and verify that the 1st bolt is still in contact with the floorpan.
The trick here is to get all 4 bolts to be equally balanced with on the floor pan. If you turn one bolt too far, it will pick up the shifter enough so that one of the other bolts may not be in contact with the floor.
You do not want to put so much pressure an all 4 bolts so that they lift the shifter so far up, that it locks the shifter to the body.
Remember the braces are there to stabilize the body and limit the rocking motion during shifting, They should act like the 4 legs of a table. You should still be able to pick up the legs of the table, you should still be able to pick up the bolts of the shifter from the floor pan, when you exert more force than necessary to engage a gear.
YOU SHOULD NOT TIGHTEN THE BOLTS DOWN SO FAR THAT THE 5HIFTER WILL BE LOCKED TO THE UNIBODY FLOORPAN.
4) When you have all 4 bolts balanced correctly, tighten the 4 nuts to lock the bolts in place.
Test drive the car and make sure that all is well and that all bolts are tightened down.
Your shifts now will be short and tight, and will take a bit more effort. I recommend that you learn where your gears are first, before you go ripping up the streets.
Jose A Fernandez
Email: [email protected]
This is the template to help you cut the holes in the floorpan and the inner and lower shifter brackets.
I plan to add some photographs later when I have abit more free time.
SHOrt Shifter Installation Instructions
Remove the center console.
(I apologize for the following tips on removing the console, but it was so long ago I did this, that I may miss a step.) Please refer to the SHO service manual.
1) Remove shift **** by turning **** counterclockwise.
2) Remove cup holder to access screw and remove.
3) You should be able to pull up the Console Top Finish Panel. It is held in with pressure clips.
4) Open arm rest door and remove screws under mat.
5) Remove two screws at front of console, behind the ashtray, which attach console to dash panel.
6) Unplug any electrical connections.
You should now be able to remove the entire center console.
Removing the Stock Shifter, Shifter Rods and Mounting Brackets.
1) Raise the car and place stands underneath the frame.
2) Remove bolt holding Shifter Stabilizer Bar to transaxle.
3) Remove Shift-Rod to Transmission Shift-Shaft retaining nut and bolt.
4) Remove the two nuts holding the Control Assembly (Shifter Box) to the Lower Mounting Bracket.
5) Remove the Control Box and the Shifter Rods.
6) Remove the 4 screws holding the Stock Shifter and separate from the Control Box.
7) Remove the 4 nuts holding the Lower Mounting Bracket.
8) Now you can also remove the Inner Mounting Bracket from inside the passenger compartment.
9) Remove the rubber boot attached to the Lower Mounting Bracket.
Note: The service manual specifies that you must remove the resonator pipe from the "Y" pipe to remove the Shifter Rods. I do not believe that this was necessary. Again, please refer to the service manual.
You will need to enlarge the opening on the Mounting Brackets and on the floor of the unibody in order to fit the SHOrt Shifter body. I have induded a template which you can use as a guide.
The Mounting Brackets are hard to cut. Vou can use a jig saw with a metal blade or an abrasive cutoff wheel attached to a drill.
The Mounting Brackets are also hard to hold down while working on them. I found that the best way to hold them down is to bolt them to a piece of wood.
Mark the bolt holes on a board, drill them out and bolt the Inner Bracket to the board. Before you do this, cut out the center of the board using the template provided. After you have cut out the necessary *********** to the Inner Bracket, place the Lower Mounting Bracket under the Inner Bracket, mark it, and cut out the same size ***********.
Both openings in the Lower and the Inner Brackets should match evenly when bolted together.
Use the Inner Mounting Bracket as a template to mark and cut out the floor of the unibody on your car. You can use a jigsaw here since the metal is thin and will cut easily.
If you find this particular step very difficult to do, you can send me the brackets, and I will cut them out on my milling machine for a small fee plus shipping. I will ship them out the day after I receive them.
After you have performed all these steps, re-install the Shifter Rods, Shifter Control Box, and Mounting Brackets. The SHOrt Shifter is installed from inside the passenger's compartment after you have re-installed the Shifter Control Box.
You may want to take this time to fashion some sort of seal to keep the outside elements (water, noise, heat, dust, etc.) from intruding into the passenger compartment. The large hole that you cut to install the SHOrt Shifter, now needs to be sealed, since the original shifter seal will not fit over the aluminum body. The easiest method I have found is to use a rectangular piece of rubber about 6X7 inches. Make a cut halfway down the middle, and cut out a round hole 2 3/4 inches in the center to fit the round waist of the shifter.
Once you install the shifter body, you can test fit the seal and trim accordingly. Eventually you may want to use silicone to adhesive to secure the seal more permanently.
Installing the SHOrt Shifter aluminum body
1) Drop the 4 metric bolts through the mounting ****** of the Shifter Body.
2) Wiggle the stripped down Shifter Body through the opening on the Inner Mounting Bracket, through the f1oorpan, and align the bolts with the holes on the Shifter Control Box.
3) Using a 6mm Allen wrench through the holes in the top of the shifter body, tighten the four bolts in a cross pattern. You will probably need to use leverage on the Allen wrench to tighten these bolts snugly.
4) Lubricate and install the 2 Shift Springs and Spring Caps into the V2" holes on top of the shifter body.
5) Lubricate the ball and the pivoting mechanism of the Shifter Engagement Rod, and slip through the top of Shifter Body. Make sure the ball end fits into the Shifter Rod bushing inside the Shifter Control Box.
6) Install the Shift-Limiting Stop-Bolts with the locking nuts on the outside of the Shifter Cap before bolting the Shifter Retaining Cap to the Shifter Body. You will have to compress the alignment springs. Tighten the bolts in a cross pattern to avoid binding.
7) Bolt Shifter Handle to the right side of the Shifter Engagement Rod. Choose the height settings which fit your shifting style best. Make sure the nub on the Shift Handle faces to the rear.
8) Bolt the threaded **** Handle to either side of the nub end of the Shifter Handle. You have a choice of three different reach settings.
9) The higher you install the Shifter Handle, the more leverage you will have when engaging the gears, and the longer the shift throw will be. Even at its highest setting, the shift throw will be about 40% shorter than the stock shifter. At its lowest setting shift throw will be reduced about 50 to 60 %.
Setting the Shift-Limiting Stop-Bolts.
1) The Shift- Limiting Stop-Bolts should not come into contact with the handle at this time.
2) Make sure that you can engage all 5 forward gears and reverse before adjusting the Shift-Limiting Stop-Bolts.
3) Engage 1st gear and bring the head of the Stop Bolt until it comes in contact with the Shift Engagement Rod. Turn the bolt back about half turn and snug down the counter nut.
There should be a small gap between the bolt and the handle when you release forward pressure on the handle. You should be able to slide a business card between the two. If you put forward pressure on the handle, you should be able to trap the card, but when you release forward pressure, the card should freely slip out ..
YOU DO NOT WANT THE BOLT TO BE EXERTING PRESSUR AGAINST THE SHIFTER HANDLE WHEN YOU RELEASE IT. This could cause the gears not be fully engaged. You will be immediately alerted with a horrible grinding noise if the gear in not fully engaged because the Stop Bolt is not allowing full travel.
4) Repeat step (1) with 2nd gear.
5) Once you have set up 1st and 2nd gear engagement, check the set Stop Bolt set up through the 3rd, 4th, sth, and reverse gears using the business card method between the Shift Handle and the Bolt Head. All gears should all set up the same without any further adjustment.
The Shift-Limiting Stop-Bolts are there to limit Shifter Handle over-travel after the gears are fully engaged. When set up correctly they will help to protect your transmission shift forks and gears by absorbing the impact from hard shifts.
This does not mean that you can abuse your transmission, but it will provide some stress relief to your tranny's internals, every time you shift gears.
Installing and Setting up the Shifter Braces
1) Install the larger brace toward the front of the shifter using the three button-head machine screws, and the smaller brace at the rear.
2) Install the two 1 V2 inch socket-head machine screws with a lock nut into the threaded side of the braces.
These machine screws will act as legs on a table. They will not be attached to the car body, but, instead, they will support the shifter body on top of the floor pan, and stabilize it.
The shifter, (which is mounted to the shifter box, which in turn is attached to the underside of the unibody of the SHO with two bolts), has to be somewhat free to move, along with the engine and transmission.
For example, if you have bad engine mounts, allowing excessive engine movement during acceleration, this movement will be transmitted to the shifter box since they are connected through the Shifter Stabilizer Rod. If the shifter were firmly attached to the body of the car, excessive engine movement would put a great deal of stress on the Transmission Boss, which could cause it to fail and break off. The Transmission Boss is where the Shifter Stabilizer Rod attaches to.
This is the reason that the Shifter Control Box is not attached solidly to the unibody. You will see and feel the shifter move from side to side (along with the control box), when you go from 2nd gear to 3r<!. The side pressure that you need to access the gate is enough to rotate the Shifter control Box along with the shifter.
This rocking side to side can be greatly minimized with the correct setup of the SHOrt Shifter Braces.
You need to balance the 4 stabilizing bolts so that they all exert equal pressure on the f1oorpan.
3) Back of the locking nuts, and turn one bolt at a time so that it comes into contact with the f100rpan and lifts the Shifter Body a bit. Go to the next 3 bolts and do the same. Go back to the around again and verify that the 1st bolt is still in contact with the floorpan.
The trick here is to get all 4 bolts to be equally balanced with on the floor pan. If you turn one bolt too far, it will pick up the shifter enough so that one of the other bolts may not be in contact with the floor.
You do not want to put so much pressure an all 4 bolts so that they lift the shifter so far up, that it locks the shifter to the body.
Remember the braces are there to stabilize the body and limit the rocking motion during shifting, They should act like the 4 legs of a table. You should still be able to pick up the legs of the table, you should still be able to pick up the bolts of the shifter from the floor pan, when you exert more force than necessary to engage a gear.
YOU SHOULD NOT TIGHTEN THE BOLTS DOWN SO FAR THAT THE 5HIFTER WILL BE LOCKED TO THE UNIBODY FLOORPAN.
4) When you have all 4 bolts balanced correctly, tighten the 4 nuts to lock the bolts in place.
Test drive the car and make sure that all is well and that all bolts are tightened down.
Your shifts now will be short and tight, and will take a bit more effort. I recommend that you learn where your gears are first, before you go ripping up the streets.
Jose A Fernandez
Email: [email protected]
This is the template to help you cut the holes in the floorpan and the inner and lower shifter brackets.
Last edited:
thanks Jose!
