For those who don't know, all 89-90 and some 91 SHO's came with a cable linkage shifter. After wear, tear, and age, these cables are known to make shifting difficult, or worse yet, completely break leaving you with one or two gears to choose from. After mid 91, Ford upgraded to a nice rod setup that has a noticeably different feel while shifting. Since then, people have found it beneficial to convert their Gen 1 to rod.
First things first are the needed parts to convert your 89-91 SHO to a rod shifter. Obviously the main thing you will need is the rod itself, along with a rerouted mid pipe that allows the rod box to hang under the car. Another thing you will need to find is an upgraded late 91-92 shifter boot panel for your console, because your shifter will now sit off towards the drivers side. The local junkyard or SHOforum will probably be your best bet to gather all of these parts. Below is everything you will need. Not shown is a mid pipe "O" ring that you can pick up at any parts store.
Once you have everything gathered, along with the basic tools to unbolt everything, you will also need to come up with the following:
* Electric Drill
* 1/4" Drill Bit
* 7/16" Drill Bit
* 1/2" Drill Bit
* Die Grinder
Next figure out a way to get the car up in the air. I was lucky enough to score a lift for this job, but I'm sure one could do it in their garage if they were brave enough. The exhaust will most likely be a pain to get off, so a lift really is your best bet.
Once the car is up in the air, you will see where your two cables hook up to the transmission. You will need to unbolt these.
Note: My cable (pictured) was broken, so yours may look a tad different.
Next you will want to start taking apart your mid pipe.
Like I mentioned above, you will most likely run into some problems here. Where the mid pipe meets the catback is probably going to be rusted together pretty good, so I ended up having to cut into my old mid pipe just to get them apart. A good 30 minutes were blown just trying to figure out how to get these two pipes apart. Its not fun.
Once the exhaust and cables are unhooked underneath, the next thing to do is take apart your console.
Once you get the console out of the way, you will then need to clear out the console mounting bracket and shifter. Everything needs to go.
Once everything is taken out, you will then have your old cables just hanging around. There are a few different ways to run them out of your floorboard, but my easiest way was to just cut them since they were going in the trash anyway. After that, you will have to cut your carpet to expose where your rod will be going. Once you are all done, your floor should look something like this:
Next on your list will be to cut a hole in your floor, then drill your holes for the rod box adapter plate. We got lucky here, because Ford pretty much already marked where to drill and cut by putting indentions in the floor where the rod would be going.
Once the hole is cut and the floor is drilled out, slap your rod plate in place.
Your underside should look something like this:
Now it is time to mount up your rod shifter! First, mount it up on the plate, then connect each rod to your transmission. The locations are easy to find.
Rod box attached to your plate:
Each rod attached to the transmission:
Now that your rod is in place, it is time to start putting your exhaust back together. Below is a picture of the differences between the two mid pipes. Now you know why the bent mid pipe is important.
Notice how the pipe curves right around the box:
Its all down here from here guys! Now you just need to start putting your console back in the car.
This is where your new shifter boot panel comes into play. Notice the difference?
Once you throw your new panel back on your console, you should be good to go! Just remember to lower your car onto the ground before you drive off.....
I hope this post helps anyone that is wanting to do this conversion.
First things first are the needed parts to convert your 89-91 SHO to a rod shifter. Obviously the main thing you will need is the rod itself, along with a rerouted mid pipe that allows the rod box to hang under the car. Another thing you will need to find is an upgraded late 91-92 shifter boot panel for your console, because your shifter will now sit off towards the drivers side. The local junkyard or SHOforum will probably be your best bet to gather all of these parts. Below is everything you will need. Not shown is a mid pipe "O" ring that you can pick up at any parts store.
Once you have everything gathered, along with the basic tools to unbolt everything, you will also need to come up with the following:
* Electric Drill
* 1/4" Drill Bit
* 7/16" Drill Bit
* 1/2" Drill Bit
* Die Grinder
Next figure out a way to get the car up in the air. I was lucky enough to score a lift for this job, but I'm sure one could do it in their garage if they were brave enough. The exhaust will most likely be a pain to get off, so a lift really is your best bet.
Once the car is up in the air, you will see where your two cables hook up to the transmission. You will need to unbolt these.
Note: My cable (pictured) was broken, so yours may look a tad different.
Next you will want to start taking apart your mid pipe.
Like I mentioned above, you will most likely run into some problems here. Where the mid pipe meets the catback is probably going to be rusted together pretty good, so I ended up having to cut into my old mid pipe just to get them apart. A good 30 minutes were blown just trying to figure out how to get these two pipes apart. Its not fun.
Once the exhaust and cables are unhooked underneath, the next thing to do is take apart your console.
Once you get the console out of the way, you will then need to clear out the console mounting bracket and shifter. Everything needs to go.
Once everything is taken out, you will then have your old cables just hanging around. There are a few different ways to run them out of your floorboard, but my easiest way was to just cut them since they were going in the trash anyway. After that, you will have to cut your carpet to expose where your rod will be going. Once you are all done, your floor should look something like this:
Next on your list will be to cut a hole in your floor, then drill your holes for the rod box adapter plate. We got lucky here, because Ford pretty much already marked where to drill and cut by putting indentions in the floor where the rod would be going.
Once the hole is cut and the floor is drilled out, slap your rod plate in place.
Your underside should look something like this:
Now it is time to mount up your rod shifter! First, mount it up on the plate, then connect each rod to your transmission. The locations are easy to find.
Rod box attached to your plate:
Each rod attached to the transmission:
Now that your rod is in place, it is time to start putting your exhaust back together. Below is a picture of the differences between the two mid pipes. Now you know why the bent mid pipe is important.
Notice how the pipe curves right around the box:
Its all down here from here guys! Now you just need to start putting your console back in the car.
This is where your new shifter boot panel comes into play. Notice the difference?
Once you throw your new panel back on your console, you should be good to go! Just remember to lower your car onto the ground before you drive off.....
I hope this post helps anyone that is wanting to do this conversion.
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