mossyhennebry
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Okay – there does not seem to be a guide for this already. Here you go. By the time you have this read – you would probably have fitted one. Fitting only takes an hour. The following guide is in detail. I tried taking photos with my camera phone, but it was dark and they didn‘t come out great.
Tools required - hammer, flat head screwdriver, long nose pliers, socket set and ratchet, spanner, brute force, elbow grease, one beer.
1.) Remove the gearknob. This might require the spanner.
2.) The plastic surround from the centre of the car needs to be removed.
Firstly pop up the small rectangular shaped 'cap' in front of the handbrake which is on the driver's side.
Secondly, the cover around the cigarette lighter needs to be removed to gain access to two screws behind it. This is clipped into place, and so for removal there is no special technique required, just 'pop' it off. I pulled downwards on mine and it worked fine. When this pops off, the cigarette lighter itself needs to be unplugged. Its a bit tight behind there, but get the fingers in and unplug the connection. Very simple. Reminds me of a headlight connection on previous cars.
Now we need to remove the main body of this plastic surround. There are two screws towards the back section of the unit (roll both seats to the most forward position and incline them forwards. These two screws are philips head and can be removed quite easily from outside the car, leaning in, when the seat is forward. I just placed the screws on the rear mats when I took them out so that i knew which screw went in which hole afterwards.
There are two smaller philips head screws about halfway up this unit, one left and one right. These need to be taken out also.
The plastic surround can now be removed. There are clips holding the sides of the surround in the footwells, these just need to be popped to release them. Then lift the rear of the unit up. This movement causes friction at the front, where the cigarette lighter was. It gets to a stage where you think you might crack something, but continue to lever it up from the rear. The front will pop off (providing of course that you have removed the two screws and released the two clips as explained previously). Carefully take the plastic surround over the gear lever and the handbrake and carefully remove it from the car.
Okay, that‘s the easy bit over. Don‘t have that beer just yet…
3.) releasing the cables.
You should be able to see two cables about 18mm diameter which connect the gearlever to the gearbox. They both travel parallel to the car, from under the cigarette lighter unit and into the oem shifter unit. There is one on the passenger side of the car and one on the drivers side. I started with the passenger side. Both cables are held in position by a split-pin. Use the long-nose pliers to take out the split-pin and this will free the end of the cable. Be careful not to damage the pin when freeing it up as you will need to re-use this on the shortshifter unit. Now, the cable can be released from the oem unit– this just requires brute force. Pull it directly out, holding it tightly. The other cable has the same split-pin which again needs to be re-used later, so don‘t damage it or throw it away. This cable is connected with a brass plate which seems to be folded over the top of the oem unit. Use the flathead screwdriver under this brass plate to lever it up. It‘s only held there with friction and should move freely enough once started. Move it vertically upwards and then free the cable. Obviously this brass plate will be re-used on the new shifter unit.
4.) removing the oem unit.
It is held in place with 4bolts. Use the socket ratchet to screw out these 4 bolts. The front two are fine, the rear two are a little tight for space – I didn‘t remove the recaro‘s, just get stuck in. maybe the spanner might be better than the socket? Keep the four bolts to one side, lift out the unit. There are a group of wires running along the centre of the car which are clipped into this unit. I presume they are for the speakers and rear lights etc. Take care to unclip them from the oem shifter unit without snipping one of the wires.
5.) Installing the shortshifter.
There are 4 aluminium two-piece thingy‘s (not sure what to call them) supplied in the box. Each one has two parts, one goes on top and the other goes on the bottom. There is a male and a female, make sure you position them first to make sure you have them the right way. What I did next was to position the shortshifter and then lifted it slightly to allow me to slide the aluminium thingy‘s underneath it. Next I positioned the other half of the aluminium thingy‘s into the male/female sleeve so that they fitted flush with the edge of the shortshifter unit. Line up the holes with the bolts and screw her in!
6.) Re-fitting the cables.
Pretty straightforward. The one on the passenger side that was removed using brute force – just needs a tap of a hammer or a mallet to put it in position on the new shortshifter. The other cable can be positioned easily and then the brass plate has to be tapped home with a hammer/mallet to secure the cable in place. Re-do the ends of the cables in position using the split-pins which you didn‘t throw away earlier!
7.) Check gear selection.
Before you go to the trouble of replacing the plastic surround, check that you can select each gear properly with the new shortshifter. Then replace the plastic surround, clip it in at the front, screw it in at the back, etc.
8.) replace the cigarette lighter (remember to plug it in at the back). Replace the gearknob and tightening nut. Replace the little plastic cap beside the handbrake.
9.)Take the car for a spin to experience how such a simple mod transforms the driving experience of the car.
10)Have that beer.
Tools required - hammer, flat head screwdriver, long nose pliers, socket set and ratchet, spanner, brute force, elbow grease, one beer.
1.) Remove the gearknob. This might require the spanner.
2.) The plastic surround from the centre of the car needs to be removed.
Firstly pop up the small rectangular shaped 'cap' in front of the handbrake which is on the driver's side.
Secondly, the cover around the cigarette lighter needs to be removed to gain access to two screws behind it. This is clipped into place, and so for removal there is no special technique required, just 'pop' it off. I pulled downwards on mine and it worked fine. When this pops off, the cigarette lighter itself needs to be unplugged. Its a bit tight behind there, but get the fingers in and unplug the connection. Very simple. Reminds me of a headlight connection on previous cars.
Now we need to remove the main body of this plastic surround. There are two screws towards the back section of the unit (roll both seats to the most forward position and incline them forwards. These two screws are philips head and can be removed quite easily from outside the car, leaning in, when the seat is forward. I just placed the screws on the rear mats when I took them out so that i knew which screw went in which hole afterwards.
There are two smaller philips head screws about halfway up this unit, one left and one right. These need to be taken out also.
The plastic surround can now be removed. There are clips holding the sides of the surround in the footwells, these just need to be popped to release them. Then lift the rear of the unit up. This movement causes friction at the front, where the cigarette lighter was. It gets to a stage where you think you might crack something, but continue to lever it up from the rear. The front will pop off (providing of course that you have removed the two screws and released the two clips as explained previously). Carefully take the plastic surround over the gear lever and the handbrake and carefully remove it from the car.
Okay, that‘s the easy bit over. Don‘t have that beer just yet…
3.) releasing the cables.
You should be able to see two cables about 18mm diameter which connect the gearlever to the gearbox. They both travel parallel to the car, from under the cigarette lighter unit and into the oem shifter unit. There is one on the passenger side of the car and one on the drivers side. I started with the passenger side. Both cables are held in position by a split-pin. Use the long-nose pliers to take out the split-pin and this will free the end of the cable. Be careful not to damage the pin when freeing it up as you will need to re-use this on the shortshifter unit. Now, the cable can be released from the oem unit– this just requires brute force. Pull it directly out, holding it tightly. The other cable has the same split-pin which again needs to be re-used later, so don‘t damage it or throw it away. This cable is connected with a brass plate which seems to be folded over the top of the oem unit. Use the flathead screwdriver under this brass plate to lever it up. It‘s only held there with friction and should move freely enough once started. Move it vertically upwards and then free the cable. Obviously this brass plate will be re-used on the new shifter unit.
4.) removing the oem unit.
It is held in place with 4bolts. Use the socket ratchet to screw out these 4 bolts. The front two are fine, the rear two are a little tight for space – I didn‘t remove the recaro‘s, just get stuck in. maybe the spanner might be better than the socket? Keep the four bolts to one side, lift out the unit. There are a group of wires running along the centre of the car which are clipped into this unit. I presume they are for the speakers and rear lights etc. Take care to unclip them from the oem shifter unit without snipping one of the wires.
5.) Installing the shortshifter.
There are 4 aluminium two-piece thingy‘s (not sure what to call them) supplied in the box. Each one has two parts, one goes on top and the other goes on the bottom. There is a male and a female, make sure you position them first to make sure you have them the right way. What I did next was to position the shortshifter and then lifted it slightly to allow me to slide the aluminium thingy‘s underneath it. Next I positioned the other half of the aluminium thingy‘s into the male/female sleeve so that they fitted flush with the edge of the shortshifter unit. Line up the holes with the bolts and screw her in!
6.) Re-fitting the cables.
Pretty straightforward. The one on the passenger side that was removed using brute force – just needs a tap of a hammer or a mallet to put it in position on the new shortshifter. The other cable can be positioned easily and then the brass plate has to be tapped home with a hammer/mallet to secure the cable in place. Re-do the ends of the cables in position using the split-pins which you didn‘t throw away earlier!
7.) Check gear selection.
Before you go to the trouble of replacing the plastic surround, check that you can select each gear properly with the new shortshifter. Then replace the plastic surround, clip it in at the front, screw it in at the back, etc.
8.) replace the cigarette lighter (remember to plug it in at the back). Replace the gearknob and tightening nut. Replace the little plastic cap beside the handbrake.
9.)Take the car for a spin to experience how such a simple mod transforms the driving experience of the car.
10)Have that beer.
