MGW shifter install

[wikkid]

Would like to install the shifter from inside the car rather then under. Is it that much harder from inside? I have a midrise in my garage, but i hear you have to lower the tranny to get the shifter in from below. What does that take to do?
And how low would i have to get it?
Thanks

 

[JoelW]

I think Towdawg has done it from the top, you might ask him, but my recollection is that you will have to cut things to put it in from the top. Remove the shifter boot and knob. Raise the car only enough to remove the rear mount and drop the transmission just a bit. You will need about 4 inches drop to pull out the shifter and put the new one in. Loosen the 4 bolts and take the old shifter out. Piece of cake.

 

[cowger]

I think Towdawg has done it from the top, you might ask him, but my recollection is that you will have to cut things to put it in from the top. Remove the shifter boot and knob. Raise the car only enough to remove the rear mount and drop the transmission just a bit. You will need about 4 inches drop to pull out the shifter and put the new one in. Loosen the 4 bolts and take the old shifter out. Piece of cake.

Good advice -- I've done this and agree with Joel spot-on. IMO, it's going to be a lot easier to get your car safely up in the air versus thinking about how to cut / patch / repair your tunnel from above.

You might also want to have a replacement lower shift boot on-hand, along with 1/4" rivets (see Harbor Freight). Also a good time to install a skip-shift if you haven't already programmed that out.

Bryan

 

[Chemeng]

I did it last summer, had to drop the tranny 6 inches. The hole in the tunnel is not large enough to remove the OEM shifter and put the new shifter in. The 4 bolts are a blind remove and install, did it all by touch. Real PITA. Took about 5 hours but I take my time on projects. Good luck, the MGW is a much better shifter. Would never go back to the OEM one.

 

[JoelW]

Does taking your time mean drinking a lot of cold beverages? I find that always helps but this project should be about 2 hours max and 3 hours of drinking cold beverages. Course if you do the drinking first, it could take more than 5 hours. If you have a friend who can sit in the car and direct you, they can loosen the bolts from the top while they drink cold beverages and you lie on the floor on your back. Lying on your back cuts down on the beverage consumption but if you have a real friend they will lie on the floor while you direct them, drink cold beverages, and listen to the radio. Don't try this with your wife or girlfriend because she may not want direction during shifter changes, consuming beverages, or any other time in general no matter how she feels about lying on her back under the car. In all seriousness, I had a lift but it is pretty easy on the floor too as I have helped a friend change one in a Mustang on his garage floor.

I did it last summer, had to drop the tranny 6 inches. The hole in the tunnel is not large enough to remove the OEM shifter and put the new shifter in. The 4 bolts are a blind remove and install, did it all by touch. Real PITA. Took about 5 hours but I take my time on projects. Good luck, the MGW is a much better shifter. Would never go back to the OEM one.

 

[Chemeng]

Nah, no cold beverages. I'm just getting old. i would work on it until my arms got tired hugging the tranny and would get out and walk around the car until the blood got into my hands again. Well worth it, the MGW shifter is the way to go.

 

[TowDawg]

Joel is right. I did mine from the top side, without ever getting under the car, but I did have to cut a rectangle hole in the tunnel towards the passenger side from where the shifter actually comes up through it. I drilled 4 holes where the corners of my cut-out would be and then used a small air-saw to cut the rest out. After I was done, I cut a piece of sheet metal a little bigger than the hole, and used 4 rivets (plus gasket maker all the way around) to close it back up.
+1 on going ahead and having a new shifter boot while you do it. The stock one is probably torn and you might as well replace it while you're in there. Before changing the shifter, I could feel hot air coming out of the tunnel and into the car form the shifter area. Completely gone now.
I would agree that doing it from under the car is probably the way to do it, but my way worked out fine and I was tired of being under car doing my winter clean-up. Plus, I have become way too comfortable cutting on the Viper after installing the roll bar.