Hello all,
Today I installed my Road Race Engineering polyeurethane shifter bushings, the ones at the base of the shifter.
Here are the pictures along with my installation directions on how to make the SHIFTER BUSHING install a piece of cake.
I recommend starting at the BACK of the console, this makes for an easy removal/install.
I ONLY took pictures of one side of the console, make sure to do each step to BOTH sides in order to remove the console.
One: remove the screw inside the red circle at the BACK of the console. At this step, ignore the purple circle, this will be refered to in a later step.
Two: remove the screw inside the red circle. This screw is hidden behind the lower trim. I found this screw very easy to remove with both driver & passenger seats all the way to the back.
Three: remove the screw in the red circle. The screw in the purple circle is a little hard to remove at first, but I found it very easy to remove with my ratchet along with a phillips bit.
Four: follow the green arrow and slide down the seatbelt clip. After doing so, the seatbelt bolt will be exposed. Remove the bolt circled in red.
Five: pry the armrest tray gently out of the console with a small flathead screwdriver (as shown).
Six: after removal of the armrest tray, the inside is shown.
REFER back to step 1 to understand this step, step 6.
Pop loose the seatbelt trim, located inside of the purple circle, as shown in step 1. Don't worry, this trim will not fall off, it is supposed to stay wrapped around the seatbelt.
After popping loose the seatbelt trim in step 1, push the seatbelt trim as well as the seatbelt guide (both circled in green) through the seatbelt trim hole. Follow the purple dashed line and you should end up at the purple X. This is a crucial step, if you do not do this, removing the console will be a great pain.
Seven: remove the (3) screws inside of the red circles, the fourth screw is hidden behind the group of wires located with a red arrow. Obviously, in order to remove these (4) screws, you WILL have to remove the radio along with the radio trim.
After these 7 steps, removal of the console is a piece of cake or atleast it should be.
On the outside of the EMERGENCY BRAKE, is the E-Brake trim. Pop this trim off and you are almost ready to pull the console out.
You will have to remove the shift knob in order to take the console out. I also removed the shift boot, you may not need to, but I found it much easier to remove the console in doing so.
You will have to pull the console towards the back of the car in order to remove it. There are (2) plastic tabs in the front of the console hidden inside of where the radio is located. Be sure not to bend them, if you do, installation of the console might be a little harder. If these (2) tabs are sligthly bent, the console will not sit flush infront and this will cuase the console not to be installed properly.
After you remove the console, you will be exposed to the old factory (QUIET) bushings.
Eight: remove the (2) bolts in the red circles, remove the bolt located near the red arrow and remove the bolt in the green circle. The bolt in the green circle is a bit of a pain to remove. In order to remove the bolt without a problem, I had to remove the pin from the bushing located next to the purple arrow. This allowed the bolt to be fully exposed from the shifter rod (you will see when doing the removal).
After removing all of the bolts, you can pull the shifter assembly out and fully expose the bottom of the shifter plate. Do not pull the assembly out to far, you may end up bending the shifter cables, you DO NOT want this to happen. If you bend the shifter cables, shifting will be a pain in the ass and you may end up having to replace the shifter cables in order to fix this error.
In order to remove the old shifter bushings, you wil need to press out the old ones. In order to do so, push down on the metal bushing shafts located inside of the bushings. The bushing shafts will fall right out. Use a needle nose plier or push hard on the bushings in order to remove it.
NOW you are ready to install the NEW shifter bushings. I opted to go with the RRE polyeurethane shifter bushings instead of the machined metal ones as many others have chosen to use.
In order to install the new bushings, you may have to press them in very hard in order to get them to fit. The (3) bushings were very easy to install, but the one located in STEP 8, next to the red arrow, was a pain to do. Since the metal shifter shaft was in the way (you WILL FIND OUT), I had to use my brain in order to get it to install properly.
Once all the bushings were exposed, it only took me about 5 minutes to install the new ones. The entire process (removal/install) should take about 1 - 2 hours if you have never removed the console before.
After the install, I chose to drive the car around the block to see how everything went. Shifting was improved, not as much as I thought, but a lot better than it was. With the new bushings installed, there is a noticable difference in sound. The old bushings were very quite when shifting. With the new ones, there is a "clunk" noise when shifting. Nothing is wrong, it just sounds strange.
Enjoy the new and improved shifting!
Thanks to Roadraceengineering.com for making the bushings!
Let me know if these directions helped with your removall/install of the console. I would greatly appreciate any input. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.
Rory J. Conway
Today I installed my Road Race Engineering polyeurethane shifter bushings, the ones at the base of the shifter.
Here are the pictures along with my installation directions on how to make the SHIFTER BUSHING install a piece of cake.
I recommend starting at the BACK of the console, this makes for an easy removal/install.
I ONLY took pictures of one side of the console, make sure to do each step to BOTH sides in order to remove the console.
One: remove the screw inside the red circle at the BACK of the console. At this step, ignore the purple circle, this will be refered to in a later step.
Two: remove the screw inside the red circle. This screw is hidden behind the lower trim. I found this screw very easy to remove with both driver & passenger seats all the way to the back.
Three: remove the screw in the red circle. The screw in the purple circle is a little hard to remove at first, but I found it very easy to remove with my ratchet along with a phillips bit.
Four: follow the green arrow and slide down the seatbelt clip. After doing so, the seatbelt bolt will be exposed. Remove the bolt circled in red.
Five: pry the armrest tray gently out of the console with a small flathead screwdriver (as shown).
Six: after removal of the armrest tray, the inside is shown.
REFER back to step 1 to understand this step, step 6.
Pop loose the seatbelt trim, located inside of the purple circle, as shown in step 1. Don't worry, this trim will not fall off, it is supposed to stay wrapped around the seatbelt.
After popping loose the seatbelt trim in step 1, push the seatbelt trim as well as the seatbelt guide (both circled in green) through the seatbelt trim hole. Follow the purple dashed line and you should end up at the purple X. This is a crucial step, if you do not do this, removing the console will be a great pain.
Seven: remove the (3) screws inside of the red circles, the fourth screw is hidden behind the group of wires located with a red arrow. Obviously, in order to remove these (4) screws, you WILL have to remove the radio along with the radio trim.
After these 7 steps, removal of the console is a piece of cake or atleast it should be.
On the outside of the EMERGENCY BRAKE, is the E-Brake trim. Pop this trim off and you are almost ready to pull the console out.
You will have to remove the shift knob in order to take the console out. I also removed the shift boot, you may not need to, but I found it much easier to remove the console in doing so.
You will have to pull the console towards the back of the car in order to remove it. There are (2) plastic tabs in the front of the console hidden inside of where the radio is located. Be sure not to bend them, if you do, installation of the console might be a little harder. If these (2) tabs are sligthly bent, the console will not sit flush infront and this will cuase the console not to be installed properly.
After you remove the console, you will be exposed to the old factory (QUIET) bushings.
Eight: remove the (2) bolts in the red circles, remove the bolt located near the red arrow and remove the bolt in the green circle. The bolt in the green circle is a bit of a pain to remove. In order to remove the bolt without a problem, I had to remove the pin from the bushing located next to the purple arrow. This allowed the bolt to be fully exposed from the shifter rod (you will see when doing the removal).
After removing all of the bolts, you can pull the shifter assembly out and fully expose the bottom of the shifter plate. Do not pull the assembly out to far, you may end up bending the shifter cables, you DO NOT want this to happen. If you bend the shifter cables, shifting will be a pain in the ass and you may end up having to replace the shifter cables in order to fix this error.
In order to remove the old shifter bushings, you wil need to press out the old ones. In order to do so, push down on the metal bushing shafts located inside of the bushings. The bushing shafts will fall right out. Use a needle nose plier or push hard on the bushings in order to remove it.
NOW you are ready to install the NEW shifter bushings. I opted to go with the RRE polyeurethane shifter bushings instead of the machined metal ones as many others have chosen to use.
In order to install the new bushings, you may have to press them in very hard in order to get them to fit. The (3) bushings were very easy to install, but the one located in STEP 8, next to the red arrow, was a pain to do. Since the metal shifter shaft was in the way (you WILL FIND OUT), I had to use my brain in order to get it to install properly.
Once all the bushings were exposed, it only took me about 5 minutes to install the new ones. The entire process (removal/install) should take about 1 - 2 hours if you have never removed the console before.
After the install, I chose to drive the car around the block to see how everything went. Shifting was improved, not as much as I thought, but a lot better than it was. With the new bushings installed, there is a noticable difference in sound. The old bushings were very quite when shifting. With the new ones, there is a "clunk" noise when shifting. Nothing is wrong, it just sounds strange.
Enjoy the new and improved shifting!
Thanks to Roadraceengineering.com for making the bushings!
Let me know if these directions helped with your removall/install of the console. I would greatly appreciate any input. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.
Rory J. Conway
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