carl3989

Firstly allow me to commend Technical Contributor Toque. He did a great service to all C5 and C6 owners who have installed a short shifter. His thread describes the mod. and the benefits i.e.: less pressure needed for shifting with the short throw shifter. https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...procedure.html However we own C6s not C5s which the original mod. addresses. Although the C5 and C6 trannys are similar there are differences. My 08 tranny (Tremec) has a few of these differences which need to be known to make the mod. a little easier. What is never mentioned in the mod. directions is that on my 2008 vette the factory used so much Lock-Tite type material on the indent bolt that removal becomes some what problematic. It's bad enough lying beneath the vette especially when it's almost impossible to see the bolt in question. It must be done be feeling around with your hand. This task is made easier in that the bolt (15/16) has a dome like top unlike any other you will find on your vette. I found this helped a lot in finding it. Then I used a (15/16) socket, short not deep type with the shortest 1/2 drive extension and a 1/2 inch breaker bar. Yes a breaker bar not a ratchet. The breaker bar with the extension allows you to place the bar between the tranny and the exhaust pipe. Also most importantly, that before mentioned Lock-tite material on the bolt threads make it almost impossible to break the bolt free. Even after the initial breaking loose of the bolt that glue on the bolt will give resistance all the way until the last thread is exposed. Whew, that was weird. Why so much Lock-Tite ? Being on the top of the tranny the bolt should not pose a leak problem. Perhaps, they just want to be damn sure it doesn't back out. The other thing I must stress is that not only must you remove all the gunk off the bolt you have to clean up the hole before you reinstall. How do I know? Well because you can't see the hole it becomes a out of sight out of mind kind of thing. So I wasted and wasted time and patience trying to get threads started. Urgh! Finally I used some WD40 on a tooth brush and lots of wiping with a clean lint free rag and it went in easy as pie. So was it worth it? Yes, this mod. (I used one 20 mm copper washer) and it makes the shifter easier to move. Hopefully this helps you avoid some frustration.

cartop2

Just curious and possibly over cautious. I'm not suggesting there will be a a problem downstream. I am just wondering if you think that bolt should be checked occasionally since you used WD40 on the threads.

michaelod

Your experience was different from mine. When I made the same mod on my 2008, that bolt was not covered in Loctite and was easily removed. Note the bolt had never previously been touched and was exactly the way it left the factory. With the exception of jacking up the car, the entire job took maybe three minutes to complete. I agree the mod was well worth doing, especially when replacing my shifter with an MGW unit.

carl3989

However I did snug the bolt down (being careful not to over tighten due to the fragile cast aluminum tranny housing) on to the copper washer.