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Tech Tips :: Mike Schriber Reviews :: Ripper Install

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The stock shifter on the C5 Corvette is pretty good. It's has a pretty short throw and it feels comfortable and tight. With that in mind, it's obvious that there is plenty of room for improvement. The stock shifter does not have a strong positive centering mechanism. It's throw is longer than it needs to be and the rubber insulator robs crispness and reduces your chances of hitting the right gate under pressure. For a while, there was nothing you could do to improve this situation. A few months ago, B&M announced their Ripper shifter for the C5 T56 and I put one on order right away. My Ripper came from C5 Concepts. I participated in one of their group purchases and everything worked great. B&M includes some photocopied instructions with the shifter and Chris at C5 Concepts has published additional instructions on the Internet. I found both documents helpful. At the same time, both documents omitted information that can save you time and hassle. The whole processes is pretty straightforward and shouldn't take more than an hour. size="2">To get started, get plenty of light (taking of the targa top helped a bunch) and put the parking brake on. Clean everything out of you center console and remove the ashtray. You'll need a Torx 15 screwdriver, a strong pair of needle nose pliers or Vise Grips, a flatblade screwdriver and a socket wrench with a 10mm socket. First pop off the bolt covers at the rear of the center console storage area. Inside you'll find two 10mm nuts that need to be removed. Next pop off the piece of console that has the Traction Control switch (and the adjustable suspension control if so equipped) and disconnect all the electrical connector. Remove the two 10mm nuts and pull console to the rear to remove. Before you pull it off completely, disconnect the 12v power and fuel door release electrical connectors. Next, open the ashtray door and remove the two Torx 15 screws inside. Then carefully pop off the interior temperature sensor cover to the left of the ignition. Now the hard part. Chevrolet must have had some reason to make the shift knob so hard to remove but I have no idea what it is. First pop off the shift pattern with a flatbed screwdriver. Next you need to remove the T shaped pin which holds the shift know in place. It's really wedged in and it'll take some effort to get it out. I grabbed it with a pair of strong pliers and then pried up with the flatbed screwdriver. I was worried about damaging the leather on the shift knob at first but all my efforts produced no ill effects. Once you remove the pin, just unscrew the shift knob and put it aside. Put the transmission into fourth gear and then remove the center console trim. It should pop off pretty easily. Be sure to remove the electrical connection for the cigarette lighter before you pull too hard. face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="4">- Click on photos to enlarge align="center"> href="images/schribershift2.jpg"> width="150" height="112" border="2"> href="images/schribershift3.jpg"> width="150" height="112" border="2"> src="images/schribershift4small.jpg" width="150" height="112" border="2"> href="images/schribershift5.jpg"> width="150" height="112" border="2"> src="images/schribershift6small.jpg" width="150" height="112" border="2">