I realize I have no idea what I'm doing (and how terrible I am at this) and would appreciate it if anyone could help me out. Last night I removed the C5 Shifter/Base but stopped there because it was too dark. Today, (for the past hour or so) have been trying to put my C6 Shifter/Base in but haven't had much luck.

For one, I don't quite understand the little silver "alignment pin." From what I've read, you're suppose to use the three bolts and get the base locked in. After doing that, you're suppose to lift up on the pin so your shifter is free to move. I don't know what I'm doing wrong but I can't get my pin to move anywhere at all unless I actually the two screws holding it in. And even after removing them, I can't get it to go "up."

It's also really hard for me to get the shifter in general to line up straight. The only way I can get the three bolts to all go in is if the shifter is leaning to the right which doesn't look right at all. I'm guessing this is due to my ignorance of the alignment pin. Do you have to remove the two screws or no? I'm getting really frustrated..in part by how easy this is for everyone else and also because my car hasn't been drivable for 5 days now.

As always, any help is greatly appreciated and I love you all.


Edit: Here is a picture of my pathetic attempt.



(as you can see, it's leaning towards the right..which one again i'm guessing is because of my misunderstanding of the alignment pin.)

Another edit: I'm also not positive I had my car in neutral before I removed my old shifter. Does that matter?

 

Tell Patches and a member from another Corvette site Thank You then click the thumbnails.

 

Hope you get this resolved. That pin is the neutral lock.

Looks like it is out of alignment. It was suppose to be locked into place before you
removed the old shifter, and with the new one set as you install it, then after everything
is secured and torqued, you lift the pin.

I was careful and marked the base plate location before I loosened any bolts so that I
had a reference to align the new shifter. Had no issues what so ever. I used parts of
Patches procedure and my factory service manuals.

 

i am curious to watch how this goes since i posted on the original thread and i too have a c6 shifter getting ready to go in

 

I noticed your shifter base is cocked. Looks like your base is not sitting in the torque tube properly. There is a rubber protrusion on the bottom of the shifter that needs to sit inside a welded receiver in the torque tube as my pics illustrate below. Get that first and tighten the two bolts in the slots on the base first. Leave the coupler screw loose until last. Make sure the tranny is in neutral and then push the neutral lock/adjustment pin down with the shifter shaft as best centered as you can hold it as you push the pin back down. Then use the adjustment procedure linked above to adjust the shifter.

 

what are the benefits of the c6 shift assy

 

Short throw, angled shift stem.

 

and to add a stock like feel (from what I have heard, hence why I am dumping my modified B&M with custom **** for a c6 with a weighted **** - cant wait!)

 

I did the C6Z06 shifter on our '04. Love it!

It'll work out for ya....keep posting!

Wish you weren't a continent away....I'd come help ya!

 

Thanks for all your help guys. Means a lot. Anyway, I'm going to go at it again tomorrow.

Here are two quick videos with some of my concerns. The first video is me kind of rambling and the second is a little better I think. They're pretty short. Here are the links:

Video 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyUGRFG7gmU

Video 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkH2JErMtz8

Help me. <3 I'm determined to get it right tomorrow.

 

The pin lifts up just a small amount. Using a small blade screwdriver just pop it up vertically. But don't do this until the shifter is installed. The pin locks the shifter into the neutral position.

Just because you are not aware of everything, doesn't make you dumb or stupid. Just say hey I've never done this before and that's enough.

Perhaps someone else has a suggestion or process to ensure the selector is in neutral now.

First question, did you set the neutral switch on the old shifter before you removed it? My guess is you did not as you seem totally unaware of this component. The process should have been, e-brake on and/or wheels blocked, position the shifter to neutral, press down on the lock pin to set it, loosen the coupler bolt then the two side bolts. (I also suggest marking the position of the shifters base plate with a pencil before loosening the bolts. Makes it real easy to install and align the new shifter.)

Next question, do you happen to remember the position of your original shifter as you removed it?

Second video, if you look at the picture Patches provided it shows the top of the toque tube with a small bracket welded to it. That rubber bumper under the shifter sits into the slot created by the bracket on the torque tube. You just need to make sure as you place the shifter into position that the bumper (its actually called an locator) sits in the slot.

(Stop fooling with the neutral pin, you pop it up and you'll be in another mess!) AND NO YOU WON'T REMOVE ANY SCREWS OR BOLTS ON THE SHIFTER.

Now with the shifter going into position you slip the coupler end (shiny metal cylinder at the rear) into the coupler end and then position the side bolt holes into position. (This is where the marks of the old shifter would have come in handy.) Make sure the locator went into the slot too!

Loosely, put each of the side bolts in and the coupler bolt. Don't tighten them yet.

But before you go any further go back to Patches first PDF and read through the steps carefully. So you are more familiar with what you are about to do.

In the first PDF, you'll stop at page 11. Review, that means just read through the adjust PDF.

See the procedures in the next thread.

Just hang tight, we'll figure out how to verify the neutral position for the selector before you attempt to do anything further.

We gather you have little mechanical experience. It's ok, just sit back take your time, do some reading to enlighten yourself. Then we'll attack this thing.

Do you have a torque wrench? If so what are it's ranges in either Nm or Lb-ft?

 

Installation:

1. Install the shift control assembly to the transmission shift rod clamp. (Means the rod that comes out of the back of the shifter is slipped into the coupler.)

2. Lower the shifter into position and insert the locator into the shifter bracket on the side of the driveline support assembly. (The bracket.)

3. Install the shift control mounting bolts (side bolts) and tighten to 30 Nm (22 lb ft).

4. Install the transmission shift rod clamp bolt. Tighten to 30 Nm (22 lb ft). Thats the single bolt on the rod-coupler.)

5. Lift to release the shift control neutral lock pin. (Use a small blade screwdriver, slip it under the hook of the lock pin and the base plate and gently pry up, it only comes up a small amount. Once it is up the shifter will move out of neutral and will engage the transmission selector. The pin won't go in or out of position easy, for a good reason you don't want it going back in by itself, so its make to require a little force to pop it up. But it only comes up maybe a quarter inch.)

6. Now you'll install the shift closeout boot. Check that the close out boot fully seats to the shift control level seal and the base of the shift control assembly. Install the retaining nuts and tighten them to 12 Nm.

You may want to take a quick run around the block to make sure all the shift positions are accurate. If you cannot get one into gear, come back (if you got far) and remove the close out boot and follow Patches instructions to align the shifter. (Again this is where marking it before removal would have ensure a smoother installation. Sorry but it's generally a good idea to research and ask first before hand.)

Slip the handle on loosely again and test drive. (expect a lot of noise from the transmission area when the system is opened up.) If its ok now, continue.

Next you'll need to finish the installation and re-assemble all the console parts. You can see some of this on page 17 of Patches installation PDF. The bolt for the shifter handle should have been pre-coated with lock-tite. So don't install it until you are ready for the final installation. You can test drive with the handle loosely on, just be careful. After the leather boot is modified to fit, insert it and move the top of the boot below the bolt hole and insert the handle and install the bolt on the side. (Now I'm assuming this is a Z06 shifter, and it has the side bolt handle fitment.)

Modifying the stock boot can be done with some decent glue, fold the boot inside out, and taking your time slowly and gently with a small blade screwdriver pry the folded top of the boot apart. Once you have done then then roll it down about an inch further and glue it at the new fold. It requires a few test fits to get the right amount of fold. This is basically the last step and so take your time, otherwise the results will look unprofessional. Once you get the right fold height for it to cover the bolt after installation, then glue it. Some clamps would help hold the pieces together while the glue dries. I used gorilla glue. After it completely dries, then go out and slip the boot into place, install the handle and secure with the screw. And your finished.

 

First question, did you set the neutral switch on the old shifter before you removed it? My guess is you did not as you seem totally unaware of this component. The process should have been, e-brake on and/or wheels blocked, position the shifter to neutral, press down on the lock pin to set it, loosen the coupler bolt then the two side bolts. (I also suggest marking the position of the shifters base plate with a pencil before loosening the bolts. Makes it real easy to install and align the new shifter.

No, I didn't do that. The only instructions I used were Patches and I don't remember seeing that.

Next question, do you happen to remember the position of your original shifter as you removed it?

Nope. Sometimes my cars decides to move a bit while in neutral even with the E-Brake up, so it was probably anything but that.

Do you have a torque wrench? If so what are it's ranges in either Nm or Lb-ft?

My friend does that can help me and I have no idea.

 

Okay so I just went outside to work on the shifter and here is some more information that might help you guys figure out the problem.

When I line up the Rubber on the bottom of my shifter base and place it onto it's metal holder, I cannot get the screw into the coupler. The other two screws will go in just fine (the ones that hold the shifter down). But when I try to do the coupler one, the little cutout on the metal "pole" will not line up while the rubber on the base is in its holder.



The little circle cut out on the far right of the picture is what I'm talking about. Just to make sure you understand, I place the shifter/base onto it's metal holder, but when I try to put the screw the coupler it is blocked by the metal pole that is attached to my shifter base. If I try to align the cutout and get the screw in, the shifter can't stay in the base.

I'm guessing this is due to me not putting the car in neutral before the install. That or not pushing down the little pin before the install.

 

Exactly.

Take the old shifter and put it back in. See if it will line up, you might get lucky, put the three bolts back in and lightly secure it, so that you can move it to the neutral position. Remove that shifter and try again with the new shifter.

That might be your best bet. Follow the procedures above.

 

Just did it and now everything lines up and the shifter/base is in. Had to come inside to get a small screwdriver so I could lift the pin up.

....brb.

 

Yay, I finally got it

Thanks for everyone's help.

 

Glad to hear.

I bet you'll have something to add to the next post about shifter installations!

 

You're now C5 shifter qualified.

 

Many thanks to Patches for the shifter adjust instructions. I started with a C5 shifter box w/an MTI shifter (so no alignment pin).

I installed a C6Z shifter box - I stared by pushing in the alignment pin (did this before installing the box as you will need to hunt around a bit), lightly fastened the 2 side torx bolts, carefully centered the alignment notch, and everything worked out (though why is the fuel door button wiring so short??). The actually shifter install was prob 10min, but the f'n fuel switch took about 30min. It prob would have been quicker to just solder in another 12" of wire.

The car now shifts like my Honda S2000 (though w/slightly longer throws), which I didn't think was remotely possible. The car feels just like the Grand Sport I tried recently - so it is possible to get an MN6 to shift just like a TR6060.

First gear is still occasionally a little balky to get into, but I think that has more to do w/the car's 138k miles.

Thanks!!