I just finished up replacing my stock C5 Z06 shifter with a Hurst, and although it went pretty well and everything seems to work OK, I do have a nagging question about it.

On the stock shifter there is an "L" shaped pin that drops down into a hole at the front of the shifter into hole on something on the linkage. The Hurst shifter doesn't have this, nor is it mentioned in the install directions. Seems odd that GM would just put something there for no reason, so it has me a bit worried that I am missing something important.

Is this something I need to be concerned about?

 

Your are fine! It is a linkage zero pin. If you disconnect the linkage rod from the shifter for what ever reason, you will need it to properly set the linkage and the shifter to netural. There is a hole in the shift rod that corrosponds to the hole in the black cap on the front of the housing when the trans in in netural. The pin gets inserted into that hole.



I used some silicone adhesive and glued it to the top of the tunnel so it wouldnt get lost. Just pull up your leather boot and silicone it to the rubber dust cover.

BC

 

notice the 'Z06' stamped into the aluminum shifter housing(you can see the 'z' behind the black cup on the bottom of the shifter); the z06 doesn't use rubber bushings like the base c5

 

Don't worry. If you should somehow ever need to use the hole for shifter alignment, you can use a 1/8" drill bit in place of the pin.
I squirted a couple drops of motor oil into the hole and then sealed it with a dab of black silicone to help keep dirt from getting in.

 

Thanks! I thought for sure I was missing something important.

But I have another question.

The rubber lower boot that is held down with the 4 nuts had to be reversed to fit over the wider base of the Hurst shifter. Was I supposed to form that around the base of the shifter somehow? It just basically sits atop the shifter base, but it lets in a lot of noise now that wasn't able to pass through with the original shifter. So did I miss something there that I was supposed to do to seal it around the new shifter?

 

Yea, what he said!

I also put a tiny dab of silicone over that hole just to keep any dust ,dirt or water out of the shifter rod.

 

It's par for the course with the Hurst b/c there's no rubber to insulate the shifter... check out this link for the best method of nosie reduction.

http://www.z06vette.com/forums/showt...ht=quiet+hurst

Also try an a/m ****... the stocker with it's plastic center can act as a trumpet.

 

OK, I think I screwed up. When I put the original factory shifter **** back on my Hurst shifter, I tapped the demon key in with a hammer and punch to seat it. Well today I went out to take off that shifter **** to replace it with an aftermarket **** and NO WAY that demon key was coming out! When I took it out originally I just pried up on it from both sides with two screwdrivers and it slid out real easily. Now I have tried that AND the needlenose vice grips trick, tapping it with a hammer, and that sucker just WON'T budge. What the heck do I do now to get that darn thing out of there? It was kind of chilly this morning, so do you think warmer temps will loosen it up a bit? I hate like hell to take a hacksaw to cut the shifter **** off. What's the stock shifter **** made of under the leather? Plastic or steel?

Yeah, I know, I probably shouldn't have tapped the key down so hard..........

 

To reduce any slight noise, splitting a tennis ball and covering the stalk helps. However, I specifically chose to merely place my new MOMO shift boot directly over the existing o.e. shift boot. Great sound insulator!

 

Some people have drilled out the key. Once you get the walls thin enough you can callaps the key and pull it out.

BC

 

What I had to do was drill from the bottom below the key up at it at a 45* angle. Then I used a tap to push it out. If you use a sharp drill bit the hole will be clean and it doesn't look to bad until you buy a new shift ****. Its better then cutting it in half. By the way the shifter is just hard plastic so it's easy to cut/drill.
Thanks for the info Whare are the bushings you were talking about? Are they in the shifter handle itself or were they in the shift rod. I had my whole trans/torque tube apart about 6mo ago and i don't rember any in the shift rod (or what ever its caled, the rod from the shifter to the trans) Or do frc's have the same ones as the later zo6's

 

maybe use a litthe bit of penitrating oil and try the vise grip and hammer trick agaim.

 

Will WD40 work well enough as a penetrating lubricant? I read somewhere that it is really not a lubricant at all, but does help to break loose stuck and corroded parts.

turboc5 - Ah! Yes, I can see how that might work out. Thanks. That would be better then just sawing the shifter **** vertically.

I think I have a mind's eye view of something that may work. If anyone of you have ever done ammunition reloading, you probably have had to use a stuck case remover once or twice. Fortunately I have a milling machine, so I think I can make up something that will work in a similar fashion. I just need to drill the key, tap threads in it, then use a standoff (something similar to a gear puller method) to put a screw through it and into the key and hopefully pull it out of the shifter. As long as the screw doesn't strip the threads in the key, it should work. If it strips, then I drill it all the way out as Bill Curlee has suggested.

Worst comes to worst, I take a jig saw to the shifter ****...

BTW, how many people with the Hurst shifter went to the softer springs? I thought I would try to standard ones, but damn, it's getting old having to push that shifter to the right to get into 5th and 6th gear. About 1 out of 5 times I will shift from 5th into 4th by mistake because of the spring tension pushing the shifter to the left.

So, any real drawbacks from using those softer springs? Assuming I can get that blased demon key out, of course....

 

I use the softest springs in my hurst and its perfect You could run them without springs since your trans has centering springs, but I think the light ones are the ticket

 

Shifter feel is all a matter of personal taste. I have a Kirban and the spring pressure is kind of stiff in 1st-2nd and 5th-6th gates. If I pull it out of gear, it pops into the neutral gate, ready for any gear. I like it that way. My 98 had very little if any centering spring pressure from the 1st - 2nd gate with the OEM shifter and it was too easy to grab 2nd when you really wanted 4th. The Kirban in my Z06 is PERFECT! (for me).

There wont be any problems making the springs the way you like them. You can pull them all the way out if you want to. The OEM shifter doesn’t have any springs either. There are centering springs inside the trans.

BC