chuck1026

First issue is the rubber bushings are shot. The B&M supplied metal bushings are too small to accept the OEM metal bushing retainers. What is the best solution? New rubber bushings or modify the solid bushings? I would rather not have any rattling, so I am leaning towards the C5 / C6 OEM bushing replacement kit ( makeshift O-rings) that is sold around the internet for $20.

Second issue...
There is an "L" shaped pin that is inserted into the front carrier of the shift box and supported by the OEM shifter in a slot".
It is in the upper left of the picture below:


Picture courtesy of Forum member Bill Curlee

The new B&B Ripper has no support / retainer for this component. I have read if you remove the entire assembly to replace the rubber bushings, part of the alignment process involves lifting this rod and then reinserting it. Is this true, or do I just take the "L" rod and the OEM shifter parts and store them in a box with my other OEM parts for a day when the car might be returned to stock?

Thanks in advance!

Chuck

chuck1026

I have been forced to read up on this myself... I have discovered the pin locks the shifter in the correct "neutral" position. It looks like I should have the pin inserted and the transmission in neutral (like it is) when I bolt in the shifter and reconnect it to the linkage. Then I remove the pin and it should be aligned. Anyone have other thoughts?

I also decided to order the rubber bushing (o-ring) kit from a Vette vendor to maintain the vibration isolation of the stock setup (before my OEM bushings were trashed).

Chuck

neutron82

is the pic above of your shifter/box?... if it is you have metal bushings and i don't think you can remove those very easily... i'm not 100% positive but i think the rubber bushings came in base c5 shift boxes and metal bushings were in z06 cars... if you do have rubber bushings i would just replace them with replacements, i know i've seen them available before but i can't remember where exactly... i don't think gm offers them separately and you would have to buy a whole new shifter box... when i installed my mgw shifter in my z06 i removed the pin completely and haven't had any issues... my box had metal bushings and i haven't had any noises/rattling but i do have a completely different shifter than you

GM Fan

Yeah I don't think any of the aftermarket shifters retain that adjustment pin. You just use it for alignment during install and remove as you indicated. I did the same w/ my B&M Sport shifter.

The Z06 has the solid bushings so I didn't have to mess with those. Not sure if we're thinking of the same thing or not. (do you not have the solid bushings installed in your pic as well, under the large torx/star bolts?)

chuck1026

No, I borrowed a picture of Bill's car. I had the rubber bushings in mine.

That's exactly what I thought when I pressed the pin into the shifter out of the car. It just simplifys alignment during the installation.

I'd be upset that I still need new bushings, but my C5 is trapped in my garage until my driveway work is complete - a good time to have it down for mods .

2Redvettes

These questions were posed nine months ago but I see that issue #1 (bushings won't fit) had not been addressed. I have some information on that, so I thought I'd chime in.

I had purchased the same B&M shifter two years ago for my last C5 and I do not recall having problems with the stock steel top bushing not fitting into the B&M bottom aluminum bushing. I am sure they fit together just fine.

I purchased my second C5 a few weeks ago and again ordered the B&M short shifter. This time, I did have the interference issue

To solve the problem, I placed the stock steel bushing in a vice and used a flat file to reduce the outer dimension, making it smaller, so it would fit inside the B&M aluminum bushing as intended.

Seems to have worked fine as the car shifts the same as my last one.