Hi folks. I recently installed a Hurst Billet/Plus shifter in my 2003 C5 Z06. I purchased it from another Forum member - used - and I noticed that the gasket was "homemade" and slightly thicker than the remnants of the stock gasket that I removed during installation. But the shifter went into place fine and is working well.....with one exception. It rattles, especially when accelerating. I notice that if I put slight lateral pressure on the shift ball, the rattle stops. This shifter has adjustments for "side-to-side" tension and I wonder if turning the adjustment screws would make any difference? And I wonder if the thicker gasket made a difference? Has anyone out there had a similar experience, and if so, were you able to fix it? Thanks much.............Steve Snider

 

Hi Steve, what your experiencing is very common. The gasket does not matter, you can run it without any gasket as long as the base of the shifter and the top of the box; the mating surfaces, are clean and they are bolted together tight your good to go as far as that is concerned. You can play with the adjustments on the shifter but your probably not going to make any difference as far as reducing any rattle unless they were way to far out and loose and causing it's own rattle, this is likely not the case.
When you go to an aftermarket shifter from a stock shifter you are removing a lot of vibration dampening from the whole shifter assembly. These cars make a lot of vibration in the driveline, especially in regards to the shifter. Excessive vibration becoming apparent after the move away from a stock shifter is very common. There are a thousand people who have made this same post, thread, comment over the years. It's almost certainly not the shifter that is causing the vibration, it's just failing to cover up the vibration that always existed in the car or covering up less of it. This is the trade off between a floppy, vague stock shifter that dampens vibration really good and a tight, direct feeling shifter that does not dampen vibration as well.
The best thing you can do is to upgrade the shifter box that the shifter is mounted to. I offer a couple different options to do this but basically I rebuild the box with new, better internals that eliminate a lot of the slop in the system and help dampen vibration much better than it is currently. I also have an improved bushing for the bottom of that shifter and the combination of those two things will typically solve your vibration issue but it will make the shifter feel much better. The upgrade is cheap and easy, you'll certainly be happy with the results. If you would like to discuss options or have any questions shoot me a message or an email.

https://tmodcustoms.com/products/upgraded-factory-boxes

 

I have a Hurst shifter ball that doesn’t rattle because of the way I tightened it down. If I just tightened the ball against the lock nut it would rattle. So I caught a piece of the top of the shifter boot under the lock nut and tightened the ball down. No more rattle. That was 4 years ago and still no rattle and the ball is tight.

 

Hmm....I'll give that a try! Thanks for the tip...........Steve

 

Hi there. Thanks for your detailed information. I went to your website, selected "Z06" with core charge, and the site indicated that you are "sold out." Would you please let me know when you have the upgraded shifter box available? My email is:

slsnider423@yahoo.com

Thanks much............Steve Snider

 

If you could live without your Corvette for a few days, "Tmods" turn-around time is fairly short, so you could send him yours....

 

Hey Steve, I'm sorry a I am out of boxes at the moment so the only option I have is to send your box in or to go with the Billet Box which is a replacement for the box that I make in house. I'll shoot you am email and we'll figure out what works best for you.

 

Hi folks. I was looking at YouTube and found a C7 owner who had a rattling shifter problem. He used an O-Ring on the shift lever and tightened it up between his shift **** and the jam nut. He also recommended using some Teflon thread tape. I went to Ace Hardware today, found an appropriate O-Ring and the tape, and tried the technique. It works! The rattle is gone. You need a somewhat thick O-Ring that fits snugly in the recess of the shifter **** and that doesn't impede or interfere with the threads. I spent a total of $2.03 to solve the problem. ...........Steve Snider

 

That's a good way to fix it. The Hurst ball rattles because the insert in the ball is loose and no matter how tight you make it, the jam nut can't hold it tight. So the larger washer is able to sit on the ball itself.