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I'm pretty pleased with how this turned out so I figured I would share another method of adapting the stock C5 z06 shifter to a C6 type shifter on a budget. Please don't judge the worst welds ever. I had to use a tiny 110 fluxcore without my auto dimming mask powered from an inverter. Barely held a puddle and I'll clean this up when I get my shop set up. Ahhh....roast away!
1. Remove shifter.
2. Grind rivets to take shifter box apart.
3. Heat the top of the shift lever until the rubber melts/expands and pushes the top off the shaft with the ball on it.
4. Cut the top and leave a little ring to weld to. Make sure the diameter is small enough to go back through the rubber boot and plastic ball covers.
5. Cut the lower shaft to desired length.
6. Weld it up!
7. Reassemble the lower box with bolts/nuts where the rivets were.
8. Install and adjust.
9. Do the Venom mod to smooth out the notchy transmission.
Take the $400 saved and put it towards a big radiator and oil cooler!
2. Pop out shift gaiter from tunnel, leaving the top in place on the shift lever.
3. Use vise grips to clamp shift **** in the area of the insulator, so you have something to hold the lever with while you are cutting the threads and later screwing on the new ****.
4. Using a 9/16 x 18tpi die, cut the thread all the way down to the insulator. Use either cutting fluid or heavy oil or grease to make the cutting easier.
5. Cut off the shift lever just about where the keyway for the OEM **** ends.
6. Buy new shift **** with the right thread.. I used a black Hurst "cue ball" type.
7. Using teflon tape, screw on the shift **** until really tight.
8. Pop gaiter back into place.
Easy peasy. My only costs were the new **** (about $30+) and the die - about $12 from Amazon.
Yeah I saw that method and it is way faster, but I wanted to get rid of the rubber insulator and the sloppy feeling it produces. I also wanted to add just a slight angle towards the driver.
The isolation \ vibration dampening is the only good things about the stock shifter if you ask me. I'm all for DYI projects, but you'll see a lot more improvement by sending me the box than from removing that isolation from the shifter. The vibration is in the rest of the car, not in the shifter and most of the feel you don't like is caused by the box. Upgrade the box and the shifter bushing and now with the shorter **** height it will be exactly what you want. The upgraded box will dampen a lot better so you'll get some of the vibration dampening you want back without the mushy feel you don't want.
Yeah I saw that method and it is way faster, but I wanted to get rid of the rubber insulator and the sloppy feeling it produces. I also wanted to add just a slight angle towards the driver.
Have you tried "flexing" that rubber bushing? No give in it at all. In my case at least, the "slop" is all in the tranny itself.
The C6 version by the way has a distinctly smaller rubber bushing.
I like the stock shifter length but wanted shorter throws so I:
- cut the ball off the bottom of the shifter
- weld in a spacer to lengthen the lever length below the pivot (I went 1/2")
- make a spacer plate the same thickness as what was added to the lever
- shorten the length above the pivot so the top of the **** is at the original height
I did this in 2001 but seem to recall I was aiming for 20% shorter throws.
C5 Short Shifter DIY
