Has anyone done an after market automatic shifter in a C5 before? If you did, Please show me some pictures and the costs involved!

 

Ttt

 

I don't think you'll find any commercially available kits, as most, if not all, of the aftermarket shifters are designed to be used in cars that have the transmission located right behind the engine, in the front/middle portion of the car. The 'Vette's transmission is in the rear, so at minimum, you'd need a much longer cable to reach the transmission. Plus, you'd have to find a way to snake the cable to the rear, as well as retain it in place......as well as fit and attach the aftermarket shifter into the 'Vette's console.

Sorry to say, I think it's a hard "no".

 

I really want a good shifter as well, however it seems impossible without major surgery to the car itself. I did see where someone put a ratchet shifter in and had to cut a large chunk of the tunnel out to get it not sitting way high. As much as I would like one I am not cutting the structure to have it.

 

 

^ yuck

 

Paging "Bubba"....................

 

Here is one.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/w...w_wcB#overview

What you need is a rear exit shifter. Next assumption is you would need to adapt the factory shift cable to it. Or have a custom Morse cable made.

Lastly, the C5 doesn’t really work well manually shifting. 1-2 does, the ecu knows you have manually selected the gears. Once you do the 2-3 manually, the ecu thinks it’s in auto shift mode, and the auto shifting takes over.
Try to do the 2-3 shift say at 6500, and the factory tune says shift at 6000, it misses the parameters it’s looking for and it won’t shift. It will just hit the rev limiter until you let off the gas.

 

The most common shift I use is 4-3 or 3-4 for hills as well as 3-2, 2-3 shifts to third but stays there. I think it shifts fine it there's a shift kit on the transmission. The main reason no company is willing to sell an A4 shifter for the C5 is installation complexity and the fragile plastic shift cable that will break if the shifter is lifted too much from the tunnel hole. Even if a new shifter was supplied with a metal cable look what you would have to do to change that. A B&M rep told me that if installation is too difficult the customer gets frustrated and sends the shifter back for a refund. Personally I hate the A4 shfter, it still reminds me of a lawn mower deck height adjusting handle with the push button and forward-backward only motion. The first mod I made years ago was to get rid of it.

 

How did you get rid of it?

 

I made a shifter to replace it. There are some pictures and descriptions if anyone is interested.

 

I am interested!

 

That poor Corvette!

 

You asked for it so I'll share what I can, it's long but it might help you design your own. This shifter is twenty years old and it works as good now as it did when new.
Older cars with automatic transmissions and column shifters didn't need any push buttons, the shifter **** was pulled toward the driver then rotated to the desired gear then the **** was released. Spring tension on the shifter arm kept the arm in the forward position. These shifters had an X and Y movement plane with a small internal metal gate, I just used the same concept in a different place. This is nothing more than a two stage gimbal mount with bearings.

Here's a closeup picture of the color coded backlit shift pattern on the console at night, it's more for someone else to know the pattern. This pattern doesn't allow upshifts from D4 to Neutral without moving the shifter to the right some. The factory C5 shifter will upshift from D4 to Neutral without pushing the button in.


Here's the shifter in Park with the car off. Nothing was cut in the car to fit this.


Here's the shifter without the Alcantera boot. The large black Delrin part is the hemispherical gate, it looks sloppy but isn't. One of the two tension springs that pull the shift shaft to the drivers' side can be seen inside. The black rubber boot is part of the lockout motor which pulls the aluminum bar in front to release the shifter from park when the brake is depressed for safety. There is a small cable under the console that connects to the aluminum bar, this is to allow shifting out of park if the lockout motor ever fails or the battery is dead. To gain access to the end of the cable, the small plastic console button cover is popped out. The black cable circling the shift shaft is for the **** leds. The lockout motor came out of a mid-eighties junk yard Impala door lock, it's not a solenoid.


Here are the shifter parts disassembled. The black Delrin gate is upside down to the right. The control box and micro switches are at the top right. The micro switch cams are mounted to the rectangular aluminum plate at the left. A dust boot was made from high temerature silicone sheet and glued togeter with silicone adhesive, it slips onto the bottom parts of the shifter and isn't shown. The large aluminum ring to the right is what the Alcanter boot (also not in the picture) mounts to. The ruler at the bottom is for size reference.


Here's the shifter resting on the drivers' side with the right ball bearing pivot for Y movement (forward and backward) in the center. The ball end to the right is what the shifter cable connects to, the 1/8" thick mounting plate is held on with two screws and bent twice to clear the torque tube when installed. This also shows the main aluminum box frame connected to the large mounting plate that is bolted to the tunnel.


Here's another view of the main mounting plate partially assembled with the box frame connected to it with four SS flat head screws, the stepped round hole in the center right is where one of the sealed ball bearings fits. The white nylon part is the safety lockout that keeps the shifter in Park until the lockout motor is energized.


Here's the vertical assembly on it's side, the shift shaft **** assembly attaches to the bottom right end. That part is attached to the center block with a small shaft and two small roller bearings, a locking collar on each side keeps it in place. This part allows X direction movement (left and right). The shift cable ball mount is at the top (hidden by the bent plate) showing the large retaining nut for it. Note that only the shift shaft assembly rotates in the X direction, not the part that the cable ball end is on. Both rotate in the Y directions

Here's another view looking from the bottom up. The small roller bearings are in place with the small locking screws to hold the cross shaft and end collars. The cross bar at the top with a small hole at each end is where the two springs connect, the spring force keeps the shift **** to the drivers' side when assembled so it doesn't flop all over while driving.


Here's a closeup of the shift **** assembly, black shift shaft and polished stainless steel gate pin. All this is shown upside down, the aluminum shaft of the **** fits into the end of the black shift shaft and held there on the flat with the 1/4-20 set screw (no staple). The large flat end of the SS gate pin bolts into the other end of the black shift shaft and to the previous part where the spring cross bar is. The hole and wide groove on the side of the black shift shaft is where the electrical cable goes to connect to the **** leds.


The **** design is part of this shifter and optional but not necessary for it's operation, however it adds an important and intriguing dimension.
The **** assembly was made from an aluminum round bar with a hole drilled through it for the wires and connector to fit and seven different leds were soldered to the wires so they fit inside the cast ****. Clear optical epoxy was used to cast the **** with some pearl paint mixed in to difuse the light and hide the leds. Some hobby stores sell two piece 2" diameter clear hollow spheres for Christmas ornamants, one of these was used to cast the ****. This approach to the **** design provides a way to monitor the transmission selection and performance. The micro switches and small cams on the side of the shifter housing match the leds to shifter position and one connects the powertrain computer transmission command codes to the control box. Park position is red, Reverse is orange, and Neutral is yellow. When the shifter is in D4, D3, second or first the led **** color matches to what gear the powertrain computer is commanding. Since D4 and D3 are automatic modes not actual gears, the **** led color changes to reflect what actual gear is being called for. First is white, second is purple, third is blue and fourth is green. When the car is in D4 and stopped such as waiting for a traffic light to change, the **** is white because the transmission is in first gear. When the car accelerates the **** color changes from white to purple to blue and to green as it upshifts. Conversely, when the car is slowed down to a stop the colors reverse order and change back to white. If for some reason the car doesn't shift right, the lights will show if the cause is a transmission problem or a powertrain computer problem. There is a sensor to control the light level and at night the leds are dim but glow enough so looking at the shifter isn't necessary to know what gear the transmission is in.


With the car running at night, here's the shifter in Park.


Reverse.


Neutral.


D4 (first gear), D3 looks the same but slightly lower.



Second.


First.

 

^ that's one hell of a thing

 

Too technical for me to even try

 

Fast One- That is an amazing accomplishment! It must have taken hundreds of engineering hours to design, build, adjust and complete!!
My hat's off to you! Like others, I have an automatic and I'm not very happy with the pedestrian looking (and performing) shifter. Your solution is functional and elegant.

 

If you ever come out with a kit version, I am sure you have lots of interest in buying it

 

I work in the industry and there is little chance they will come out with the shifter. Too few Corvettes and even fewer that would modify the shifter.

The best you could do is convert your own deal or settle with a **** change.