Dumb question about shift knobs
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New Member
Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 11
From: IL
So here it is, the fruits of my labor:
The knob is a
With the longest spacer in the knob, the bottom of it sat conveniently directly above the two flats that come out of the sides of the shifter itself. I just zip-tied the boot to the area between the knob and the flats and it's really secure even without a trim ring, it's not going anywhere. I'm not nuts about the look of the leather bunched up at the bottom of the knob like that instead of a trim ring, but it works well enough, so I think I'm going to leave it alone.
As for the shifter, the difference is night and day. The old one made the car feel like you are driving a toy. This thing has real weight to it, and shifting feels effortless now. It feels like you just give it a slight nudge in the direction you want it to go and it just falls right into gear compared to the old one. I also feel way less vibration through the knob than with the stock one. For $50 bucks, I think this was a great upgrade.
The knob is a
With the longest spacer in the knob, the bottom of it sat conveniently directly above the two flats that come out of the sides of the shifter itself. I just zip-tied the boot to the area between the knob and the flats and it's really secure even without a trim ring, it's not going anywhere. I'm not nuts about the look of the leather bunched up at the bottom of the knob like that instead of a trim ring, but it works well enough, so I think I'm going to leave it alone.
As for the shifter, the difference is night and day. The old one made the car feel like you are driving a toy. This thing has real weight to it, and shifting feels effortless now. It feels like you just give it a slight nudge in the direction you want it to go and it just falls right into gear compared to the old one. I also feel way less vibration through the knob than with the stock one. For $50 bucks, I think this was a great upgrade.
Member
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 831
From: Kentucky
No, you do not need to remove the console to remove the knob, but if you want to remove the boot, or remove the little silver ring that is between the shift knob and boot, you'll have to remove the console.
New Member
Joined: Nov 2014
Posts: 9
From: Kaneohe, HI
Thanks
Member
Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 36
From: Jackson, NJ
So i wound up doing something a little different, probably more involved and possibly more ghetto, but I like it so far.
I bought a flat black 50 mm delrin knob and flat black shift rod extension from Amazon.
I first tried running for a couple of weeks with both pieces in place. I preferred having the higher shifter since, at 6'5", the stock height is very very low for me. I did not, however, like the resulting shift action. Extremely sloppy and caused a few missed shifts. The knob on the stock shifter shaft was too low, though. I figured if I could screw it on about 4-5 threads and lock it down, it would be adequate. So I cut about a 3/8" piece off the bottom of the extension, threaded that onto the shaft, and then cranked on the delrin knob till it locked down on top of that.
For now, I left the stock retainer. It will not go past the extension because the extension is too fat. I could drill out the clips in the retainer and it would work perfect, but I'm not willing to damage the stock piece in case I want to return it to stock. So, instead, I wrapped some black electrical tape just under where the extension ends and pulled the retainer up onto that. It holds fine. Yes, there is the exposed 3/8" of black extension below the knob, but it works well in this case because it gives a place for my fingers when grabbing the round knob.
In the end, slightly higher than stock and a weightier, higher-quality feeling knob. For a bit less than $33. I specifically wanted delrin in hopes of avoiding the hold/cold temp issues of the metal knobs.
Sorry, I don't have pics of the finished product. Let me know if anybody is interested and I'll snap 1-2 when I can.
I bought a flat black 50 mm delrin knob and flat black shift rod extension from Amazon.
I first tried running for a couple of weeks with both pieces in place. I preferred having the higher shifter since, at 6'5", the stock height is very very low for me. I did not, however, like the resulting shift action. Extremely sloppy and caused a few missed shifts. The knob on the stock shifter shaft was too low, though. I figured if I could screw it on about 4-5 threads and lock it down, it would be adequate. So I cut about a 3/8" piece off the bottom of the extension, threaded that onto the shaft, and then cranked on the delrin knob till it locked down on top of that.
For now, I left the stock retainer. It will not go past the extension because the extension is too fat. I could drill out the clips in the retainer and it would work perfect, but I'm not willing to damage the stock piece in case I want to return it to stock. So, instead, I wrapped some black electrical tape just under where the extension ends and pulled the retainer up onto that. It holds fine. Yes, there is the exposed 3/8" of black extension below the knob, but it works well in this case because it gives a place for my fingers when grabbing the round knob.
In the end, slightly higher than stock and a weightier, higher-quality feeling knob. For a bit less than $33. I specifically wanted delrin in hopes of avoiding the hold/cold temp issues of the metal knobs.
Sorry, I don't have pics of the finished product. Let me know if anybody is interested and I'll snap 1-2 when I can.
Member
Joined: Jul 2014
Posts: 259
From: Mason,Tenn
2015 fit new Sickspeed shifter
Here are the pictures of the new shifter knob from Sickspeed. I machined an aluminum adapter to go between the knob and the stock silver ring. I machined it down so it fit down in the stock silver cup. I like the new knob as it is bigger at 2 1/8 inch diameter. The stock knob weighed in at about 62 grams from another post. This one weighs 1/4 pound or 113 grams.
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Member
Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 36
From: Jackson, NJ
Sorry for the delay. I weighed mine on a kitchen scale and it is 2.2 oz (or ~63 grams, as stated above).
Member
Joined: Jul 2014
Posts: 21
From: Sarasota, FL
Thanks
Thanks to all who shared their shift knob changes. I have one ready to go and will tackle this as soon as I have the rest and patience to do so.
Sites like this make it much more enjoyable to have a car.
Keep the faith, all.
Jason
Sites like this make it much more enjoyable to have a car.
Keep the faith, all.
Jason
Member
Joined: Jul 2014
Posts: 21
From: Sarasota, FL
Threaded shift boot ring issue
Quick caveat... If you buy the eBay shifter ring in his thread, it screws on, so you have to also remove the shift boot from the center console, screw the boot onto the shifter, and then contort yourself to screw the boot back onto the console while reinstalling it. Removing all this, really easy... Contorting to screw back in those last screws to reinstall the shift boot plate, painful. Done and happy, though.
Thanks!
Thanks!
Awesome, thanks for the help!
So I can confirm that you definitely need to remove the entire center console to get to the bottom of the boot, because I just did it!
Here's a quick summary of how to get the console off for anyone else who is struggling with this like I was:
First, there is a flathead screw at the front of the footwell on either side of the console. They thread into the center of an expanding push-pin. Take these out and the push-pins should basically fall right out.
Next, you'll have to remove the part of the dash-board right above the cup-holders. (the piece with the aux cable / usb inputs). There is a phillips screw on the driver's side of this piece. Remove it and with a bit of pulling the whole piece should pop right out. I left all of the wires attached and just pushed it off to the side.
Next, remove the screw at the front of the cupholder assembly and remove the cupholders. At the rear of the cupholders is a tiny little slot to get a screw driver in to pry, but I didn't even need it, once the screw was out it popped out easily.
Right above that is another screw holding the front of the center console to the car. Remove it.
Now go into the back seat and remove the entire back-plate that covers the back of the center console. I just got my fingers under the corners where it meets the floor and with a decent tug it popped right off. You'll see two screws at the bottom holding the rear of the center console to the floor. Remove those and the console is totally free.
There is an electrical connector back there that powers the cigarette lighter inside the armrest. You'll have to remove it to be able to get the console out of there. (it has a tab on it towards the front of the car, squeeze this in and it should come right off.)
The only other thing I took off was the little trim piece that pops in right under the hand brake. This allows the console to lift off without snagging on the hand brake.
This probably makes it sound worse then it is. I had to figure it out as I went, and I had the whole thing off in probably 15 minutes.
So I can confirm that you definitely need to remove the entire center console to get to the bottom of the boot, because I just did it!
Here's a quick summary of how to get the console off for anyone else who is struggling with this like I was:
First, there is a flathead screw at the front of the footwell on either side of the console. They thread into the center of an expanding push-pin. Take these out and the push-pins should basically fall right out.
Next, you'll have to remove the part of the dash-board right above the cup-holders. (the piece with the aux cable / usb inputs). There is a phillips screw on the driver's side of this piece. Remove it and with a bit of pulling the whole piece should pop right out. I left all of the wires attached and just pushed it off to the side.
Next, remove the screw at the front of the cupholder assembly and remove the cupholders. At the rear of the cupholders is a tiny little slot to get a screw driver in to pry, but I didn't even need it, once the screw was out it popped out easily.
Right above that is another screw holding the front of the center console to the car. Remove it.
Now go into the back seat and remove the entire back-plate that covers the back of the center console. I just got my fingers under the corners where it meets the floor and with a decent tug it popped right off. You'll see two screws at the bottom holding the rear of the center console to the floor. Remove those and the console is totally free.
There is an electrical connector back there that powers the cigarette lighter inside the armrest. You'll have to remove it to be able to get the console out of there. (it has a tab on it towards the front of the car, squeeze this in and it should come right off.)
The only other thing I took off was the little trim piece that pops in right under the hand brake. This allows the console to lift off without snagging on the hand brake.
This probably makes it sound worse then it is. I had to figure it out as I went, and I had the whole thing off in probably 15 minutes.
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