The maze like zigzag pattern that the shifter has to travel though vs the straightine shifter of the previous years.

 

no wonder it didnt seem like anything special bcose mines already has it

 

Hey guys,
I attempted the mod because of a tuturial for a SC400 I had seen online which made it look fairly easy. The best shifter to use would be that out of a 95-97 LS. I purchased the shifter for $150 and hoped for the best. The problem was that the gated shifter sat too high and did not line up and bolt directly to the original shifters location. I gave up on the spot. Months later I finally took it upon myself to get the job done.
What I did was gutsy; I took apart both the old and new shifters completely. I then managed to mate the original shifters bottom plate (so that it would bolt down) and the gated shifters upper portion together. I had to shorten the actual shifter shaft down and mix parts from both shifters. Once I had everything lined up to perfection I just had to figure out how to wire up the shifter lock mechanism.
I willed myself through this whole process. If anyone would like to embark on this mod I will gladly help as much as possible. All gears line up just right and the key lock switch still works as it is suppose to. It all works perfectly and it is worth the blood, sweat and tears.
By the way the steering wheel was redone with leather and matching wood grain by American Stitches from Dallas,TX.

 

Can we see more pictures of your car? do you have you rold shifter, that you can show us pictures of what you had to take apart?

I want to get my steering wheel redone from American Stitches as well.. Looks like you've got a sweet ride.

Where did you purchase the shifter kit from? Did you have to buy a new shifter ****? Where is your over drive button?

 

SUN,
Thanks for the response. The overdrive button was left underneath the wood plate for the time being until I can figure out what to do with it. I never use it anyways . I purchased the shifter from TAP Recyclers out in California.

Here is a pic of the original bottom plate (note the 4 holes I drilled) with the newer shifter shaft (shortened down and held with 2 long screws through the plastic) conected.

 

The lower linkage was used from the gated shifter. It had to be used because the upper shift shaft pivots left and right, thus they were designed to work together. Notice how I had to grind off lots of metal appendages that use to be there for mounting the old shifter.
I also had to widen the hole where the lower linkage fits through. Sorry don't have any pix of that.

 

The lower linkage now exits from the side of the gasket not the middle.

 

The black box is the original SHIFT INTERLOCK COMPUTER which controls when the ignition key can be removed. I installed it exactly where it was intended to be. Notice the anchor bolts that will be used later to mount the upper portion of the gated shifter.

 

Here is the gated shifters upper portion. I opened up the mounting holes so that i could adjust the upper part to fit into the wood plate of the console.

Notice the 2 buttons where the shifter moves. These boxes communicate to the Shift Interlock box that the shifter is in Park or in Drive(3). There is one light bulb and the overdrive wire is the blue one towards the front.

 

Here is a mock fit of the upper portion. The wiring had to be fit snug to sides later so that the aircon tubes could fit along side the shifter.

 

Here is the upper vantage point

 

Here is the side vantage point.
I had to mock fit a ton of times to find the perfect setting. The rear is slightly tilted up on the factory shifter so I had to do the same for my custom shifter. It just barely fit, Thank GOD.

 

Here is a picture with the top plate mounted on.
Notice the wiring.

 

Wow it looks like it really took some patience and perseverence to get this mod working. Congrats on an awesome job, and thank you very much for posting all those pictures. I'm going to try and do this, probably in a month or so.. right now I'm still busy installing a new alarm and remote start, and doing a fibgerglass sub enclosure.. too many projects!

I'll start trying to find the necessary parts. What should I order? Wow this seems kind of complicated, I'm almost afraid to try it out.. but I'll do it.

 

Top view of the Mounted plate. I had to cut the clear plastic shield because it was hitting the mount of the lower plate.

Unfortunetly my shifter was kind of broken. The top plate is not on sturdy enough due to broken clips and the cover is missing on the shift override.