DIY: Fixing your falling shifter

[skeeters_keeper]

Well I had to fix another shifter that fell thru the floor on a festy this afternoon, so I figured I'd take a few pics and do a quick writeup of how I've found is the best way to do it.

You will need a bolt that is long enough to reach thru the entire shifter assembly (about an inch and a half... sorry, I didn't measure it), and a drill with appropriate bits.

The idea is to drill a hole through both the upper and lower plates (the part that bolts to the floor and the stabilizer) and then use the bolt to hold them in place. In order to still allow the flexibility of the rubber you cannot crank down on the nut, which is why you need two of them to act as a lock nut.

Pictures are worth a million words, so...

The hole, you may need to beat down the lip on the floor a little to allow the bolt head to fit.


With the bolt I used:


From the bottom side. Note the two nuts.


And with the shifter installed.


You don't need to remove the shifter in order to do this, I was installing a short shifter at the same time which is why that one was removed.

Nate

[Charlie1717]

Nice write up! I have this problem and didn't realize it was such an easy fix! Thanks!

[skeeters_keeper]

Of all the different 'solutions' I've seen I like this one the best... simple, and effective.

I can't take responsibility for coming up with the idea since I've seen others do it first, I just figured it was time someone did a writeup on it.

I reaaaaaly suggest putting in one of the $10 civic shifters too... gotta be one of my favorite festy mods! I've put 3 of them in different cars now, and they work great.

[eurotiva]

^ come on at least give us a link to them

[skeeters_keeper]

I thought the short shifter topic had been betten to death... heres the thread where I first installed Skeeters:

http://www.fordfestiva.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11671&highlight=civic+short+shifter

Here are some on e-bay (they are slightly different styles, but they both work just as well): http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1992-...item27a968b962

I could do another quick writeup this afternoon I guess, I kinda figured this was a mod everyone knew about!

[JPT]

+1 on the Civic short shifter. If you haven't done it, do it. You'll love it.

[Charlie1717]

I could do another quick writeup this afternoon I guess, I kinda figured this was a mod everyone knew about!

That would be sweet. I'm sure its simple but I know some like to see the process before trying it themselves!

[ejp2fast]

+1 on the Civic short shifter. If you haven't done it, do it. You'll love it.

did the 98-01 acura integra one...

[microflea]

Sloppy shifter

Hi All,New to this forum.I have the factory shifter with worn busings on both ends of the linkage(218,000mi).Ford wants $35 for 4 rubber replacements.The set-up looks similar to my MX-3.I know they make a bronze bushing replacement for it,that is a 1000% improvement.Any ideas on my "NEW" Festy?? Thanks

[Damkid]

Hi All,New to this forum.I have the factory shifter with worn busings on both ends of the linkage(218,000mi).Ford wants $35 for 4 rubber replacements.The set-up looks similar to my MX-3.I know they make a bronze bushing replacement for it,that is a 1000% improvement.Any ideas on my "NEW" Festy?? Thanks

Don't you think your post is just a tad off-topic for a 7 month old thread??

[kumalaba]

^

Don't you think your post is just a tad off-topic for a 7 month old thread??

old to you but not to new members. if its old delete the whole thing!

[tatrobb]

My friend did this dropping shifter fix to my festiva, but he tightened the bolt all the way down instead of double nutting it, would this be why my tranny will not go all the way into 2nd gear?

[blackhandbeagles]

I did this and it worked great. Thanks.

[sandspringsfestiva]

Man, this worked great!

Such an easy fix for an annoying problem.

You the man Skeeters Keeper.

[walth]

Man, this worked great!

Such an easy fix for an annoying problem.

You the man Skeeters Keeper.

+1