TR Custom Parts
Mark Hueffman - Owner
- Joined
- May 25, 2001
Well, scored a new B&M Quicksilver shifter for a decent price and it has been sitting on the bench for a while. Had some time off from the day job so decided to get it done.
I wanted to install it under the stock console plate and have been going over other installations I have seen on the board. Here is what I ran into during my installation along with some pictures I took along the way.
Obviously, the first thing to do is take out the console and stock shifter. If you have a lot of wiring for a switch panel like I do, I recommend just disconnecting the battery, no need for any suprises when doing this.
Console is held in by two small but long screws located at the rear bottom inside the storage area. Then you want to unscrew the ashtray or switch panel where the ashtray would normally be. No need to unplug everything if you have a switch panel as it WILL come out through the hole of the top plate. With the ashtray/switch panel unscrewed the top plate will pivot up and pull out from the console, two more bolts hold the front of the console down, have a screwdriver pointing to those in a couple of pics.
Now the bad news, to keep the shifter under the console, there is a plate spot welded to the transmission tunnel that has to be removed. Dremel tool and chisel made quick work of that, no turning back now! Mocked up the shifter where it needed to be on the tunnel, checking and rechecking with the console on and off numerous times. Almost got to the point of being able to do it without any cutting on the console but it was too close form comfort with the bar separating the two holes in the top plate. Dremel tool with plastic cutting bit and no longer an obstruction. Ended up removing the front part where the shifter hole cover slides as well for clearance for the next part.
All the threads I read never mentioned anything about how to attach the console at the front once the stock shifter is removed. The stock shifter has brackets on it that the console attaches to so that was one thing that needed to be figured out. There is also a back bracket between the seat but that was not touched. Not sure how others have done it but this is what I came up with. Had some aluminum plate that I cut down to make a bracket out of. Drilled and tapped it and attached it to the console where the stock front bolts went that attached to the stock shifter that is no longer there. The Quicksilver has a bracket that I guess there custom cover attaches to so that is where I was going to attach this bracket to. Drilled & tapped the B&M bracket and then drilled an oversized hole in the aluminum bracket I already made for the console. Mocking it up there was about a 1/2" gap from the B&M bracket to the plate so I had enough room to sneak a spacer in there. Tightened up the bolt and worked out fine, console doesn't move. NOTE! I did have to notch the aluminum plate a bit when I realized that the shifter gate was not going to allow it to sit down all the way to the carpet, not shown in the pics.
Very important when fitting the shifter is to remember that if you are going to keep it under the console, the fit has to be pretty much exact! Full forward and rearward positions need to be checked. No sense drilling more holes than needed!
Final mockup was made of the shifter with self tapping screws first, used some washers to get things leveled out and fit the console one last time. All looked good so drilled the holes out bigger for the final installation of the shifter. Wouldn't recommend the sheet metal screws for the finished product, needs to be nut and bolted. Was working by myself so figured the sheet metal screw deal would be OK for mockup only. Once my son go home from school he was recruited to man the socket wrench while I went underneath the car to hold the nuts with a wrench. This is the only part where you need a helping hand unless you have real long arms.:biggrin:
Next was routing the shifter cable. B&M states over and over in the instruction how the cable must be straight for 2" out of the brass cover the cable. Unfortunately, the stock hole was too far over for this to work so had to open it up a bit. Still used the stock plug in that area as I have my electric cutout harness and trans temp gauge wire running thru it, the new opening which wasn't too much more was sealed up once everything was tested out with the cable.
The cable unlike the stock one goes over the top of the trans and loops back around the trans mount. Got some pictures of how I routed it. The bracket that attaches to the pan needs to be modified a bit to work with my deep aluminum pan, some quick work with a diegrinder and hacksaw took care of this. Then another part that will take some outside help unless you are handy with a welder. No sense in hooking up the neutral safety switch and backup light switch that comes with the shifter when all you have to do is weld the stock bracket to the B&M bracket. Can't take credit for this idea as many others have done it but figured I would include it here as it is a crucial part to do this safely and easily. Just cut off the lower part of the stock bracket and lay it over the B&M bracket and have your friendly local welder tack it in place. Luckily my welder was not on the road today and did it while I waited.
Back home and under the car, hooked up the bracket on the trans and then adjusted the shifter, follow the instructions and you should be fine.
Back up top and put the console back on. The one bolt holding the front worked out perfectly. Last headache was figuring out how to use the rubber piece that the shifter stick slides in and hides the shifter mechanicals from view. Ended up trimming it down and a little quick dry JB Weld on the back side of the plate now holds it securely. I love JB Weld!
Top plate back on and switch panel reinstalled and tried the shifter again to verify fitment, all is good! Checked in gear lockout and reverse lights and all good. Took the GN out for a drive to pick up some parts for orders and so far so good. Taking a little while to get used to the ratchet deal but not too complicated just different to what I was used to.
One last little detail to work out is the gear indicator, This thing works on an arc so not real accurate unless you use the B&M top cover gizmo which I did not. You really need to know what gear you are in or it can be easy to ratchet up into neutral if you are not careful. Wish they made it so that was not possible but guess it is a safety thing if you run into a runaway Toyota syndrone! Main thing I have to remember is NOT to ratchet down into low since I have a Stageright trans brake. Working on getting my engraver to make up a new gear position plate with the gears closer to where they should be now. I used the stock light for the gear indicator and tie wrapped it near the indicator, none of the stock stuff is used any more, will see how this works out.
Would I do this project to a totally stock low mileage car? NO! Modified cars that you don't plan on ever returning to stock? Go for it.
Pros - Looks better than the stocker and you can put any handle you want on it.
-Positive shifting, no worries of skipping a gear especially when using a trans brake
- No more broken shifter handles or j-rods
Cons - car can not be returned to stock unless you get another console and can weld the front stock shifter back on to the trans tunnel
- needs to have welding done on transmission gear bracket to retain reverse lights and neutral safety switch and column lockout.
- more complicated to work than stock shifter
Hope this helps those of you who are thinking about doing this.
Below are pics in no particular order.
I wanted to install it under the stock console plate and have been going over other installations I have seen on the board. Here is what I ran into during my installation along with some pictures I took along the way.
Obviously, the first thing to do is take out the console and stock shifter. If you have a lot of wiring for a switch panel like I do, I recommend just disconnecting the battery, no need for any suprises when doing this.
Console is held in by two small but long screws located at the rear bottom inside the storage area. Then you want to unscrew the ashtray or switch panel where the ashtray would normally be. No need to unplug everything if you have a switch panel as it WILL come out through the hole of the top plate. With the ashtray/switch panel unscrewed the top plate will pivot up and pull out from the console, two more bolts hold the front of the console down, have a screwdriver pointing to those in a couple of pics.
Now the bad news, to keep the shifter under the console, there is a plate spot welded to the transmission tunnel that has to be removed. Dremel tool and chisel made quick work of that, no turning back now! Mocked up the shifter where it needed to be on the tunnel, checking and rechecking with the console on and off numerous times. Almost got to the point of being able to do it without any cutting on the console but it was too close form comfort with the bar separating the two holes in the top plate. Dremel tool with plastic cutting bit and no longer an obstruction. Ended up removing the front part where the shifter hole cover slides as well for clearance for the next part.
All the threads I read never mentioned anything about how to attach the console at the front once the stock shifter is removed. The stock shifter has brackets on it that the console attaches to so that was one thing that needed to be figured out. There is also a back bracket between the seat but that was not touched. Not sure how others have done it but this is what I came up with. Had some aluminum plate that I cut down to make a bracket out of. Drilled and tapped it and attached it to the console where the stock front bolts went that attached to the stock shifter that is no longer there. The Quicksilver has a bracket that I guess there custom cover attaches to so that is where I was going to attach this bracket to. Drilled & tapped the B&M bracket and then drilled an oversized hole in the aluminum bracket I already made for the console. Mocking it up there was about a 1/2" gap from the B&M bracket to the plate so I had enough room to sneak a spacer in there. Tightened up the bolt and worked out fine, console doesn't move. NOTE! I did have to notch the aluminum plate a bit when I realized that the shifter gate was not going to allow it to sit down all the way to the carpet, not shown in the pics.
Very important when fitting the shifter is to remember that if you are going to keep it under the console, the fit has to be pretty much exact! Full forward and rearward positions need to be checked. No sense drilling more holes than needed!
Final mockup was made of the shifter with self tapping screws first, used some washers to get things leveled out and fit the console one last time. All looked good so drilled the holes out bigger for the final installation of the shifter. Wouldn't recommend the sheet metal screws for the finished product, needs to be nut and bolted. Was working by myself so figured the sheet metal screw deal would be OK for mockup only. Once my son go home from school he was recruited to man the socket wrench while I went underneath the car to hold the nuts with a wrench. This is the only part where you need a helping hand unless you have real long arms.:biggrin:
Next was routing the shifter cable. B&M states over and over in the instruction how the cable must be straight for 2" out of the brass cover the cable. Unfortunately, the stock hole was too far over for this to work so had to open it up a bit. Still used the stock plug in that area as I have my electric cutout harness and trans temp gauge wire running thru it, the new opening which wasn't too much more was sealed up once everything was tested out with the cable.
The cable unlike the stock one goes over the top of the trans and loops back around the trans mount. Got some pictures of how I routed it. The bracket that attaches to the pan needs to be modified a bit to work with my deep aluminum pan, some quick work with a diegrinder and hacksaw took care of this. Then another part that will take some outside help unless you are handy with a welder. No sense in hooking up the neutral safety switch and backup light switch that comes with the shifter when all you have to do is weld the stock bracket to the B&M bracket. Can't take credit for this idea as many others have done it but figured I would include it here as it is a crucial part to do this safely and easily. Just cut off the lower part of the stock bracket and lay it over the B&M bracket and have your friendly local welder tack it in place. Luckily my welder was not on the road today and did it while I waited.
Back home and under the car, hooked up the bracket on the trans and then adjusted the shifter, follow the instructions and you should be fine.
Back up top and put the console back on. The one bolt holding the front worked out perfectly. Last headache was figuring out how to use the rubber piece that the shifter stick slides in and hides the shifter mechanicals from view. Ended up trimming it down and a little quick dry JB Weld on the back side of the plate now holds it securely. I love JB Weld!
Top plate back on and switch panel reinstalled and tried the shifter again to verify fitment, all is good! Checked in gear lockout and reverse lights and all good. Took the GN out for a drive to pick up some parts for orders and so far so good. Taking a little while to get used to the ratchet deal but not too complicated just different to what I was used to.
One last little detail to work out is the gear indicator, This thing works on an arc so not real accurate unless you use the B&M top cover gizmo which I did not. You really need to know what gear you are in or it can be easy to ratchet up into neutral if you are not careful. Wish they made it so that was not possible but guess it is a safety thing if you run into a runaway Toyota syndrone! Main thing I have to remember is NOT to ratchet down into low since I have a Stageright trans brake. Working on getting my engraver to make up a new gear position plate with the gears closer to where they should be now. I used the stock light for the gear indicator and tie wrapped it near the indicator, none of the stock stuff is used any more, will see how this works out.
Would I do this project to a totally stock low mileage car? NO! Modified cars that you don't plan on ever returning to stock? Go for it.
Pros - Looks better than the stocker and you can put any handle you want on it.
-Positive shifting, no worries of skipping a gear especially when using a trans brake
- No more broken shifter handles or j-rods
Cons - car can not be returned to stock unless you get another console and can weld the front stock shifter back on to the trans tunnel
- needs to have welding done on transmission gear bracket to retain reverse lights and neutral safety switch and column lockout.
- more complicated to work than stock shifter
Hope this helps those of you who are thinking about doing this.
Below are pics in no particular order.
