HURST CHROME SHIFTER & WHITE BALL INSTALLATION GUIDE

This mod gets rid of the rubbery feel of the stock shifter and gives an amazing improvement in directness and precision between shifts. There are no downsides. The shift is crisp, short and pecise, there are no issues about selecting gears (it's much better in this respect) and there are no zizzes or vibrations. It's a no-brainer for a vastly improved shift. I had my doubts after thinking the stock shifter was pretty good but after trying it, you'd never go back!

First of all, there is nothing clever about this install. It's pretty much straightforward and there aren't many "tips" to pass on.

Firstly, from inside the car, press in and unclip the gaiter surround and pull up. NOTE which way round it goes - one side is shorter than the other. Now turn the gearknob anti-clockwise to remove it. Once it's off. pull the collar off the knob.

Next, remove the rubber dust boot. Gently pull away the lip all the way round and then note that the boot has a "base" with a hole in it that slips over the base of the shaft like a condom. Gently pull it off.

Now jack the car up in the air to allow sufficient room under the car. Be safe and use axle stands or ramps. Now get under the car and you can see a silver 13mm nut that holds on the transmission rail (left photo). Unbolt that wih a spanner and put to one side. Push the transmission rail out of the base of the gearlever and let it dangle (right photo).

The shifter mechanism has a rear bush that is clamped into place with a U-strap held on by two 10mm nuts - you can see one of them in the left photo above. The forward arm bolts to the side of the bell housing by a long 10mmm bolt.

Undo this bolt with a 10mm spanner. Now undo the two 10mm nuts on the U-strap at the rear noting that the driver's side one has a sort of spring clip on it to stop it coming off. Push the locating rubber nodules in and push the rear bush out of the U-strap and push that to one side. Pull the front locating arm down slightly and remove the long bolt and put to one side. The shifter mechanism is now loose.

Get back into the car and gently manipulate the shifter out of the hole. It's pretty easy.Just be careful to take your time.

Get the Hurst shifter. From the original shifter mechanism, you need the two nylon bushings at the base of the original lever. Pull these out and fit them into the base of the Hurst lever. Now remove the two steel bushings from the front arm and press them into the front arm urethane bush of the Hurst. I forgot so had to do it twice. There's your tip - be careful and diligent.

Now the hard part. Make sure there's a light or a helper under the car. I did mine alone and it's not hard. The technique here is to feed the front arm in so it points down to the left of the driveshaft. Feed it in so the arm goes above the alloy gearbox cross-member (see photo above - you can see one of the front bushes dropped out as I was doing this). Needless to say I forgot to take photos as I was doing this on my own. So this is what it looks like when it's in!

The tail end of the Hurst is longer than the stock item for some reason so it's harder to get in. This means you have to feed the whole stub lever through the hole balancing the rear bush on the aperture. With the forward arm above the gearbox cross-member, push the whole thing forwards until the tail end slips through and then you have to manouevre it backwards into position.

Back under the car you go. Take the front long bolt and slide it into the front bush. At this stage, I found it easier to slip the transmission rail back through the base of the lever to support it in position BUT MAKE SURE THE LONGER OFFSET SIDE of the lever base is facing the passenger side of the car. It's easy to forget until you've dropped the jack...

Slip on the U-strap and slip the 10mm nuts onto the threads to further support the rear of the shifter. Screw in the longbolt to the transmission casing but don't fully tighten. Now tighten the two 10mm nuts (don't overtighten them!). Fully tighten the front arm bolt up and then replace the 13mm nut onto the linkage and tighten. They suggest using a threadlock but I find they are a little too aggressive if you ever want to dismantle it.

Back inside the car again and it's time to bolt on the chrome shaft using the Allen-key headed button nuts provided. You've guessed it, it was the size I couldn't find. Tighten those up ensuring the two splined sides mate up and now you have to replace the rubber boot. This is a two-stage operation.

First you have to get the hole in the base over the shaft housing base. You do this by hooking your fingers under and pulling one side under the lip. Now you feel through the top layer of rubber and push the edges over the lip all the way round. Check with your fingers that it's on and rotate it to ensure it's in position. Now all you have to do is tuck the edges of the boot into the aperture lip. I pushed the rubber collar midway between the two shaft securing bolts. I sparyed some silicone spray on the rubber boot purely to make it last longer - you don't have to.

Take the supplied oval collar and force it gently into the circular gearstick surround aperture and hey presto, it's now the right shape. Slide over the shaft (the right way round) and clip the surround back in.

To finish off, put on the 15mm adjuster nut and screw down. Put on the Hurst knob so it's straight and snug the adjusting bolt up.