[ikata]

CAN THIS BE DONE???

Lets put our knowledge together. Can you shave the screw and put in a short shifter? There is the metal shaft what if you just shave that all down and make the shifter only 6-8 in. It would look SO much better than the tall shifter look. Someone tell us how to do this, please. TY.

I'm seriosly thinking about it. Too busy right now but in two months I'll definitely do it and post a DYI. I'm looking into combining this with the MDX shifter which I think would give it the best look.

N.

P.S. Actually i just looked again at the pictures posted by frantinez63 (page 2 of this thread)... I think the MDX shifter shortens the overall height of the shifter by way of its design. Somebody with the MDX SK in a sedan confirm this... If that's the case, that might do it for me. Will look into it further!

 

[Roger]

ya its alot shorter then stock for sure

 

[LEGENDARY 93]

95G2-- if this doesnt help, pm me and i will give you my number and you can call me and i will walk you thru it....

the way i did it was by boring out the inside of the mdx shift knob to fit over the plunging rod and the base rod. i put a screw in the top of the plunging rod by predrilling a hole then scrrewing a self tapper in vertically, making sure its the right heighth. i placed a ring of electrical tape around the base rod to cover up the metal and made sure the seam was toward the engine bay so noone can see it. i , as well as anyone else h, have never voticed the tape. i only made one groove, the one toward the trunk. i put lock tite on the screw and it has held well. just in case i kept the allen key that fits the screw int the ash tray along with the extra screws. you ahve to remember to put the chrome threadede trim ring on the shifter before putting the shift knob on so that you can tighten the screw up and then tighten the trim ring.

 

[LEGENDARY 93]

does this help???

i only placed one of the 3 screws in the knob cuz i didnt feel like making 3 grooves. the grooves go all the way thru the base rod. if you do it right, you will be able to see the plunging rod move in the groove you make. just dont go thru the plunging rod.

i put a little jb weld on the top of the screw hoping it would hold to the inside of the shift knob. it didnt but it didnt matter!! the screw worked fine. notice the electrical tape..

you have to completely bore out the inside of the shift knob.

 

[95G2_lastofthegreatones]

O.K., here's an update and some tips. Thanks for the feedback btw. I worked on this last night and have it installed. Its actually not all that difficult as I expected. I'm just very, very particular about details and I want this to be as close to an OEM quality mod as I can get. I have another round of tweaks to get it where I want it but its probably one of the best cosmetic mods you can do for your interior.

I stopped by the hardware store on the way home last night and purchased a number of things that I needed and a few things to experiment with (bushings, allen set screws, spring, etc.). Obviously the outer shaft with the tapered hozel that slides over the shifter shaft is removed. I found a bronze bushing exactly the right length and diameter to fit inside the shift knob. The only problem was the ID was too small to fit over the shifter shaft. I contemplated boring it but did not have the correct size bit. Round two will probably use this piece.

So, I used some 1/2" copper (Roger's method) that I had at home to use as a spacer/bushing. This piece acts as a bushing and fills the void between the ID of the shift knob and the OD of the shifter shaft and is what the shift knob will ride on. Copper is very soft and easy to work with. I Cut it to length and marked the three set screw locations then used my Dremel with a cutoff disc to cut the grooves. I then marked one of the hole locations in the shifter where the previous outer shaft was attached with the factory screws. I drilled the copper tube, tapped it and used an allen set screw to attach the bushing/spacer to the shifter shaft. The spacer/bushing is now set so it will not move.

One tip that I would highly recommend is to tap the inner brass core of the shift knob so you can screw the shift knob on to the threaded shift lock shaft. There is a small, probably 1/8" dia hole in the top of this inner brass piece that just needs to be tapped to fit the shift lock shaft. The shift lock shaft is a 5mm, .8 thread pitch so all you need is a tap. Then I used a spring that is roughly the dia of the shifter shaft and about 2" long. Through experimentation I found that it needed a little more resistance to push the knob up after it has been engaged. The spring seats between the shifter and the top of the inner brass sleeve on the knob.

Then I set the knob and screwed it down to the correct height. Then all you do is insert the allen set screws that come with the knob and attach the chrome hozel. Since about 1/4" of the spacer/bushing is exposed at the bottom I also shot it with some flat black before installation. The next tweak is to mark the vertical travel of the three set screws on the knob and grind a shallow channel in the shifter shaft. That will eliminate any leftover play in the knob. I'm going to do it just because I'm picky but the way it stands now it doesn't move much at all.

One last tip: When you have the spacer/bushing fabricated use emory cloth to smooth it out as much as possible so the knob shaft will glide on it easily. Once I installed the spacer/bushing I filed the top of the allen set screw smooth and used emory cloth again to elminiate any high points then I just shot some lithium on the inside of the knob core and bushing.

Thanks again to all of you who origninated this mod!

 

[natelam]

Thanks again to all of you who origninated this mod! [/B]

I don't deserve any of the credit because I never posted a DIY with pics. Props to Roger and 93!! I've been too busy to even read forums lately. -Nate

 

[LEGENDARY 93]

95- you brought this to a whole new level!!! i feel like a neadrathol from the way i did it to what you did!! but hey whatever works, right?? post pics, man!!!!

 

[95G2_lastofthegreatones]

I will post some pics as soon as I get a chance. I did some tweaking yesterday and ended up making three spacer/bushings before I got it the way I needed it. I ended up not using the copper. The bronze bushing definately works the best since it it thicker. I had to hone the bushing using a grinding bit on my Dremel to get the ID equal to the OD of the shifter shaft. The first one I made I had to trash because I had the slots for the allen set screws too wide and I ended up with too much play. Mods like this take experimentation. Again, I am very picky about doing projects like this so they are factory caliber.

Once I had it installed I was still not happy with the play in the knob. The spacer/bushing with the three slots for the knob allen set screws eliminated the rotational play but the knob still had some wobble, so to speak. So, another trip to the hardware store for some nylon washers. Since you really can't find anything that would fit correctly you need to fabricate these too. The purpose was to have a surface that the knob can slide vertically on that also holds it center and tight.

I chose nylon becuse it creates a good wearing surface with the brass knob core. I used two - one at the base that sits on top of the shifter shaft and another that I secured to the threaded shift lock shaft. I used a 5mm flange nut, upside down tightened all the way to the base of the shift lock shaft. Then place the nylon washer and secure with another 5mm flange nut. This creates another securing surface about an inch or so above the top of the shifter shaft. Also, I used a spring in between the two nylon washers to provide a little more upward push on the knob to disengage.

Then I lubed the surfaces with lithium and reassembled. It works perfectly. No play in any direction whatsoever.

 

[B+O]

alright...i noticed a pattern in this whole thing...

everyone that had it go on perfectly had a screw type of mechanism to work with. thing in the Type I sedan knob doesn't have this type of shifter. anyone with a Type I shifter set up wanna write out a DIY with some good pics.

Natelam you and LEGENDARY 93 are the only one who have done this to a Type I shift knob. rest of everybody else has a Pistol grip nob.

Shifter for Type I Sedan

Thanks to LEGENDARY for pic

 

[95G2_lastofthegreatones]

Based on the pic of the Type I shifter setup you will definately have to take a different approach. My G2 coupe shifter was really straightforward. This one shouldn't be too difficult either, but it looks like you will not need to fabricate a bushing. From the looks of the pic above it seems the base shaft is about the same dia as the shift knob core AND the whole assembly is a lot taller. I assume that the inner shaft in the pic is what glides vertically inside the outer shaft the threaded rod is what the stock shift knob screws onto (?).

If that is the case then the only way I can see to do this would be to tap the MDX knob hole in the inside top of the brass core to match the threads of this shaft so you can screw the knob onto the shift lock shaft. (I would do this regardless of the shifter type since it makes for a good OEM caliber installation). I recall some of you who did this on a Type I had to hone the inside of the brass knob core to get it to fit over the outer shaft. Once you have knob set just use a marker inserted into the three holes in the knob base and slide it up and down to mark your location and length of travel (see the DIY).

The hardest part will be to grind the slots into the outer shaft of the shifter for the allen set screws to travel in. Use a Dremel with a cutoff disc and be very careful and patient so you get it right. There's no redo's with this vs the trial and error when making a bushing (I made three before I got it right). But you need to do this and use all three set screws to eliminate any rotational play in the knob. Make sure you use some emory cloth to smooth/polish the shaft and inner knob core and lube it with lithium or graphite.

From what I can see the last step would be to mask off the outer shaft on the shifter and shoot it with some flat black.

 

[frantinez63]

Anyone with the TYPE I Coupe Shifter done this mod yet?

 

[ikata]

Folks,
Sorry to bring up an old topic but back when all the action was happening I didn't have a second of free time to spend on it. I've got the time now so if you don't mind helping me along i would love to join the MDX-shift-knob-club. I actually took the time to read the whole thread again and aside from a few specifics on the procedure which i will leave for later my questions are as follows:

- is there anybody in the community who did this mod on a Type I sedan?
- if so, is it as successful on the Type I sedan as with the Type II coupes (sturdy, functional, good looking).
- is the installed knob shorter than the stock one???
- i would absolutely love to get a few pictures of the knob in this specific car!!!

If you have done it and don't mind helping, holla! I would appreciate it!

N.

 

[Rezanance]

i have a 95 gs and i bought a mdx wood shifter, or at least i think its a mdx woodshifter, and its much darker than my oem wood, and doesnt seem to like like Rogers, could i have possiblily been given a TL wood shifter instead?

 

[PerzianKabob]

what do you guys think of the new 2004 shift knob with leather?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=2480090528&category=33703&sspagename=WDVW

 

[ikata]

what do you guys think of the new 2004 shift knob with leather?

Not bad... It might be a way to accentuate both the wood and leather aspects of the interior but i think the wood would not match ours.

 

[natelam]

it won't fit...tried it the other day since I was getting tired of my MDX shifter setup, I miss the leather feel. I tried to fit the the one off a new TL and one off a 01 GS) and it won't fit over our shifter, way too small, and too short to look right. *MAYBE* it might fit with some extensive modding, but for the price of an OEM TL or GS shifter, not worth it. The MDX shifter? 30 bucks, I don't care if I accidently crack it. On another note, I've been so MIA from all the legend action that I neglected this post. I'll try to write up a DIY on the way I did my Type I shifter, but it's not for the un-mechanically inclined. Good news is you don't have to do any mods to the existing shifter or shaft. Bad news is, you have to mod the hell out of the MDX shifter and fabricate a few custom parts. -Nate

 

[ikata]

Nate, can you post a picture of your setup? Let me know if it is easier to use e-mail. Thanks!

N.

 

[Silent]

Sorry to resurrect this thread, but where the hell can I get an OEM MDX Shiftknob, and how much cash am I going to be dishing out?

 

[ikata]

Sorry to resurrect this thread, but where the hell can I get an OEM MDX Shiftknob, and how much cash am I going to be dishing out?

I was planning on getting mine from Acura of Augusta. Haven't called yet to confirm that they have them but that would be my starting point.

 

[LEGENDarith]

oooh weee that's sexy! my parents have a top of the line mdx now, soon their shift knob will disappear and I will have nothing to do with it puahahahah!