MGW installed, couple of questions

jerry beach

Founding Member
May 20, 2002
2,671
0
46
Ocala,FL
Overall I am happy with it, I havent driven the car alot, but enough to say I wont regret it. I havent driven a car with an aftermaket shifter before, so enough said. I got the blue handle too, so the shifts are quite short and very positive. The springs are very strong and there is no way I feel that I will miss 3rd ever again. The bolts that came with it were hard to start, they went in a few threads and got hard to turn. They are fine though once you get them going. At first I though the threads were wrong. Very high quality hardware and they even included silicone to seal it to the trans like the stocker was. I am not bashing the product, great quality, design and attention to detail.

The destructions tell you to set the stops so they barely touch the shifter in 3rd and 4th. Then back them out a full turn and lock them down, making sure they dont touch in any gear afterwards. I didnt follow that part of the instructions. I left them where the shifter just touches the stops if I push hard. IMO, you may as well not have them if they never touch the shifter. I think they wrote them this way as CYA to protect themselves. Thoughts?

The lower shift boot will not bolt back into place without a major problem. I have it just laying there for now, no gear noise in the car. The main shaft is farther back than the stock one and if I stretch the rubber enough to line up the bolts it will be putting considerable preload on the shifter towards the front of the car. I will prolly put a bead of silicone on it and glue it down. The front bolts were a major pain to get out, and I dont want to put them back anyway.

One other thing I noticed is the shifter plate is sitting crooked toward the drivers side, like the trans is leaning in the tunnel. I figured this was normal, please let me know if yours looked straight. The stock one was leaning too, its bolted down flat. Thanks for reading, sorry so long, and answer my questions would you.
 
As far as adjusting, they ask you to back the stops out one turn to avoid rattling while the car is in gear and popping out. If you can get your boot to fit around the shifter, you should cut the rubber so that it can wrap around the base. I would bolt it back because getting the silicone off could be a pain if you have to take it off. The tilt on the transmission is normal. All of the cars I have owned were like that.
 
I had similar issues with it but I bolted the inner boot down anyways(doesn't seem to be preloading it) and mine sat way off to the rite so having the 360degree shift handle is a must for my car in my opinion. I just rotated it to like 7:30 on the clock. Got more towards the driver. Good luck
 
I am thinkin I will pull the center console and trim, then just drill new holes and bolt down the lower boot centered around the new shifter. If I need to add a little piece of alum. to fill the hole I will. I dont want to cut it. I took it out to dinner tonight and I can hear wind noise at 55mph. I am sure you will hear some of that if you cut the boot. I didnt cut it cause its round and belled out like a diaphram. If the shifter is off center it will likely tear after a little while. Mine is in great shape, I should have put some of that silicone rubber dressing on it. :D