shifter location?

[NKau]

Was doing some work on my car during my recent vacation, and when trying to replace the "custom" shift boot/bezel with the original pieces, found that the base of the actual shifter mechanism is pushed to the passenger side of the shifter opening and the floor pan was actually "clearanced" a bit with a hammer, not allowing the factory console bezel to fit. The VIN denotes that my car was originally a 5 speed, and the tranny currently in the car has the Borg-Warner logo stamped on the side of the case. What gives?

 

[blk92stangg]

It could be a bunch of things, but basically it means that the trans it not lining up with the tunnel/shifter opening, as I'm sure you realize. It could be a tweaked cross member, bent frame, bad engine mounts, bad trans mounts, etc. Who knows? Maybe the the ford factory used a hammer to make the trans fit (good scenario), or maybe the car was crashed in its former life, and the repair guy had to resort to the BFG to get it to fit (worse scenario). I would look around under the car to see if you can't figure out were the misalignment is occurring, and see if you can fix it. Good luck, and I hope I am totally wrong about the above.

 

[NKau]

Well, I'm quite positive the car hasn't been wrecked. The paint is the factory electric red and all of the panels line up perfectly. Frame is absolutely straight (to the naked eye). I'll have to inspect the mounts more closely when I get back; didn't have time over vacation. I'll let you know what I find.

 

[blk92stangg]

Whew, I kinda didn't want to bring up the wrecked thing, glad its out of the question (unlike mine lol).

 

[ka0tyk]

whats wrong with it being stamped with Borg/Warner? They made T5's for all the stangs...

no ones tranny shifter hole is perfect... ford decided that since the auto trannies and manual trannies shifters were in 2 diff locations that it would be better to cut them out with a sawzall... mine is cut kinda funky. as long as your tranny is sitting on the crossmember properly I wouldnt think much of the shifter hole as a guideline.

 

[NKau]

whats wrong with it being stamped with Borg/Warner? They made T5's for all the stangs...

no ones tranny shifter hole is perfect... ford decided that since the auto trannies and manual trannies shifters were in 2 diff locations that it would be better to cut them out with a sawzall... mine is cut kinda funky. as long as your tranny is sitting on the crossmember properly I wouldnt think much of the shifter hole as a guideline.

Nothing wrong with it being a borg-warner; I was just establishing that I didn't have a TKO in there or something (I wish). I know that the holes were kind of just hacked into the floor, but the where the shifter sits, there is no possible way to get the factory original bezel/boot to fit around that opening in the console; the shifter mechanism interferes with the bezel fitting into the console.