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Hi guys, i finally got around to pulling the center console up to replace the worn shifter boots, all of them

now getting every thing out was easy, but once i had the shifter in my hand i got a little bit confused.



As you can see in the picture, the lower boot was completely worn.... now whats got me confused, in the haynes book, it says you take the bushings and gasket out after... as you can see, someone has put them ABOVE the ball in the shifter....please tell me this is wrong?

also, how the hell do you separate the lower and upper pieces of the shifter so i can get the boot on?... and the bushings and gasket out?...

hoping to get this done tonight, i gotta get to work tomorrow!

Cheers all
MB

um, i think you may have a "short shifter" there. so the installation is a little different from what the haynes manual will tell you.

as far as getting the 2 peices of the shifter apart on a short shifter, you just unscrew them. altho it wouldn't surprise me if the previous owner has loctited them together, so you'll just need to apply a bit of brute force.

there is a short shifter install guide somewhere here on the forum , hang on i'll have a look.

hopefully this helps

http://www.miata.net/garage/shortshifter/index.html

otherwise, i might have just led you up the garden path and added more confusion to the issue...... hopefully someone else can confirm if i'm talking sense, or talking out my ass.

Not a short-shifter, it's a stockie.
I don't think you can separate the gearstick, believe me, I've tried twice, on separate occassions on separate cars.
The way you get the boot off, IF you don't want to wreck it, is get someone to help you, use two or three flat-head screwdrivers, jam the screwdrivers between the boot and the stick and try to lever it out through the top shaft.

It will work, but it will take a fair amount of time, strength, and several obscene words.

see, i told you someone who actually knows what they're talking about would be able to help you

Fatty wrote:see, i told you someone who actually knows what they're talking about would be able to help you

Yeah, but you were also on the right track with eluding to the fact that short-shifters are wunderbar

ok, got the old rubbers off, cut the ba*ta*d off, the bushings and gasket just slid over the top. I can see how to get the new boot on, lube up the shaft and pretend i am gonna get lucky

now, the bit i am confused about, gasket and bushing?

position 1


or Position 2?

Position 2

If you have any, it's a good idea to put a bit of Loctite on the three bolts on the housing, as they tend to come loose after some time.
If you don't have Loctite then some crush washers or thin spring washers

1red5 wrote:Position 2

hmm ok, i think this is where i was getting confused, I get the feeling there is also supposed to be a bushing and gasket down inside the turret before the shifter is put back in? the book says to pull shifter bushings and gasket out of the turret AFTER you remove the shifter

Jamahl, you are doing it right . nothing goes below the ball.

madboy wrote:

1red5 wrote:Position 2

hmm ok, i think this is where i was getting confused, I get the feeling there is also supposed to be a bushing and gasket down inside the turret before the shifter is put back in? the book says to pull shifter bushings and gasket out of the turret AFTER you remove the shifter

Hmmmm.... now you're making me second-guess myself.
Firstly, Position 2 is definitely correct.
Secondly, look in the housing again as I THINK there is another bush in there as well that looks the same as the one you were confused about. You don't have to take that one out.

{edit}
Yup, just checked my Haynes and there is another circular bush in there.

i recently completely dismantled my shifter and the many layers of gaskets and bushings to clean them all while i was installing a new brass bushing.

mine (IL motor sport short shifter) definitely had two of those plastic bushings you are confused about. one sat above, and one sat below the ball part of the stick, effectively cupping the ball so that it pivots nicely.

looks like mine is missing the plastic bush that sits down in the turret, my shifter is currently sitting metal on metal inside the turret. This probably explains why my shifter has so much slack in and why the lower half of the ball is so scored and why the vertical plastic guide is so worn. I will call the guys at southcoast automotive tomorrow and hope they have the parts in stock.

maybe i should just grab a short shifter of ebay while i have it all in parts...

cheers all for your replies
MB

you can buy the plastic bush on mx5 parts uk...

question is how do you put it on?

It should look like the attached photo. You can also see the second "cup" is in the tranny housing.