Since someone asked for it, I figured I would do one. Sorry, no pictures of the install process, but its all pretty straightforward. I'd like to request that the "5-speed envy" comments be kept out of this thread. Its a dead horse, stop beating it. By following this you can change your automatic from this: Personally, I think the stock auto shifters in these things look cheap. Not a piece that looks like it should be in a $25,000 car. To this: Things you will need: 1. Shift Boot. I ordered a 96-98 leather Cobra boot from www.50resto.com. Shipped it cost me about 45 bucks, a great deal for a REAL LEATHER boot. 2. Aftermarket Knob. I prefer the MGW Auto Gripper Style, www.mgwltd.com but the install should be the same/similar for other automatic knobs. 3. Pushbutton Switch, Momentary Interrupt Style. I got it at Radio Shack for about 2 bucks. This will be your new overdrive button. 4. Wire, 18-20 gauge to extend the stock overdrive wires. The stock wires are 20 gauge, I extended it with 18 gauge because thats what I had. Thats all for parts, tools you will need are: 1. Flathead screwdriver. 2. Allen keys (provided with shift knob in MGW's case) 3. Duct Tape 4. Electric Drill with a 1/2 bit 5. Soldeirng Iron and Solder 6. Shrinkwrap and a heat gun 1. First thing to do is remove the stock shift knob. Put the key forward one click so that you can shift the car all the way down to first gear (make sure the brake is on and you're on a level surface). Using the allen key, remove the allen head screw from the backside of the stock shift knob. 2. Then using a twist and pull motion, remove the stock shift knob. It is a bit difficult, the rubber cover over the OD wires creates suction on the knob... keep at it, it will come off. 3. With the knob now removed, you'll want to cut the OD wires. After they are cut, I would reccomend trimming about 4" off the nylon sheath encasing the wires so that you'll have more room to solder them. 4. Remove the shifter bezel piece. Using the flathead screwdriver, carefully pry up on the left and right sides, and the bottom to release the plastic tabs. 5. Move the OD wires out of the way of the shifter. Push them down through the hole, reach under the shifter and pull them through. now you can route them wherever you want. 6. Now, prepare the hole for the OD button. The switch I bought had a 1/2 inch mounting hole that it needed. I drilled a small pilot hole first, then used the 1/2 inch bit. Make sure you're using a relatively LOW POWERED drill for this... I can't stress that enough. My cheap Craftsman battery drill didn't have a big enough chuck for the 1/2 bit, so I used the only other drill I had...a a DeWalt High Torque... bad idea, it chewed up the plastic pretty good. A box cutter and some sand paper cleaned it up pretty well though. 7. Take your new OD switch and solder the the extension wires to the end of it; make these as long as you think you will need. Cover the joints in shrink-wrap. 8. Drop the new switch through the hole you just made in the console, and screw it in with the plastic nut provided with the switch. 9. Solder the extension wires to the existing OD wires, and shrink wrap (or electrical tape, if you forgot to slide the shrink wrap on first like I did ) 10. Now we can install the boot to the bezel you removed in step 4. Start by removing the rubber O ring in the top of the boot: this wont fit over the shifter's shaft. Next, remove the foam ring on the shifter bezel, the boot wont fit properly with it there. 11. Now, place the boot on the underside of the bezel. The best way I could find to attach it was to use a little duct tape... probably not even necessary to attach it at all. 12. Now, re-install the bezel with shifter boot. 13. Now, finally, you can put on the knob. On the MGW , push it down till it comes to a stop on its own, you will be able to push it further with a little pressure... DONT. That is your reverse lock out, if you push it down, the key will not come out. 14. once it comes to a stop, positiong the logo, and tigthen it down with the allen screw on the sid.e 15. You're done! Put the car back in park, start it, and toggle your OD a few times to make sure the connection is ok. Take it for a few laps around your block, make sure everything feels ok, and most importanly that the lockout engages when you want it to.
Is that E-brake boot factory. I don't have one on my 99 did they change the boot between my 99 and your 03
the e-brake boot was on there when I bought it, so I assume its stock.. there's no lighter since I keep my cell phone charger plugged in there. I removed it for the install and hadn't put it back yet.
Sweet! I've been thinking about doing this for a while, but feared the OD switch issue. Looks like you solved that pretty well!! Just one question (maybe a stupid one), but is the OD the small flush looking round "thing" below the red LED? Is the LED for the alarm or something else? Thanks for the great writeup!!
no problem! The LED is for the alarm (I hate it, it was there when I bought the car). The black flusher looking button is the OD. I was thinking of mounting it on the back of the steering wheel (almost like a trigger button, lol) but had reservations about drilling into my wheel.
