3G Protege: How to do a short AUTO shifter
March-2nd-2005, 01:16 PM
#1
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3G Protege: How to do a short AUTO shifter
Do this at your own risk!!!! Try it and if you have any questions just ask. I have had no problems with mine. It is 10:00 here and dark but I took it apart and took some pics just for you guys. Yes you can keep th o/d.
The auto shifter shaft is hollow and has a plastic rod running down it the it connected to some linkages and other stuff under the shifter. When you press in the button with your thumb it pushes an tapered wedge into the handle and in turn that pushes down on the plastic rod allowing you to put it gear. All you do is remove the hand grip with the two screws at the back and pull up (but first you have to pull up some slack from the center console for the o/d button so the handle will slide all the way up and off). Now remove the black sleeve the covers the rod. Now don’t **** yourself when the thumb button comes shooting out because of its spring tension and falls on the floor, just put it aside. SEE PIC #1,2,3
Pull the white plastic center rod put of the metal one and put it away in an safe spot and don’t break it. Take a hack saw and cut what you want off the top of the exposed rod. Put a damp rag around the rod at the base to catch the metal shavings. I only cut off an amount that allowed me to use the bottom screw to reinstall the shifter and that’s about an inch. What I mean by this is if you measure the distance between the two screws at the back of the shifter (center to center) and then cut that off the top of the rod you can now use the top screw hole in the shifter handle in the bottom hole on the shifter rod and you do not have to make a new hole and tap it.SEE PIC #4,5
The auto shifter shaft is hollow and has a plastic rod running down it the it connected to some linkages and other stuff under the shifter. When you press in the button with your thumb it pushes an tapered wedge into the handle and in turn that pushes down on the plastic rod allowing you to put it gear. All you do is remove the hand grip with the two screws at the back and pull up (but first you have to pull up some slack from the center console for the o/d button so the handle will slide all the way up and off). Now remove the black sleeve the covers the rod. Now don’t **** yourself when the thumb button comes shooting out because of its spring tension and falls on the floor, just put it aside. SEE PIC #1,2,3
Pull the white plastic center rod put of the metal one and put it away in an safe spot and don’t break it. Take a hack saw and cut what you want off the top of the exposed rod. Put a damp rag around the rod at the base to catch the metal shavings. I only cut off an amount that allowed me to use the bottom screw to reinstall the shifter and that’s about an inch. What I mean by this is if you measure the distance between the two screws at the back of the shifter (center to center) and then cut that off the top of the rod you can now use the top screw hole in the shifter handle in the bottom hole on the shifter rod and you do not have to make a new hole and tap it.SEE PIC #4,5
March-2nd-2005, 01:17 PM
#2
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Now take the white center plastic rod and get ready to modify it. This is the part that needs the most attention. If you cut it too short you will not be able to disengage the shifter to get it into gear and a new plastic rod will be required. Cut a portion of the plastic rod off to match what you cut off the metal shifter rod. I did this mod a year ago so I don’t have all the parts to show you what should come off, but if you look at pic 6,7 you will cut into the x shaped area of the plastic rod. Then you have to notch it to fit over a metal release clip located down at the bottom of the hollow metal shifter rod. I think the end you cut off the white is a solid diameter piece with a notch in it already. Make your new notch to match the on you cut off. SEE PIC #6,7
After you mod the white center rod put it back in and take the black sleeve you took off and cut the same amount as everything else off the BOTTOM of it. The hole in the black base guard did not require to be enlarged. SEE PIC #8
Now reinstall the black sleeve and put the handle back on. You must lift the handle approximately ¾ of an inch up and then put the thumb button in and then push it back down (the thumb button must be installed with the flat smooth side facing down). Install the one screw required to the handle and enjoy.
After you mod the white center rod put it back in and take the black sleeve you took off and cut the same amount as everything else off the BOTTOM of it. The hole in the black base guard did not require to be enlarged. SEE PIC #8
Now reinstall the black sleeve and put the handle back on. You must lift the handle approximately ¾ of an inch up and then put the thumb button in and then push it back down (the thumb button must be installed with the flat smooth side facing down). Install the one screw required to the handle and enjoy.
March-2nd-2005, 02:10 PM
#4
The Jamaican Sensation
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Montgomery, AL
Posts: 2,662
Originally Posted by ghettopro
No Comment...O.o
March-2nd-2005, 02:37 PM
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I will say once again…there is no point but just looks. I was bored and need something to do on day. People mod their cars because its what they like to do. How is this rice? It’s a lower shifter. And if thats the case welcome to the ricer club like the rest of us with your aftermarket muffler and other mods. 
March-2nd-2005, 02:51 PM
#7
The Jamaican Sensation
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Montgomery, AL
Posts: 2,662
Originally Posted by Mazdacub
I will say once again…there is no point but just looks. I was bored and need something to do on day. People mod their cars because its what they like to do. How is this rice? It’s a lower shifter. And if thats the case welcome to the ricer club like the rest of us with your aftermarket muffler and other mods.
Hey aftermarket exhaust and supporting mods aren't exactly rice either....I always say..to each his own. I have no problem w/your mod. If you were bored...take apart your interior & paint it. I did a write up on that. Change your fluids and do a write up on that if you'd like. Wow...atleast one thing's got you beat. I saw a write up on another board on the squirter lights on the hood. Talk about absolute garbage.....
March-2nd-2005, 03:04 PM
#8
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Thanx for understanding JDM. That was a cheap shot. But if you want to look at it this way, I also autox so I am shifting from 1 to 2 all the time. So then in my defense to ghettopro’s smart *** remark that the short shifter was done for rice it is now done for racing and is considered a driving performance mod not a rice mod. Shorting it still makes the throw shorter. 
March-2nd-2005, 04:39 PM
#9
The Jamaican Sensation
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Montgomery, AL
Posts: 2,662
Originally Posted by Mazdacub
Thanx for understanding JDM. That was a cheap shot. But if you want to look at it this way, I also autox so I am shifting from 1 to 2 all the time. So then in my defense to ghettopro’s smart *** remark that the short shifter was done for rice it is now done for racing and is considered a driving performance mod not a rice mod. Shorting it still makes the throw shorter.
March-2nd-2005, 06:12 PM
#10
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Location: Jasper , TN
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Bah, Im gonna try and put this nice and make it make as much sense as possible..I wasnt trying to be a smartass by saying ricer...I was actually just joking around, the mod you have chosen to do is nothing i gretly approve of or find it appealing, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, yes the Ricer remark was not needed, I should have put the all famous "j/k" at the bottom...my bad..
Sorry if..well..ok...
Sorry I offended both of you...
Sorry if..well..ok...
Sorry I offended both of you...
lol
