How To: 4th gen console in 3rd gen Firebird - Page 2

blindeyed · 11-04-2006, 01:18 AM

I stuck this thread for future reference for those who may be interested in doing this swap as well. And again, great job man.

Blackcrow64 · 11-04-2006, 01:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blindxeyed

I stuck this thread for future reference for those who may be interested in doing this swap as well. And again, great job man.

Awesomeness... In that case, I'll add some more details here for anybody else wanting to do it...

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Here is a quick little writeup on the process for swapping a 4th gen automatic console into your 3rd gen...

First things first. The auto shifters MUST be moved back as far as your TV cable will allow it to. It MUST be moved to the drivers side about 1/2 an inch, and it MUST be moved down about 2 inches... There is no way around it if you plan on using the auto shift plate in the console... Trust me, I tried everything I could to get around it...

First you need to tear out your old console and unbolt your shifter assembly from the shifter plate mount. See that teal piece of metal laying on my passenger floor? That was the old shifter plate mount. I drilled out all 8 rivits that hold it to the tranny tunnel and then used the dye grinder and cut it off from the mount that holds the airbag module in place. Which, by the way, can take one hell of a beating without going off. I accidently hit it once with the hammer and it didn't set off the airbags. lol

Anyways, once you have the mount removed then you will need a big hammer. I took a flat piece of steel and used it to keep the tranny tunnel flat for remounting the shifter assembly while I was smashing it down. Now here is a concern that most people might have. How do I not go too far that it hits the tranny tail. Don't worry about it, if you hit your tranny tail then you've gone waaaay too far. Theres a good 3 inches between the tranny tunnel and the tranny tail. This is the part that involves a lot of test fitting. Beat down the tranny tunnel from where your TV cable comes in, clear back to in front of the airbag module. I knocked mine down about an inch or so.

Remember, we removed the shifter plate mount so that dropped off about an inch of height right there. So get the tranny tunnel down about another inch and then put your console back in without the auto shift plate in it first.

Next you will need to remount your shifter... This is how I got all the slack out of my TV cable to make it reach... I picked it up and pulled straight back and up at about a 45 degre angle and pulled all the slack through... Another thing that you can do to help. Take the dye grinder and take a little bit of that black cusion away and some of the bottom of the hole the TV cable comes through. I also slotted the mounting hole slots a little further towards the front of the shifter...

After your done with all that and have the shifter about where it should be, you need to drill a small hole through the tranny tunnel. Don't worry about the bolts, they will self tap the rest of the metal out of there. Be sure to drill your holes where you have enough room to use the slots to your advantage for fine adjustments of the shifter assembly.

Before you test fit the auto shifter plate there is one more modification you need to do... The shifter assembly MUST be trimmed for it to fit the auto shift plate... Remove the U clip from your shift knob and pull the knob off. You will see a white extension within the hollow part of the shifter. Leave it there so you can move your shifter while you do your trimming. Ok, turn the key on and pull the shifter back into somewhere around 1st or 2nd gear... Now that its out of the way, you need to trim the Park stopper a little. You will notice its kind of a thick piece so you can trim off the front half of it like an upside down V with your dye grinder so that you still retain the stopper and most of its strength.

Now give it a little test and make sure your Park stopper still works good. Now, you will need to trim up around the base of the shifter shaft. See where its welded around and where it actually hits against the Park stopper? just to the left of that needs to be trimmed back about 3/8th's of an inch clear across and you can fade it into that angled part. This is just so that this piece will clear the white underside of the auto shift plate for your gear selector. I also shaved a tad off the tip of the white piece on the auto shift plate just so I was sure it would clear but you might not have to.

The key here is to just keep trimming and test fitting as you go. Some might have to take off more material than I did, others, less possibly. Each car will be different as all our tranny tunnels will not be beaten down the same amount.

When you go to put the auto shift plate on, I found it easier to pull the shifter back into 2nd gear and slid the plate down over it from an angle and then tip it into place. Once you start doing it you'll understand what I mean.

Thats pretty much the whole process, short of a few refits and pictures...