ZL1/SS Shifter install in V6

[cohocarl]

Having driven almost only manual vehicles in my 55 yr life so far, I would rate the V6's shifter very close to the bottom of the barrel. I've had cable operated front driver's feel much better than this one's. I think it's probably more in the design of the transmission and not the actual shifter though.

Anyways, I thought I'd try a ZL1/SS short throw shifter (part # 24260334) on it.

Had it delivered yesterday and my car up on the lift today. I started with the stuff from inside. Need fingernails or plastic trim tool for bezel around shifter & front pocket or gauges. T25 screw was in my '15's handle, 7mm's around shifter boot, and 10mm's around the shifter itself. 5/16th's allen wrench for centering spring bolts.



After getting it up on my lift, I could see there was plenty of room, and taking off the heat shield and loosening/lowering the rear of the transmission would not be necessary.




I removed the two clips/pins that the front forks of the shifter assembly mount to the transmission.
Removed boot at the bottom of the shifter. Then removed the pins on the ends of the shaft that connects the shifter to the trans that does the shifting and removed the shaft. I think you would really only need to remove the pin at the end of the shifter end.



Then the two 10mm bolts holding the ring securing the bearing/ball and shifter and the shifter fell right out.
The upper plate was snaked out, then the aluminum shifter frame.

Once I had the frame out, I saw the difference between the stock shifter and the new short shifter.



To make things work, I reassembled using the upper plate w/boot (boot seemed more stout) and rear rubber mount (thought it may be made of stiffer rubber(?)), and short shifter from the new 24260334 shifter,
and aluminum frame & connecting rod from the stock shifter.
The stock shifter handle and boot fit fine and no need to purchase new ones unless you want to. (Can't remember changeover year, but earlier gen5's will need new shifter handle)





Put it back together, backed out of the barn driveway and it popped out of reverse....put it in 1st and it didn't feel like it was going into gear all the way. Tried 2nd...no go. Ruh Roh...

I had re-installed the centering springs and thought maybe they were binding up on the vibration damper barrel on the new short shifter, so I took it apart again & removed the centering springs. Same thing....felt like it wasn't going into gear all the way.

Put it back up on the lift and checked things out from below. Everything looked good. Had a smoke and thought things over...

The little "ears" on the aluminum frame that are are there to assist the centering springs were hitting the bottom of the vibration damper on the shifter itself, not allowing the shifter to travel far enough to get it into gear fully.




I cut off the "ears" with my Dremel and everything works fine.



A couple tips that might save someone from having to get out from under their car to look up into on Google:

When putting the new shifter shaft up from the bottom, make sure the flat side where the knob goes is towards the front, and if you remove the connecting rod from the shifter to the trans, there is a small "knob" on the bottom of the rod, and it goes towards the front. Also, be careful of the O-ring that is on top of the bearing/ball as you put the shifter into the aluminum housing.



It is an improvement. Feels less "sloppy". I don't know if it is only due to the different leverage of the shorter shifter, or if the rear rubber isolation mount and boot are made of stiffer rubber, or the bearing/ball are a different design. I did notice that when I took off the retaining ring off the stock shifter, it fell right out, while the new shifter was a tighter fit and would stay up in the housing on it's own before I put the retaining ring back on.




Due to Photobucket's change in policy not allowing 3rd party hosting, p.m. me if you would like the pics p.m.'d to you.

[mkaake]

Funny that. I did the same thing a few weekends ago when throwing a new clutch on my '14... Dropped the car, and went for the inaugural drive... and couldn't get in to 1st, 3rd, or 5th (bottom half engaged just fine, no issues).

I did find out though, that if you're flustered enough after a long weekend dealing with RAM and Summit (pro-tip - the size and spline information they post online isn't correct, and you'll be stuck ready to put a clutch in your car without the proper alignment tool), and are just ready to be done with the job and make sure your shiny new expensive clutch works, you can actually snap those tabs off without a dremel when you decide you're just going to put the car in gear in spite of it wanting to stop 1" short.

I do strongly recommend the dremel approach, by the way.


As for the ZL1 shifter - between that and the clutch, it does feel like a completely different car. Haven't had a missed shift or had a small slip while picking a gear since installing it - it wasn't an immediate 'oh my word, this is amazing' feel. It did instantly feel better, yes; but it was maybe after a week of driving I realized just how much I enjoyed the feel - the shorter throws, the more direct feel; but still enough damping that you're not dealing with crazy vibration or noise. I'd do it again in a heartbeat, especially for ~$125.

I was going to go Barton, but have been asking them for a year to bring back the original round stick option. Well, they brought back a different round stick that would need to be used on top of the OEM stick adaptor - and the whole setup would have cost 2.5-3x what the ZL1 stick cost... so the ZL1 won out. Glad I made the swap - I didn't change out the upper steel plate, btw - they're common.

[Dbunch9]

Can I ask where you found the zl1 shifter for that price? I see it online for around $370

[mkaake]

Sure thing. There are two main part numbers you can search by - the ~$350 includes the ZL1 knob and boot - I planned (and wanted) to use my original knob and boot to keep it looking stock (plus I didn't want to add suede to my interior where it would match nothing else).

The part number for the shifter sans boot and knob is -

24260334

And can be had just about anywhere for ~$120. I picked it up through gmpartsdirect.com; though there are plenty of other sources as well.

http://www.gmpartsdirect.com/oe-gm/24260334

[Dbunch9]

Ahhhhhhhh I see. Though it says it doesn't fit my 2010 SS bit the one with the boot and knob does? I'll have to look into that

[mkaake]

For a 2010 - if memory serves - you have a different way the boot and knob attach compared to a 2013+ - so your stock knob and boot wouldn't work without modification.

[cohocarl]

Originally Posted by mkaake

- it wasn't an immediate 'oh my word, this is amazing' feel. It did instantly feel better, yes; but it was maybe after a week of driving I realized just how much I enjoyed the feel - the shorter throws, the more direct feel; but still enough damping that you're not dealing with crazy vibration or noise. I'd do it again in a heartbeat, especially for ~$125.

I agree. For the $135 I paid for the stick, and being able to re-use the boot & grip on my '15, I'm happy with it. The shorter throws do feel better (I also think the stock centering springs may have also added to the stock shifter sucking so much), but to be honest, I'd say on a 1-10 scale, it took the stock shifter from about a 4 to a 7-8. Still not a perfect shift, but quite a bit better for the $135 I paid. I'd do it again. I don't think I'd have the same opinion if I paid $350....

After re-reading my original post, I'd like to note again that on my V6, there was plenty of room to take the stock shifter apart & remove, and reinstall the new parts without having to drop the crossmember, exhaust or heat shield. So if you were thinking of doing the swap but haven't due to those issues, I didn't have to do any of that on my '15 V6. (not sure if earlier V6's would be the same)
I have a lift which made it easy, but could also be done on some jackstands. (WELL supported please)

[Dbunch9]

Yeah I could spend around 200 for a really good shifter and a knob or 400 for supposedly the best (mgw). Kinda leaning towards 200