One of the
areas the Ford engineers overlooked in the design of the Mustang was the
shifter. Yes, it does have one, but how many times has the typical stang
owner missed a shift due to the stock shifters' inadequacies? Odds are
it's a number higher than 1 and to me at least, that's unacceptable. Enter
Hurst.
For the last
40 years, Hurst has been waging war on sloppy shifters. Their newest weapon
is the Billet/Plus series of shifters. These shifters are available for
almost any year Mustang. This details installation in a 1990 5.0L, but
is nearly identical in other years/engines.
Details:
Before
getting started here's what you'll need :
1. A tube of silicon sealer
2. A good 3/8" drive ratchet and sockets
3. Combination wrench set
4. Gasket scraper
5. Allen wrench set
First thing
to do is to pull off the plastic cover around the shifter. Next, unscrew
the shifter ball and remove the shift boot. Next remove the bolts holding
the dust cover down and remove it. You should now see the 4 bolts that
hold the shifter in place. Remove these, keeping in mind that your transmission
is now open and anything you drop in it may be lost forever (The holes
are small inside, just watch out for dirt falling in, and old silicon).
Once these 4 bolts are out, remove the shifter and scrape the old
silicon off of the top of the tranny. Lay a small bead of new silicon
around the top of the tranny and bolt the new shifter down with the
supplies hardware. There are 2 positive stops ( one on the front of
the shifter, one on the back ). Tighten these so that with the shifter
in gear they just make contact, then back them off 1/2 turn. This
allows the shifter to fully engage the gears of the tranny, but keeps
the stop close enough to prevent any damage from hard shifts.
Place the rubber boot over the shifter. Make sure it completely seals
the bottom of the shifter turret, and close it off with the supplies
tie-wrap. Reinstall the dust cover (some cutting or trimming may be
necessary, depending on the car), the shift boot, and the top cover
plate. Lastly, screw the handle on and go for a spin!
If you feel that the handle feels too stiff for your driving tastes,
the spring tension is easily adjustable, but I liked the stiff feel
and left it well enough alone.
I noticed that compared to the previous generation Hurst shifter,
the Billet/Plus is quieter, but otherwise like it's predecessor, a
world of difference from the stock shifter. Missed shifts are a thing
of the past now. The new feel while driving is confidence knowing
that the next shift thrown will be a good one.
