Wednesday, July 11, 2012 - 08:10 am, by: James Collenette(J800pan)
Hi
After lots of searching i finally managed to find a short shift kit in the UK for my early R154. The guy i purchased this from said it was a Beech Performance kit and it should fit, he just never got round to completing his conversion so sold it on to me.
I have the bush for the end of the shifter, is there anything else im likely to need?
Also im looking to fit this myself but i wondered if there was a guide or thread that may help with this? From what ive read/searched its only a 20min job, when i went to do this i found that it may be more intensive as i may have to take the whole centre console/tunnel out?
Wednesday, July 11, 2012 - 11:10 am, by: Aaron Casey(Blownminiturbo)
I cant remember how far you have to pull the centre console down. You will need to pop off the shifter boot piece, possibly take the console surround off which is a couple of screws and some clips. Then 4x 10mm bolts for the rubber boot. Under that there will be another rubber boot you carefully pull off. You will then take off the old shifter assy. Try warm up the shifter bush with some hot water which makes it easier to put on without it cracking. Apply some grease to the bush and also where the shifter ball is, carefully position it in and then do it up and make sure you can get all gears. If tests ok just reassemble console.
James Collenette Tinkerer Derbyshire 2.5TT Factory 5 Speed R154 and LSD
Wednesday, July 11, 2012 - 08:44 pm, by: James Collenette(J800pan)
Thanks for that, I took the manual surround off and then the console surround with ashtray etc. I then took out the 4 10mm bolts holding the rubber boot on but I couldnt get it out of the tunnel surround as it was too restrictive for space and 2 big looms didnt help!
I decided to leave it at that point as I didnt have enough time to take the stereo etc out to remove the tunnel, I was hoping I didnt need to do this!
James Collenette Tinkerer Derbyshire 2.5TT Factory 5 Speed R154 and LSD
Monday, August 20, 2012 - 12:17 am, by: James Collenette(J800pan)
Well today i stripped down the trim and managed to fit this short shifter kit. When i fitted it i found it sat way too close to the stereo and nowhere near the position of the stock shifter!
I dont think i could install this incorrectly, its a simple thing to do, i think im going to have to find a contact email for Beech Performance as i dont see this fitting at all at the minute so ive had to put the stock shifter back in!