MI SSK In-Cabin DIY (Golddeenoh)

[BEEF]

Originally Posted by Golddeenoh

instalation is quit simple. took me less than 20 minutes from drive way to test drive.

tools needed:
ratchet
10mm socket
12mm socket
needle nose to get the retainer clips off
and something to put bolt, clips and small thing in to reduce chances of lose

Supplied Allen key
supplied metal ball cup remover

first thing is to have the materials needed to install the kit (i.e. the kit, the car, and the tools...especially the tools)

1. you will need to remove a bolt(10mm) that hides inside the cup holder of the center console.

2. remove your shifter ball and shifter boot

3. grab close to the front of the console and pop up the clips that hold it in, then lift assembly out, keeping in mind that the if you have any electrical switches in your console they will need to be unplugged.

4. once removed there will be 4 bolts(12mm) holding the cage in to the car, remove these.

5. on the side of the cage there is an are with a cable attached to it and a clip holding it in, pull the hood side away from the arm the slip the straight side out the back and then slide the cable linkage off the arm

6. tip the cage over so that you can see the cable under the cage. there is a clip that goes around the cable end and hold the ball cup in the cable end. the clip simply is spread at the end towards the rear of the car then slips forward to allow the cup to be removed.

7. here is tricky part, the cup will be reused on the ball of the kit but, is currently in the way of the kit extension. the flat piece of metal with a hole and slit cut into it(ball cup removal tool) is for this task. simply slip the notch over the ball and pull the plate down, the ball will fit through the hole but the cup will not. if like me you want to remove as little as possible to do the install (as these direction are that method) it will be a slight trick to hold the shifter while removing the ball cup.

8. once the cup is removed you can press it onto the extension (being sure to make a funny face or it wont go on right).

9. slip the ball into the extension and screw down the Allen head screws with the supplied Allen key. snugging them quite tightly to better ensure that they do not back out.

10. re-install the cup end into the cable end and clip the clip back in place.

11. turn the cage over and bolt it back down to the car using all 4 bolts

12. slip the outer cable onto the arm being sure that the white clip piece is facing out and install the clip

13. re-install the center console, pressing the front clips back in and screwing in the cup holder bolt.

14. slip on the boot and screw back on the shift ball.

15. test the feel of the shift points

16. test drive the car(carefully while you get used to the change in shift gear location)

you are now complete for this task, enjoy quicker shifts once you body has relearned the gear locations.

I take very little credit for this as I went by his DIY on another thread to put mine in but added pictures. I give Golddeenoh all the credit for this.

(1)you will need to remove a bolt(10mm) that hides inside the cup holder of the center console.

I had to take off my armrest first but here are the pictures of the cupholder and bolt.





(2)remove your shifter ball and shifter boot

I have a shift extender but it comes off the same way and the boot as well.





(3)grab close to the front of the console and pop up the clips that hold it in, then lift assembly out, keeping in mind that the if you have any electrical switches in your console they will need to be unplugged.

The two clips in the front come straight up. I ended up just taking out the panel that held my electronics rather than unplugging them.







(4)once removed there will be 4 bolts(12mm) holding the cage in to the car, remove these.

There was one bolt that was a bit hard to get to because of the electrical cabling but really not that bad.





(5)on the side of the cage there is an are with a cable attached to it and a clip holding it in, pull the hood side away from the arm the slip the straight side out the back and then slide the cable linkage off the arm

I wasn't sure about this one but I disconnected the cables from the cage by rotating the sleeve to the passenger side and sliding them upwards. The cage seemed to lay down a little better after I did that.





(6)tip the cage over so that you can see the cable under the cage. there is a clip that goes around the cable end and hold the ball cup in the cable end. the clip simply is spread at the end towards the rear of the car then slips forward to allow the cup to be removed.
I have a few pictures of this that will hopefully show better what is going on. you have to spread from the rear and press forward in order to remove the clip. it is open in the back and stayed on the shifter cable for me



(from the back)


(7)here is tricky part, the cup will be reused on the ball of the kit but, is currently in the way of the kit extension. the flat piece of metal with a hole and slit cut into it(ball cup removal tool) is for this task. simply slip the notch over the ball and pull the plate down, the ball will fit through the hole but the cup will not. if like me you want to remove as little as possible to do the install (as these direction are that method) it will be a slight trick to hold the shifter while removing the ball cup.

This was the most difficult part for me. The tool was nice but it took a lot of pressure to get the thing to release.





(8)once the cup is removed you can press it onto the extension (being sure to make a funny face or it wont go on right).

I was hoping to have fun with the "funny face" pic but I found a good way to do it without straining too hard. I put the cup on the ground, placed the SSK into it, and just put my hand on-top of the SSK using my weight to seat the cup into it. (sometimes it's good to be 200lbs)




(9)slip the ball into the extension and screw down the Allen head screws with the supplied Allen key. snugging them quite tightly to better ensure that they do not back out.

This one is a bit tricky as you have a tight confined space to work in. I used the short end of the allen key and moved the shifter cable to the opposite side of where I was tightening. I did tighten the crap out of it.



(10)re-install the cup end into the cable end and clip the clip back in place.

This is where the cable goes back together and the clip goes back on, you can see in the previous pictures how the clip should look after it is propperly reinstalled (pay close attention to the back of the clip)



(also a good time to put in the MI Metal Cage bushings)


(11)turn the cage over and bolt it back down to the car using all 4 bolts

Just reversing the steps



(12)slip the outer cable onto the arm being sure that the white clip piece is facing out and install the clip

I don't think I did this but I did have to put the black collars of the cables back into the cage.



(13)re-install the center console, pressing the front clips back in and screwing in the cup holder bolt.

I tried to take a good picture of how the clips in the front go down into the body of the car. Not sure if I accomplished this well.







(14)slip on the boot and screw back on the shift ball.

There again, just reversing steps





(15)test the feel of the shift points

(16)test drive the car(carefully while you get used to the change in shift gear location)

you are now complete for this task, enjoy quicker shifts once you body has relearned the gear locations.

Big thanks to Micro Image for a great product and to Golddeenoh for the write up. It was a lot of fun and hopefully the pictures aren't too horrible. Old cameras and dimly lit garages are interesting to work with.

[jpmck03]

Thank you, I was trying to figure out how exactly the in-cabin SSK worked. Now I know!

Good DIY, now clean your car!

[BEEF]

I noticed how dirty my car looked as I was putting this together (afterwards with the pictures).

In my defense, my GF has a 7 year old and I have a 4 year old. I probably should have done a bit more prep work.

[BEEF]

So last night I was going through the gears with the car just off and sitting in my driveway. (I was putting on another shift extender which I decided against. It would have put the shifter too high and the throw was not where I liked it.) As I was going through them, it started feeling weird... Then the shifter fell against the A/C controls...

The short shifter had fallen off. I tightened the crap out of it the first time. I took everything apart and tightened it back again. I am still not confident with it and plan to put a dab of loctite on the set screws (the blue, not the red) and that should do the trick.

I was just happy that it didn't happen riding down the road.

[cali yaris]

^ sorry those Allen nuts backed out. Loctite is a VERY good idea with this mod.

[fnkngrv]

Originally Posted by cali yaris

^ sorry those Allen nuts backed out. Loctite is a VERY good idea with this mod.

Really all allen screws should have loctite or some equivalent used.


This is an issue inherent to set screws in general, not just your kit.