Well as most of you know I'm in the middle of my auto->manual swap and I've hit yet another roadblock.

This time it's the shifter base. The rear two bolts line up just fine but the front two don't.

I've got a shifter base off of a 97(I think, tibbychick can correct me here, it came from her) and the car's an 01. Are the shifter bases the same from rd1 to rd2? Do I need to drill some new holes? What's keeping me from bolting this thing in?

 

It's from a 98. My 99 shift base swapped into my 98 tib no problem. Not sure if there is a difference between the RD1 and RD2 though. Did you install it backwards? lol

 

Well there's only one way for it to go in... I checked all the pictures I could find and the results are pretty inconclusive, all I know is there's a big gap between where the bolt holes are in this shifter base and the metal where they should go into. The two holes where the auto mounted in the front are way farther forward.

 

well thats annoying.

You think you could drill some holes in the base to line up with the ones on the car?

 

Drilling holes there would suck. That's at least double-thick sheet steel, and you need to remove the exhaust heat shield to get to the underside of the exhaust tunnel. My 98 shifter base holes did NOT line up with my 2000 shifter base holes. I used metal strapping like for holding up air conditioning ducts, bent around the front of the base, and bolted in such a way that tightening the bolts tightened the strap. It was not easy. It was also late (early AM) so I neglected to take a picture, sorry.

 

So, for everyone else who's done an auto-manual swap, what did you do?

I'm in a bind now, since I'm on the verge of being done, yet I still have no shifter bracket.

I need a little help now. Can someone who has a FACTORY manual please snap a few quick pics of your shifter bolted in? I'd like to see what's holding it up in the front.

I did end up going to the dealership and ordering a new bracket for my year and got the exact same one I already had. I don't know if the parts guy is incompetent or not but I'd like to think it's not his fault.

I'm getting the feeling that my only recourse from here on out will be drilling through some double wall steel. mad.gif Normally I'd just drill through the bracket itself but without the benefit of the bushings it's got in there, I don't think it would go over well. If I can't get an answer in time I'll just have to get to drilling. Ugh.

 

Why not go to the local junkers and get the right one?

Several Hyundais use it I believe.

Get some pics, I'd like to see.

I've got tons of pics up of my shifter in many areas.

 

^^^ or you could just give him your photobucket link, DUH!!!

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v131/REDZMAN/

 

^^Thanks, that's actually really helpful. I've looked at the short shifter DIYs for references, but this seems a bit more explanatory.

As for finding the "right" shifter, I'm sort of at a loss there because I'm trying to figure out if there is a "right" shifter bracket. Mine doesn't fit, and I don't know why. A local yard has a 2000 elantra in their yard, I think I'll go out there and try to get a hold of it.

 

i had the same problem. what you can do is buy some metal brackets from home depot. put one bolted under sticking out. another over the top to act as clamps to clamp it down. works for me beautifully. sturdy as a bat. cost me under $10.