How to Install Aftermarket Auto Shifter
03-16-2008, 08:32 PM
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How to Install Aftermarket Auto Shifter
I was wanting to install a rachet shifter in my 94 Camaro Z28 with a 4L60E but could not find any good information on the web. Some people said it could be done, but did not explain how. Others said it could not, but did not say why. The shifter companies did not have any good info that I could find. I called Hurst and managed to get through to tech support. I was told by the guy on the phone that they do not support their shifters in 4L60E cars. I pestered him a bit longer and he finally spit out, "It will probably work fine, I know people have done it, but we have not tested it so we can not provide any support. That does not mean it will not work." So, unable to find any reason not to do it, here is how I did it.
"* fits 4L60E when used with custom installation where an aftermarket controller is used to command the transmission." -This is listed with some of the automatic shifters from B&M and has caused some confusion. If your Camaro came with a 4L60E it came with the computer. This note is only if your are putting a 4L60E in a car that did not come with it, such as a 50s hot rod. In that case you will need the computer from the car you are taking the tranny from to get the 4L60E to shift correctly with ANY shifter, even the factory one.
I had my 4L60E rebuilt by a local shop and in the process of putting it back in I broke the shift linkage. No local parts place could get it and the dealer wanted $80 for it. Sounds like a great excuse to put that shifter in I have been wanting. I got the Hurst V-Matic 2 from Jegs for $220 and it comes with a cable. There is nothing special about this shifter working with the 4L60E, any shifter that says it works with the 700R4 should work.
First you obviously have to remove the old shifter. Remove the console and unbolt the old shifter. Remove the old linkage and linkage bracket from under the car. Remove the 2 bolts holding the parking brake assembly so you can move it out of the way, it just makes life easier. I left my seats in. There is a second cable that runs to the shifter and a solenoid hooked to it as well. These are so that you can't move the shifter from Park unless the steering column is unlocked and the brake is pressed. With the new shifter I can shift without the brake or keys. If this bothers you, do not replace the factory shifter. For the rest of us, remove or move these items out of the way.
With all that out of the way I looked at the V-Matic and the area I had to work with. I did not want to put holes in my car for the shifter so I made an adapter plate. I took a piece of cardboard and mocked one up first.
I had to notch it in the back to clear a bolt. I used the existing mounting holes and bolts from the original shifter. The cardboard had to bend to fit properly so I marked the bend and used a protractor to measure the angle, it was 10'. I bolted the cardboard in and put the new shifter in place. I dropped the cable through the hole for it and found the V-Matic would need to be far back on the adapter to get the cable to route properly. I made some marks for where I thought the shifter bolts would go and took it all apart.
I took the cardboard and cut out a piece of 1/8" steel the same size. I drilled the four holes needed to mount it in the car and then put it in a vice. I lined the top of the vice up with the bend mark and cranked it tight. With some pulling and hits with a hammer I had the steel plate bent at 10'. This piece will be hidden in the console so it does not have to be pretty. After making some of the holes in the adapter a bit bigger to help things line up I had it in the car.
At this point I ran the new cable through the floor. At first I pulled the rubber grommet out of the car and tried to put the new one in that came with the shifter, it was to small. I put the old one back in.
With the cable in the floor I mounted the new shifter to the bracket. I put the shifter where I wanted it and used a marker to put marks on the plate, removed the plate and drilled the holes. I bolted the new shifter to the plate and put the plate back in the car. The shifter has 4 mounting holes but I could only use 3 of them. It is very solid so I was fine with it. I tested the shifter and it seemed to have enough room to run through the gears. It sits back a little further than the factory one so no problem with front clearance at all. If you don't like it that far back you could drill a new hole for the cable and plug the old one.
Time to go under the car. The V-Matic came with a very long cable, easily a foot or more longer than the factory one. I made a big loop to take up the slack and with the help of zip ties stuck it out if the way and away from all hot or moving parts. If that bugs you, see if there is a shorter cable available for your shifter. It came with a bracket to hold the trans end of the cable. I ran into a problem when I removed the factory bracket and installed the new one. The new cable could not reach the lever on the tranny. I figured out that the new bracket had to be moved closer so I used 2 closer pan bolts. I put the new arm on the tranny and called my wife to help.
With my wife operating the shifter I made sure everything was lined up under the car. Make sure the car goes into each gear solid and the cable is not pushing or pulling it out of place. Everything lined up so I made it all tight. I pulled the neutral switch off the old shifter and plugged it back in to the harness. I moved it forward as if it was in park and started the car. I took a test drive and it worked great.
The V-Matic has 2 switches, one for Park and Neutral and one for Reverse. The factory shifter had 6 wires going to a large switch. I got a wiring diagram to see what the wires did.
Note this is for the 94 Z28, find the diagram for your car before you do any wiring.
The first 4 wires match the 2 switches so I used taps to hook them to the wiring harness without cutting any factory wires. What about the other 2 wires? I took the factory switch apart.
The white piece slides along the black piece and makes connections at various points. It looked like the bottom 2 wires connect to each other at the same points as the top two. More neutral safety. The correct way to proceed would be to get a relay and have the single switch on the new shifter make both connections. I will do that, but to keep from being stuck at this step I jumped the last two wires. This is NOT a good long term solution because I can now try and start the car in gear and that is dangerous. Like I said, it's temporary, but if you need the car to do a parts run or can't find the proper relay right away it will work.
Now I can start the car, drive it and I have reverse lights. To get the console back on I needed to take a grinder to it. I needed to cut some of the console inside to clear the shifter. I also needed to cut the cover to get it over the shifter. Here it is back together.
If there is a drink the cup holder I can use P, R, N and D fine, but I can't get to the lower gears or use the ratchet action without removing the drink.
The shifter sits lower in the console than intended by the designers. I like how it sits in my car and feels in my hand do not want to raise it, but it means I can not use the factory boot or shift indicator. I can live with that. When it gets warmer I will do some fiberglass work and either make a new shift boot or put one on from another car (thinking leather). That's for another thread.
Hope this answers some questions for you. And if your ordering the Hurst, don't forget the Hurst Equipped badge.
"* fits 4L60E when used with custom installation where an aftermarket controller is used to command the transmission." -This is listed with some of the automatic shifters from B&M and has caused some confusion. If your Camaro came with a 4L60E it came with the computer. This note is only if your are putting a 4L60E in a car that did not come with it, such as a 50s hot rod. In that case you will need the computer from the car you are taking the tranny from to get the 4L60E to shift correctly with ANY shifter, even the factory one.
I had my 4L60E rebuilt by a local shop and in the process of putting it back in I broke the shift linkage. No local parts place could get it and the dealer wanted $80 for it. Sounds like a great excuse to put that shifter in I have been wanting. I got the Hurst V-Matic 2 from Jegs for $220 and it comes with a cable. There is nothing special about this shifter working with the 4L60E, any shifter that says it works with the 700R4 should work.
First you obviously have to remove the old shifter. Remove the console and unbolt the old shifter. Remove the old linkage and linkage bracket from under the car. Remove the 2 bolts holding the parking brake assembly so you can move it out of the way, it just makes life easier. I left my seats in. There is a second cable that runs to the shifter and a solenoid hooked to it as well. These are so that you can't move the shifter from Park unless the steering column is unlocked and the brake is pressed. With the new shifter I can shift without the brake or keys. If this bothers you, do not replace the factory shifter. For the rest of us, remove or move these items out of the way.
With all that out of the way I looked at the V-Matic and the area I had to work with. I did not want to put holes in my car for the shifter so I made an adapter plate. I took a piece of cardboard and mocked one up first.
I had to notch it in the back to clear a bolt. I used the existing mounting holes and bolts from the original shifter. The cardboard had to bend to fit properly so I marked the bend and used a protractor to measure the angle, it was 10'. I bolted the cardboard in and put the new shifter in place. I dropped the cable through the hole for it and found the V-Matic would need to be far back on the adapter to get the cable to route properly. I made some marks for where I thought the shifter bolts would go and took it all apart.
I took the cardboard and cut out a piece of 1/8" steel the same size. I drilled the four holes needed to mount it in the car and then put it in a vice. I lined the top of the vice up with the bend mark and cranked it tight. With some pulling and hits with a hammer I had the steel plate bent at 10'. This piece will be hidden in the console so it does not have to be pretty. After making some of the holes in the adapter a bit bigger to help things line up I had it in the car.
At this point I ran the new cable through the floor. At first I pulled the rubber grommet out of the car and tried to put the new one in that came with the shifter, it was to small. I put the old one back in.
With the cable in the floor I mounted the new shifter to the bracket. I put the shifter where I wanted it and used a marker to put marks on the plate, removed the plate and drilled the holes. I bolted the new shifter to the plate and put the plate back in the car. The shifter has 4 mounting holes but I could only use 3 of them. It is very solid so I was fine with it. I tested the shifter and it seemed to have enough room to run through the gears. It sits back a little further than the factory one so no problem with front clearance at all. If you don't like it that far back you could drill a new hole for the cable and plug the old one.
Time to go under the car. The V-Matic came with a very long cable, easily a foot or more longer than the factory one. I made a big loop to take up the slack and with the help of zip ties stuck it out if the way and away from all hot or moving parts. If that bugs you, see if there is a shorter cable available for your shifter. It came with a bracket to hold the trans end of the cable. I ran into a problem when I removed the factory bracket and installed the new one. The new cable could not reach the lever on the tranny. I figured out that the new bracket had to be moved closer so I used 2 closer pan bolts. I put the new arm on the tranny and called my wife to help.
With my wife operating the shifter I made sure everything was lined up under the car. Make sure the car goes into each gear solid and the cable is not pushing or pulling it out of place. Everything lined up so I made it all tight. I pulled the neutral switch off the old shifter and plugged it back in to the harness. I moved it forward as if it was in park and started the car. I took a test drive and it worked great.
The V-Matic has 2 switches, one for Park and Neutral and one for Reverse. The factory shifter had 6 wires going to a large switch. I got a wiring diagram to see what the wires did.
Note this is for the 94 Z28, find the diagram for your car before you do any wiring.
The first 4 wires match the 2 switches so I used taps to hook them to the wiring harness without cutting any factory wires. What about the other 2 wires? I took the factory switch apart.
The white piece slides along the black piece and makes connections at various points. It looked like the bottom 2 wires connect to each other at the same points as the top two. More neutral safety. The correct way to proceed would be to get a relay and have the single switch on the new shifter make both connections. I will do that, but to keep from being stuck at this step I jumped the last two wires. This is NOT a good long term solution because I can now try and start the car in gear and that is dangerous. Like I said, it's temporary, but if you need the car to do a parts run or can't find the proper relay right away it will work.
Now I can start the car, drive it and I have reverse lights. To get the console back on I needed to take a grinder to it. I needed to cut some of the console inside to clear the shifter. I also needed to cut the cover to get it over the shifter. Here it is back together.
If there is a drink the cup holder I can use P, R, N and D fine, but I can't get to the lower gears or use the ratchet action without removing the drink.
The shifter sits lower in the console than intended by the designers. I like how it sits in my car and feels in my hand do not want to raise it, but it means I can not use the factory boot or shift indicator. I can live with that. When it gets warmer I will do some fiberglass work and either make a new shift boot or put one on from another car (thinking leather). That's for another thread.
Hope this answers some questions for you. And if your ordering the Hurst, don't forget the Hurst Equipped badge.
Last edited by Techpriest; 03-16-2008 at 08:36 PM.
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