MI SSK (an idiot's review)

[BEEF]

been waiting for this for a long time. (please read the entire thing)

when I first got the car, I put an armrest in it and the shifter was really low to have the armrest there. I fixed this by putting in a shift extender (3") from Micro image. this increased my throw unbelievably. I measured it between 3rd and 4th gear at the top of the shift knob at 6.375 inches. that is a long throw. my idea was to get the short shifter to fix that or at least help with that.

I got the kit and like many others had trouble with the relocation bracket. after some consideration (mostly the fact that is was over 100 degrees that day) I decided to just put on the block and say screw the relocation bracket.

the throw went from 6.375 inches to 4.25 inches (remember I have the extender). that is a reduction of 1/3 the distance or 2.125 inches. I really didn't like the feel of it at all. the shifts into second and forth were fine but the shifts into first, third, and fifth just didn't feel right. it was like there was an extra bump in the shift. usually you shift into a gear and it bumps in and thats it. this one had a bump, bump to get into gear. it was very unsettling to me. I chocked it up to just being aftermarket.

today I tore my car apart again to try to get the bracket on. the thing I missed was to take the cables off first then take the bracket off. the battery tray was a major bear but after quite a bit of fussing and some needle nosed pliers (for all the plastic wire holders) it finally came out.

I then got to the cables. I use a really big screw driver (flat head) and put it between the bent tab at the top of the retainer but agains the top of the cable itself. as I twisted the screwdriver the blad wedged the clip up just a bit. I repositioned the screw driver and repeated this a few times and the clip losened enough for me to get it off. this worked great. granted the screwdriver really needed to be a honkin one. I also didn't realize at first you had to push the cable back towards the fire wall and only the non metal portion of the cable slipped out of the top of the bracket.

once that was done you have room to get to the bracket bolts and be able to actually turn the wrench. it did take quite a bit of force to get the bolts loose but once I broke them free, I was good.

the reassembly was very simple as you simply put the cables back in (once the bracket was tightened down) and tapped in the little retainer clips. I will say all the wiring clips were quite a pain but not that hard.

the difference in the shift between just the short shifter and the short shifter with relocation bracket was night and day. it is amazing. if you just have the NST short shifter, I would recommend getting the bracket. it is well worth the money. it feels like it did before I put the extender on. it literally has the factory feel to it. no more double bump shifting. I was so ready to sell the bracket since I couldn't get it on. it made all the difference, at least for me.

this was the best $120 I have spent in a while (got the SSK and the cable bushing kit).

I know a lot of this information is redundant as people have been talking about this for a while but I was hoping that sharing my frustrations and the fact that it worked out in the end may help others like me (feeling a little less than intelligent) to continue on.

I am probably going to be doing quite a bit more shopping at Micro Image in the future.

thanks garm