I've got a 2001 Z-28 with the Hurst 6-speed but I was thinking about installing a Hurst Pro Billet shifter that I bought for my Third Gen a while back. Would it be any better than the stock Hurst Shifter? I like the one in the car but a shorter throw would be nice. Also it's just four bolts on the tranny that holds the shifter correct? Am I supposed to use RTV around the base or is there a gasket? I've never replaced one before so excuse my questions. Thanks,

Mike

 

1.) I know the billet hurst you have will have bump stops, and i believe a shorter throw. thats two improvements over the stocker hurst, + I would think the stocker would be a little more flimsy/sloppy feeling compared to the billet hurst. But i havent actually played with both up front fwiw. and im not sure what you mean by 3rd gen. if you mean late 80's early 90's f-body, im not sure it will fit.

2.) the installation is pretty straight forward. personally id remove the console to make things easier, i dont know if its necessary. first, unscrew your shift ****. remove four bolts underneath your flip up armrest. then pull out your ashtray. it just pops out. see that little bolt underneath there? remove it. then two more near the front of the console underneath the dash. feel around and youll find them. at this point the console should be free. you now have the joy of fitting it around the dash, and the E-brake. the trick here is to manuever the back of the console up as high as you can. you will need to pull the e-brake back as far as you can take it. just to clarify, your problem here is that the e-brake handle will not let you pull the console back far enough to clear the dash, and you cant remove it in this state. just move things around until you can get to the mechanical click-wheel on the e-brake. once you can see that, look for the ratcheting mechanism. it will be a spring loaded pick of sorts, that sits on the e-brake handle and "clicks" over the teeth of the toothed wheel you should see. pull back on the spring loaded ratchet thing, this will allow you to pull the e-brake handle all the way back. your console will now pull straight up and out to let you get to your shifter.

Ok. now, there is a rubber isolation boot that sits on the transmission tunnel floor. there are what, maybe 8-12 tiny screws that hold the rubber boot to the floor. I dont remember the number. unscrew those and i think you can get to your shifter. there might be another plate, or something small im forgetting at this point but its going to be easy to see what you need to do if there is. unbolt the four bolts and pry it open.stuff a clean rag inside of the crevice you just opened up, so that when you scrape the rtv gasket off of the shifter area it doesnt fall into your precious (expensive as H*LL!) t-56. put down a thin bead of new rtv, install the new shifter. dont know the torque specs. go for snug, use some serviceable locktite if youd like. congratulations. reverse-install everything and you're set.

as a side note, I am currently looking for an authentic hurst shifter. im paying $50 bucks, plus paypal and shipping fees. if you, or anyone reading this thread has one to sell, send me a pm.

 

Thanks for the help! I installed a LS1 and T-56 into my third gen, 87 camaro which is what I bought the shifter for but ended up using a Pro 5.0. Sounds like an easy couple hour install, I just wasn't sure about the console part but now I feel a little better about swapping them out. Thanks again.

 

I have the factory hurst shifter w/ lou's short stick. I like it. I haven't used anything else so I don't know how it compares to a pro 5.0 or something.

 

So you have the stock base with a different stick? Sounds like an idea to me, I'm going to swap these two out sometime this week to see how better the pro billet shifter is.

 

Switching the stick on the stock shifter makes a world of difference to the feel. The biggest problem with the stock shifter is the rubber isolater on the stick.