DIY 2012 Civic Si - How to install CT Engineering Short Shift adapter and CorSport Base Bushings

squiggy said:
I was quite surprised at how easily the cable laid on the floor next to the side of the console without moving. It is not like there was a bunch of slack or a real need to have it connected to the shifter mechanism.
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yes very true honda always has to go above and beyond
 
squiggy said:
No problem.

But really, long story short, just take it out...
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i did mine with it in, tell Arm0ged0n sayd i really needed to cut the piece off! so i had double the work of taking it all apart

look over the diy multiple times and you will be done in a matter of no time feeling like you have done it before
 
colint

If you look at the pic below. This is what you get if you do not take the center support out. The shifter cable is wedged in there. also, even if you take the cotter pin out, you still have that whole mechanism that has the potential to move and you will not be able to really get the shifter cable away from it. You would run the risk of bending the cable or gouging it against the center support.


2012-10-25 18.30.18.jpg
 
squiggy said:
I love it and wish I would have done it on my last car. Even though the claim is that it saves 20-25% movement, it seems like a whole lot more. The base bushings have virtually eliminated the play at the end of each shift. It is SOLID.

That being said, due to the nature of the work to put in a short shift adapter, I HIGHLY recommend doing the base bushing at the same time.

I have yet to do the cable bushings. I am debating between the CorSport ($33) and Hybrid Racing ($70) one's.

I am curious about this claim from Hybrid Racing:


Input would be appreciated from everyone.
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I did a bunch of research and found that everyone that said CorSport's wouldn't work were 2nd hand (none experienced it themselves). Personally I went with the Hybrid Racing. They are working wonderfully for me.
 
NthTier said:
I did a bunch of research and found that everyone that said CorSport's wouldn't work were 2nd hand (none experienced it themselves). Personally I went with the Hybrid Racing. They are working wonderfully for me.
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That is good to hear. Sadly, $70 for the Hybrid Racing one's is a bit pricey right now. They are definitely near the top of list, though.
 
squiggy said:
If you do this, you should still take the left shift cable off just in case something weird happens when you strike the wrench. This would include taking the center brace out in order to pull the cable away from the mechanism and give clearance. I wouldn't simply take the cotter pin out as there is not much play and the moving parts could still hit the cable causing damage.
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I don't plan to strike the wrench, at first anyway. I'm going to place a small open-end wrench above the blue cap in the conical area, then use that wrench's head as a lever point against which to pry the larger open- end wrench downward against the blue cap. We'll see.
 
I finally got around to the short shifter. It was a $17.50 ebay purchase...very solid construction.

I took the shift knob and the boot-holder section off per instructions, then loosened right side of center console and bungie corded it out of the way. I left all of the cables and usb wires etc, connected, but freed the usb wire from the console before stretching it out of the way. Left the cup holders and armrest in place.

Then I tapped the blue pastic cap off using an open end wrench (pretty sure 12mm).

Next, I came straight down on the plastic tab that must be removed, using this:

PICT0002.jpg

It's about $25 at Harbor Freight and oscillates. With a steady hand, I cut the tab off, with the cable attached. that made it easier to remove the tab from the brown plastic cable tie. Here's what it looked like after the first pass.
PICT0003.jpg


One more pass to remove a little more material and I was done. Left the right side cable intact, etc.

Then it was just amatter of putting the shifter adapter in place. Make sure its seated up high and use blue thread locker.

Thanks Squiggy and bigbossin for getting me through this. I almost didn't want to tackle it, but it was fairly easy after all.
 
Just finished up putting it all together (short shifter and base bushings). Was made much easier because of this DIY. :)

To get the blue end cap off I used a different method. Stick a small flat blade screwdriver into the bottom (smaller opening) then rotate the blue part until it is all the way tilted, then use the screw driver to pop it off. No damage to the blue cap (thank goodness). Also just used a piece of left over wood and my hands to pop it onto the CT short shifter.

Did you guys notice that even after it is trimmed, when the car is put into reverse the shifter cable touches the shifter (not much at all, but just curious)? It didn't seem to affect shifting into reverse at all, but just was curious.

Also, I nearly lost a bolt under the carpet...few moments of panic there.
 
NthTier said:
Did you guys notice that even after it is trimmed, when the car is put into reverse the shifter cable touches the shifter (not much at all, but just curious)? It didn't seem to affect shifting into reverse at all, but just was curious.
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Do you have a picture of how much plastic you cut off?
 
NthTier said:
Just finished up putting it all together (short shifter and base bushings). Was made much easier because of this DIY. :)

To get the blue end cap off I used a different method. Stick a small flat blade screwdriver into the bottom (smaller opening) then rotate the blue part until it is all the way tilted, then use the screw driver to pop it off. No damage to the blue cap (thank goodness). Also just used a piece of left over wood and my hands to pop it onto the CT short shifter.

Did you guys notice that even after it is trimmed, when the car is put into reverse the shifter cable touches the shifter (not much at all, but just curious)? It didn't seem to affect shifting into reverse at all, but just was curious.

Also, I nearly lost a bolt under the carpet...few moments of panic there.
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I did not notice any clearance issues on mine.

Just a word of warning to those thinking about prying the cap off with this method. You run the risk of distorting/stretching the blue cap out which can increase the chance of it slipping off. When you take something off that is kept on by compression such as this, you want equal pressure all around when taking it off. Hence the recommendation of using an open end wrench.

NthTier I am not sure, but this my be why you were able to get it back on without using a vice or hammer.
 
My blue cap cracked when I took mine off. Never had a problem with it added a little extra grease still ran like a charm
 
bigbossin said:
Do you have a picture of how much plastic you cut off?
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I cut-off the same as in the DIY and then ground it down to make it smoother. When it goes into reverse it barely rests on the shifter (white plastic). Just that it rests on it was what I was asking.
 
squiggy said:
I did not notice any clearance issues on mine.

Just a word of warning to those thinking about prying the cap off with this method. You run the risk of distorting/stretching the blue cap out which can increase the chance of it slipping off. When you take something off that is kept on by compression such as this, you want equal pressure all around when taking it off. Hence the recommendation of using an open end wrench.

NthTier I am not sure, but this my be why you were able to get it back on without using a vice or hammer.
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I watched for the cracking/distorting and from my eye I didn't see any (doesn't mean there wasn't any). Putting back on I put the blue cap down (large side up), coated the ct shifter and the blue cap with lithium grease, and then leaned down on the ct short shifter (6'3" 230lbs) to get it back in. Not saying it was easy, but did not require hammer or vise and I made sure it was not coming back off.
 
So I went and trimmed it some more last night and the cable is no longer touching anything when in reverse. I trimmed off what I thought was enough, but turns out I was about 1/4 inch off.

Learn from my mistake, once you have the shifter back together (if you did the base bushings or took the shifter out) and the shifter cables hooked back up, shift it into reverse to make sure you trimmed enough. :)
 
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