I must be in the mood to work on my car this week!
My new Isotta shift knob came this week…I had always wanted one after experiencing their nice Italian leather I had on my Focus steering wheel.
I also always thought MINI’s stick was way too high. I considered getting a real short shifter, but the combined high cost and the unreasonably difficult install of dropping the exhaust and installing from underneath has kept me away.
So I figured what could I loose by simply shortening the stock stick? (Yes yes I know I’m not shortening the throw, but that’s not what I’m going after–I want reduced height.) So I spent a few hours after work last night with a hacksaw and the good ol’ Dremel.
The metal was surprisingly hard to get through, I thought the Dremel would do it easily but I had to resort to a hack saw. The dremel was much more useful for getting rid of that wider plastic part. Of course, I was covered with metal and plastic dust.
By the time I finished I was working by flashlight so sorry to tease but there are no completed photos yet. The drive to work this morning I could instantly feel a difference, I was no longer grabbing the shifter around its neck and shifting felt more accurate.