smitty2919

After doing some reading and searching around of peoples opinions of aftermarket shifters I stumbled across the MGW. Then after talking to CliffyK in general about them and the MGW in specfic, I went and got myself one...

Little background, got my 04 GT about a month ago now and is my first manual car. That being said, I wouldnt know a "good shifter" from a bad one. All I knew was the stock one from MY car.

Well last night I tore her apart and took threw the MGW in and HOLY SH!!!T lol

The differance is night and day between the stock and the MGW. You look at this thing and compare it to the stock one and I remember thinking...."OK dont look THAT different to get everyone raving about it"

Installed it per the directions they give you(step by step and well written) and IMMEDIATLY knew the differance. The MGW feels SO much more exact. If I would have to guess, I would say that over the stock shifter you now have to move HALF the distance with the MGW. No more looking for 5th muscling it in. everying is more or less a push up, pull down motion with a slight exception for 5th and reverse.



Anyone on the fence about this....DO IT! yes it is a bit "notchier" but its normal and the ease of shifting is so much bettter. The shifter comes with EVERYTHING you need to put it in except your common wrenches and a razor to clean the transmission before installing the MGW. They give you RTV to seal up the new one, an allen key to tighten the handle on, and a rubber gromet to adapt to you stock rubber inner dust boot.


Any questions ill be glad to help. First timers plan on at LEAST an hour to read all the directions as you go and install it, second time around I could do it in half that time.

Hardest thing was getting stock shifter off becase of the factory RTV. I ended up going under the car and getting a hammer with a wrench extention and TAPPED (anything fairly small in diameter with a flat end not rounded) on the stock shifter housing lip to pop it off the tranny. Went up top and it came right off.

Dean

smitty2919

also want to add that i DID NOT use the external shifter stops on my install with my 3650 tranny. Page 3 of the MGW install manuel state not to use them with the 3650 and T56 tranny's.

jonq67

I have a 98 GT that I recently purchased. The car is stock with the exception of a flowmaster cat back system. Also my GT has a 7k miles.
I found the stock shifter to be very vague. I researched lots of short shifters and decided to go with the MGW. Install was very easy and the instructions are good.
After driving for a few days I would highly recommend this shifter. It is a huge step above the stock set up. The MGW is precise and solid.

Z28KLR

Not sure if it applies to the MGW shifter (I have a Steeda, but the MGW looks like it has even more complicity/adjustment), but you may want to put a little bit of blue threadlocker on some or all of the set screws/bolts, other than the ones securing the base to the transmission, as due to its location it is subject to a fair amount of vibration. I say this because about a year after installing my shifter, the stop bolt on the top (1st, 3rd and 5th gears) came loose and prevented me from using those gears. And it happened suddenly in the middle of the day while I was battling afternoon rush traffic. Luckily, I was near a freeway exit and was even luckier to run into somebody with a crescent wrench so I could tighten things back up to make it home (thought I was going to have to make the next 50 miles jogging between 2nd and 4th). Just thought I'd throw that suggestion out there for consideration, hope it can be helpful to somebody.

cliffyk

On the 3650, with the MGW shifter, the stop bolts are not needed and can be removed (I did this and plugged the holes with 3/8-16x1/4" button head caps.

(you can see one here)


The rest of the MGW design is such that no thread locker is needed or desirable...

ShadowDrake

I'll say the opposite and add that you will want threadlocker.

About a year after I installed my Tri-Ax the shifter bolts (the four that hold the shifter assembly on the transmission - they're the same for the MGW) came loose and it was spilling transmission fluid out the top of the transmission on hard shifts, landing on the exhaust, and making white smoke which made me think I blew a head gasket :P

smitty2919

well thradlocker on the housing bolts and on the shift stops are 2 diff things lol. i would possibly agree on the housing bolts(but wasnt specified by MGW instuctions and they even go into detail of HOW to apply the RTV...a "zig zag pattern like a worm or a snake works best") so if they detail that aspect but dont say to put locktite on the housing bolts then i would assume its ok.



but whatever makes you feel comfy inside. if you want extra insurance, sure use locktite on housing bolts. as far as shift stops....i cant use locktite on them if i dont have them installed

ShadowDrake....if i get that situation ill be sure to check the tranny leaking first and not HG's

H0SS302

to you guys having bolt issues with your Tri-axes.. did you even tighten them down to spec or use the lock nut on the the shift stops? Iv had mine in for 3 years now and I bang the hell out of the gears everyday without any issues..

No locktight or anything but RTV,10mm,13mm sockets and a wrench to tighten stop bolts if u have a t45 should be needed to install a shifter.

ShadowDrake

I haven't had anything else go wrong with the shifter. After snugging them up again all is well. They came loose gradually, I couldn't tell they were loose. The shifter felt nice and snug again afterwards but it's something you wouldn't really notice as it happened.

And who is to guess that ATF burns white and fluffy like coolant haha... It was pretty confusing and made a big mess. I only got white smoke when I got on it hard, one because the exhaust got hot enough to burn it, and two, the shock of the shift would spill some fluid out the top.

DRIVEN1

good to hear since I ordered a mgw yesterday for my 2002 gt. Glad to hear the directions were detailed.