Short Shift Install! [lots o pics too]

[A4darkness]

I picked up a HyperShift short shift kit from Stratmosphere and installed it today. First off, this mod isn't the hardest in the world, but it can have it's frustrating moments. So, I've attempted to highlight a few points that could be of help to the novice crowd looking to perform this install. Of course, thanks to everyone who's posted concerning this topic and especially a4mods.com.

Here's the hardware...



General disassembly of the shift boot isn't anything to talk about. But for the love of God, disconnect the ashtray and remove it if you can.

Pulling this clip off is a pain... I crushed it with these and then peeled it back with some needle nose.



There's a few things to note here... ashtray elevated and the shifter pulled back to allow for some room. Most importantly, note the red outline of the upper bolt's washer and the lower bolt's rectangular silver housing. Getting to the bolts themselves and having enough torque to break them free took some creativity...



Lets talk about the circlip [round metal ring on the left]. Do yourself a favor... go buy the largest Circlip Pliers you can cause this thing is not easy to remove. Small needle nose will not work. I learned this the hard way and had time to ponder it riding my bike over to the hardware store. LOL The pliers I picked up, on the right, broke getting the clip off.

I opted for a shorter throw rather than a smoother shift [per Strat's documentation] so the balljoint is in the higher slot. Turns out, this was a wise decision.



Getting the confounded circlip back in was really, really... easy? WTF?? Yeah, it popped right back in... using the needle nose? Yes. That which wouldn't in a million years remove it and forced me to beach-cruise my happy ass down to the store to buy pliers that broke after one use? Yes, it was back in instantly.



Now that the shifter was reassembled, it was time to, well, reassemble. Yes, you need to superglue the spacers on the mounts. Makes it super easy.



And now the fun starts... and where everyone's instructions = fail. Strat and even rock-solid a4mods use the obligatory "reverse install" which didn't cut it. Here's what I did. First, drop the shifter in and attach the top right bolt. Then, get the lower bolt started. Don't tighten all the way.



This next shot is my super dope magnetic tool... which was very helpful but totally not necessary to show you. It was like A4 Operation cause it's got a 10lb test and if I wasn't extra steady, I'd rip the whole tranny out. Maybe not... but it would stick to everything. My bad, back to the install.



I used a long screwdriver to hold the lower bolt's plate in place while starting to torque it down.



Also very important. Once the upper bolt is started as well, and you're starting to tighten everything, be sure the shifter is straight in the middle. [I set the pliers there to illustrate.] Notice how I'm torquing the lower bolt down on an angle... this is by design. On the first go around, when I didn't line everything up just right, reverse didn't work. At all. Loosening the two main bolts allowed me to find the happy place.

And yes, I am using pliers with a long allen wrench. I know, it looked silly when I was doing it too. Don't forget to reconnect the wires to the ashtray if you removed them. The last thing is the four bolts on the side-rails and from there you're pretty much done. The seemingly indestructible clip is replaced with a very friendly zip tie and you're good to go.



Here's the finished product...



Impressions? I love it. It's so much easier to engage the next gear and the slightly lowered height was unnoticeable after a few trips around the block.

A 25% reduction in throw may not sound like a lot... but it is. When I was 3/4 of the way done, I was thinking how all this effort might not be worth it. I was totally wrong. Frankly it seems "smoother" than my stock shifter anyway... like it was meant to be this way or something. This is a must have for anyone who enjoys driving a stick shift.

[southsong]

Took out my Neuspeed SS and went back to stock as I didn't like the way Neuspeed shifted 3 to 4 at an angle. I tried tweaking a bit but decided to give up.

I do notice now with the stock, shifts are considerably longer.

[Tgr_Clw]

J... H... M...

[quattrothatcould]

I've been looking at the Strat SSK myself but my one big thing is that I don't want it to sit any lower than stock height. Do they provide additional spacers so it can sit at stock height or is that the highest it will go?

[Tgr_Clw]

• http://forums.audiworld.com/a4gen2/msgs/1082436.phtml

[Diztek]

[southsong]

[Tgr_Clw]

Made my AMS feel like a complete POS.

[quattrothatcould]

I'm assuming so

BTW YGM

[Tgr_Clw]

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I'll do my best to get back to you.