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Changing the shifter

M

Mcthies43

New member
I'm slowly working on my car (2000 Pontiac Grand Prix gtp coupe) and my next project is changing the shifter!! I am wondering what it will take or if its possible to replace my stock shifter with a Hurst 4 speed auto shifter?! If so what kind of work is involved in doing so?!
 


I took a look at how my shifter is set up last night, and it is a cable shift but the yellow rod inside the metal one pushes down where as the hurst shifter I was taking a look at is set up to pull up to change gears!! To be completely honest which would be easier or better... To replace the knob or the whole assembly?!
 
The knob is easier. Just pop the little metal tab out with a flat head screw driver or pick and pull up.
 
I did remove the knob last night and like I mentioned that yellow rod down the middle of the metal one pushes down engaging the cable to allow me to shift gears!! As on the other hand the hurst shifter I was takin a look at has the pull up lever in front of the knob that allows it to change gears!! How would I go about installing that so I can put the hurst shifter on there?! Because i have this feeling that I will have to change the whole assembly!! How difficult would it be to change the assembly?!
 


I looked on Hurst.com via my phone and I only got limited results!! Unfortuneately my resources are very limited as well!! But from what I have seen so far I would say if they did make one that pushes down instead of up would be hard to find!!
 
Um... you realize that this is an automatic we are dealing with, right? You put it in D and hit the gas. Why would you need some massive, gaudy shifter.
 
Lol I'm not yelling, yes it does have to be hurst because I like the design of the product and how they were built and how they are designed for use
 
I know it's an automatic but I'm doing some major work on the car and by the time I'm done everything ill be pushing 400hp and I intend to try my hand at some local dragging!! Lol
 


While I totally support the idea of changing the shifter because you'd like to, I have difficulty understanding how having 400hp has anything to do with the shifter. And yes..I have had over 400HP in a 97 Bonneville. My shifter handle was changed based on preference, it had no relevance to power level.
 
My stock shifter ratchets the gears when I start in 1st and it's hard to get to 2nd then 3rd then D while staying in each of those gears without jumpin to the next one. With the hurst on the other hand when you start in the basement and work your way up the gears it slams into the next gear and doesn't ratchet. When you get to 2nd it stays then when you shift into 3rd it slams into gear again staying there and same thing with drive and not accidentally hitting neutral lol
 
My stock shifter ratchets the gears when I start in 1st and it's hard to get to 2nd then 3rd then D while staying in each of those gears without jumpin to the next one. With the hurst on the other hand when you start in the basement and work your way up the gears it slams into the next gear and doesn't ratchet. When you get to 2nd it stays then when you shift into 3rd it slams into gear again staying there and same thing with drive and not accidentally hitting neutral lol and I agree it's also a preference to but it's designed for what I need it for.
 
Or you could just put it in D... Then floor it? Shifting manually isnt going to change anything.

Sent from my Droid
 


If I shift directly into drive and then pan it all I'm doing is lighting up my tires losing traction and burning rubber and my take off is horrible. But if I start down in 1st and work my way up I minimize my wheel spin and maximize my traction and take off!
 
An interesting thing about your automatic transmission. If you hold the shifter in 1st gear the pcm is programmed to shift into 2nd when it hits certain parameters. After that you can technically hold it in gears. The line pressure and firmness of shifts are controlled by various programming and size of passages in the trans. By changing the shifter or shifter handle, you are not making any changes to the speed or firmness of the transmission shifting.

Like I said..being different is cool. Just know that this shifter isn't changing anything about your transmission except the way the shifter handle looks in the interior of the car.
 
Mcthies43 said:
If I shift directly into drive and then pan it all I'm doing is lighting up my tires losing traction and burning rubber and my take off is horrible. But if I start down in 1st and work my way up I minimize my wheel spin and maximize my traction and take off!
Click to expand...

You could work with the pedal in D as well and have the same results...with one exception. Holding the shifter in gears, you are able to bounce off the rev limiter vs shifting right before it. If you hit the limiter, you would be slower than the trans doing the shifting for you.

My suggestion based on your posts is that you may want to consider a tuner. If you tuned your trans differently than the factory programming, you could free up a lot more power (torque management is holding a lot back) and change the shift speeds, firmness etc etc. You could program it to act like a monster. There might be some repercussions from doing so, you could do it though.
 
Hmm Thanx for bringing that up, I have heard of that but I'm not sure if Ive put her thru those paces. I'm definitely going to check it out today yet. Ever since I've opened up my exhaust and intake she shifts at a much higher rpm. I do remember when it was all stock and I tried goin thru the gears starting at 1st it didn't seem like it was gonna shift up into second. But I may be wrong on that. Thanx for the tip! I'm gonna look into that as soon as I can.
 
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