Shifter in, shift knob destroyed. Tried everything short of Blackmagic to get this thing off gently. Applied some heat from a heatgun to the lower part of the knob, set up locking pliers on the base and wrapped the knob in painters tape then about 3 layers of paper towel and duct tape; anyway strap wrench method failed so I went ahead and used the old fashioned looooooong handled channel locks. The knob finally budged and was gotten off (I had a friend helping hold the pliers) but little did I know until the tape was removed that the leather was wrecked and torn
second kink I ran into was getting the bolt to fit correctly through the shift linkage and shifter, solved this by pure luck as It just slid in.
Overall feel: 7
Throws feel very mechanical and not smooth(may get solved with a weighted knob). First gear also feels 3 feet(inches
) more to the left than stock, on my test drive I often started in 3rd by mistake. My biggest quail is how far left and right the shifter moves while in gear, about 3/4 inch both ways! Shifter assembly was covered in mobil-1 synthic assembly lube, also I'm taking into account the bushings are new so maybe things will smooth themselves out over time. GREAT WRITE UP, was followed when needed and provided what was needed. Thanks!