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This is for the 350Z!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Stock Shift Knob Removal and Replacement

Removing the stock shift knob is not difficult, but certain precautions must be taken to prevent damaging both interior trim pieces and the shift mechanism of the transmission.

[edit] Materials and Tools
A medium sized flat-head screwdriver

Electrical tape

A 6" piece of radiator hose or other heavy rubber tubing.

One pair of channel-locks

One pair of vice-grips

[edit] Procedure

Incorrect method1. Wrap the tip of your screwdriver in a small piece of electrical tape to prevent it from marring the interior trim piece.

2. Insert the screwdriver tip under the boot finisher at the rear and pry up the finisher. There are several clips holding this piece on that will take a fair amount of force to pop loose.

3. Once the finisher is free of the retaining clips, disconnect the white ribbon cable for the climate control knobs. Pull on the connector, not the cable.

4. The finisher will still be attached to the shifter-shaft by the shift boot at this point. It's helpful to have a second person that can hold the finisher up while rotating the knobs, but it's not necessary.

5. Cut the radiator tubing into two 3 inch lengths and slice each one lengthwise down one side.

6. Place one piece of radiator tubing around the metal shifter-shaft underneath the finisher. Be careful not to pinch the boot or tear the white filler-pad sitting on the top of the transmission.

7. Clamp the vice-grips onto the radiator tubing covering the shifter-shaft as tightly as you can. It is important that you get this tight enough so that you can use the vice-grips to provide counter torque when twisting the knob off and the shaft doesn't turn inside the rubber tubing.

8. Take the other piece of tubing and place it around the base of the stock shift knob.

9. Place the channel-locks on the radiator tubing covering the stock shift knob and turn the knob counter-clockwise while applying counter-torque to the vice-grips. The goal is to prevent the counter-clockwise torque from being transferred into the shifter assembly, as this can damage the transmission. If the vice grips slip on the shaft, set the grip tighter. You will not hurt the shifter-shaft by doing so. The boot and finisher will turn initially until the knob is backed off a turn or two. Ensure that the boot does not twist or tear away from the ring under the shift boot.

10. Once the shifter is loose enough to turn by hand, remove the knob and the brass-ring underneath it. This ring is not needed on the new shift-knob, and if you are using a Nismo variant, the ring will actually rattle if you keep it in place because the new knob does not seat against the ring.

11. Once the stock knob is removed, clean up the threads of the shifter shaft and install the new knob onto the shaft. If the new knob came with a rubber finisher, this finisher goes above the boot to cover the metal ring that holds the boot leather in place. Most aftermarket shifters have a nylon insert that you will thread onto the shifter shaft. This might take some force the further you get it threaded onto the shaft.

12. Tighten the shift knob down so that it's tight against the boot ring (or rubber finisher, if equipped) while holding the vice-grips to prevent torque from being applied to the shifter assembly. If equipped with rubber finisher, do not tighten the knob to the point that it distorts the finishers shape. Hold the shift-boot ring in place while tightening. When complete, remove the vice-grips.

13. Re-attach the white ribbon cable for the climate controls.

14. Snap the shift-boot finisher in place.

Enjoy!

Tips for any '08 owners: (Applicable specifically to NISMO style knobs) There are several notes anyone with a later model should pay attention to while performing this task. There is a second rubber boot on the shifter shaft, underneath the paper filler. The best thing to do here, when attatching the vice grips, is to fold that boot over to expose the metal shaft. The exposed section should then be wrapped in the rubber tubing and then gripped with the vice grips. Now once the stock knob has been removed, also grab the ring that rest on the tapered portion of the shaft below the threads. The NISMO knob will not fit properly with that ring. Once it's gone, start screwing down the new one. Be careful when torqing. NISMO knobs are have plastic threads in them and will strip out if excess torque is applied. I got lucky, for when the torque was just right, the NISMO logo was facing toward the driver seat. Now, with the knob installed, you should notice that the shift boot has a little gap between its bottom seat and the knob. If you knob kit came with a rubber ring or shoe that would fill it in, more power to you. Mine did not, so I got to improvise. With the finisher panel still free, slide the boot up to the bottom of the shift knob and wrap a couple zip ties around the shifter shaft and the underside of the boot. This will get it to sit flush, and make it look a lot cleaner. Finally, stick the shift position decal on, attach the ribbon cables, clamp the finisher down, and take it out for a test drive. The drive will make sure the transmission was not damaged during the installation.

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