MGW Mach 1 shifter install suggestions (lessons learned)

[mcky2011]

First, I found this thread while taking a lunch break and ChipG did a great job documenting his install.

This is the link to the MGW product page with youboob videos. The install video is very useful unless you have done this install before.

Between the two references above I am not going to rehash anything covered there, just points that could be missed and suggestions.

You will need a lot of room under the car, if you don't have that you will have issues. I used a QuickJack and at times I was still wishing I had more room. Being able to stand under the car would have made this way easier.

MGW doesn't mention it, but sort of implies it, you have to loosen up the exhaust to gain enough drop on the transmission to extract the 10mm bolt holding the shifter arm to the top of the transmission. I loosened the clamps on the resonator (15mm stock M1), that gave just enough clearance to get to the top bolt. I used a transmission jack to raise and lower the transmission.

I am still not a fan of stressing the exhaust system this way, (and most likely the driveshaft) but short term, it probably has no ill effects.

If you are planning on removing the resonator at some point this would be a good time to install the shifter.

With enough drop on the transmission you can easily install the shifter assembled, they option to attach the pin bracket after install. The bolts are tight and there is thread locker on them (you can see in the the photo below). Install this first. Then work the entire assembly through the hole, it fits, no issue, if you do it as George does. (Timestamp 14:19 in the MGW video)

The next point is the linkage and pin bracket install.

Make the linkage connection first.

Then make sure the transmission is in neutral. It is a huge pain in the ass to have to get the transmission in neutral after the pin bracket is attached to the car.

Then install the pin bracket. I did install the optional rubber insulator as well. It is a bit of a pain, which is probably why the factory had the clip installed to hold the bracket up for the hardware to come later.

Installing the support bridge is way easier with the right arm off, as George mentions in the video it depends on how much you want to dick around with getting fractional turns on the 10mm bolt. You can get a compact ratchet in there if you have one.

After you have the support bridge installed and the 10mm bolt fully tightened, you have to raise the transmission back up to be able to align the bolts in the shifter housing. They will not line up without raising the transmission.

You don't have to raise it all the way up, but it does need to go up enough to get some movement on the pin bracket. I still had about an inch and a half of space between the transmission mount and the frame.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Shifter boot install.

This suggestion is a bit out of sequence, but I wanted to throw this out there as a gamble that may well be worth taking.

There have been reported issues with the 1-2 shift / reverse lock out adjustment. The procedure is in the install video (29:52) as well a separate video on the product page so that tells you how much MGW wants this point stressed.

George also states that they set this when they build the shifter, but there are obvious variances in transmissions that would require you to make this adjustment on the car after the installation is complete.

I did the adjustment after the install was complete and it was properly set (for my car, maybe not for yours) from MGW.

So here is the gamble that is worth taking.

Before putting the shifter in the car, put the boot on it. It will save you a lot of hassle in the end. Worst case you need to do the adjustment and pull the boot, best case you avoided the hassle of installing the boot after the shifter is installed.

I have been installing things similar to this for the better part of the last 40 years and the boot was not easy to install. If you do it wrong it will not seal properly and you can get wind noise in the car and road funk up in the works.

If you do it with the shifter installed, get one corner of the boot under the lip on the reverse lock out side of the shifter, then the other corner. Make sure it is in the slot before trying to go further. I was able to slide the rest of the boot into the slot from outside of the boot moving left to right on the bottom, then repeated the same along the top.

Trying to get this done from inside the boot with my huge fingers was not working at all. If you do this slowly and meticulously it works great, don't get in a hurry or man handle it because you are worn out because you can rip the boot.

It is like anything else mechanical, if it isn't going easy, STOP.

I hope some of this helps someone out in the future.

~Matt

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[f00man]

Nice write-up, and thanks for sharing.

I think I'm in the minority when it comes to S550 shifters, the trouble of installing an aftermarket shifter vs. benefits, just doesn't provide enough ROI for me to do it. I remember doing this for my old 01' GT a few years back, and it was a breeze. Maybe I'm just getting older.

 

[mcky2011]

Nice write-up, and thanks for sharing.

I think I'm in the minority when it comes to S550 shifters, the trouble of installing an aftermarket shifter vs. benefits, just doesn't provide enough ROI for me to do it. I remember doing this for my old 01' GT a few years back, and it was a breeze. Maybe I'm just getting older.

I have pretty much always been in the ROI camp when it comes to "upgrade" car parts, headers, exhaust, etc. as I have never be the one to try to extract another 11 HP by spending $700. I drove my 2015 for almost 70k with the stock shifter and never had an issue out of it or the MT-82.

A Shelby friend of mine always wanted me to put in the MGW in that car, so of course he started with the same conversation when he found out I was getting the M1.

For all the work it took, (which I actually still enjoy) to me the ROI is definitely there.

The shifts are short, precise and smooth, I can't compare it to the factory shifter because it is simply such a different experience. In my opinion the MGW shifter makes a car that is very enjoyable to drive even more so.

 

[JOKER M1]

Well I may still install mine after reading this. Would be my second MGW, bought the Gen 2 7 months before my car arrived because I was such a believer. Did my first one when I had the trans out so much easier, not looking forward to this one but I know the reward will be worth the effort

 

[PAD350R]

Excellent write up, I wish I had read it before installing mine. All are excellent points and tips. I will second the “install via a lift” as the most important tip/suggestion. I also used quick jacks and also wished I had found a friend with a lift. It was an ass ache without the extra room and ability to stand under the car and reach up/on top of the trans.

 

[murick]

If you do it with the shifter installed, get one corner of the boot under the lip on the reverse lock out side of the shifter, then the other corner. Make sure it is in the slot before trying to go further. I was able to slide the rest of the boot into the slot from outside of the boot moving left to right on the bottom, then repeated the same along the top.

I tried using the top hole exclusively for fingers, but then the rubber got stuck on the stick stub, and was pulled up.

Then I tried putting the top sleeve over the stub and poke the fingers around, which seemed to work better, but could not get around the nut at 3 clock.

In both cases, I was starting at 9 clock at the reverse latch, and then working my way counterclockwise, using only fingers.

Was considering prestretching the holes, or heating the rubber, but have not tried any of this so far.

Any tip will be appreciated.

 

[mcky2011]

I tried using the top hole exclusively for fingers, but then the rubber got stuck on the stick stub, and was pulled up.

Then I tried putting the top sleeve over the stub and poke the fingers around, which seemed to work better, but could not get around the nut at 3 clock.

In both cases, I was starting at 9 clock at the reverse latch, and then working my way counterclockwise, using only fingers.

Was considering prestretching the holes, or heating the rubber, but have not tried any of this so far.

Any tip will be appreciated.

You have to get the lip of the boot in the groove or it will not fit properly.

Start at 9 o'clock around both sides of the reverse lock out, then work counter clockwise to the opposite corner. Then clockwise to the other corner.

When the lip is in the groove the boot will go on easily. If it seems tight it is not in the groove.

 

[murick]

You have to get the lip of the boot in the groove or it will not fit properly.

Eventually I had to ask a friend for help, who took another approach by starting from two right corners (top and bottom of the nut side) and simultaneously proceeding to the other side, which to my surprise worked. Cannot say I will be able to replicate it though.

 

[Prodigal]

Love my MGW shifter in my M1. It was installed while on a lift with the exhaust and driveshaft out of the car so it was much simplified.

 

[mcky2011]

Eventually I had to ask a friend for help, who took another approach by starting from two right corners (top and bottom of the nut side) and simultaneously proceeding to the other side, which to my surprise worked. Cannot say I will be able to replicate it though.

Glad to hear it worked out for you.

 

[murick]

Yesterday, I finished my first (and hopefully last) MGW Shifter installation on my Mach 1. I am not afraid to take things apart and then put them back together - usually to fix them. I did it on computers, home appliances, bicycles, tools, etc., but so far not on cars. So even I kind of understood that the difficulty of the shifter install is a bit higher than the 45 minute video might suggest, I definitely was not prepared for what I got.

From the general point of view, I might say that basically any part of the assembly was a challenge in some way, because even that I knew, what to do, most of the time, I was not sure how to do it, or more precisely, how to do it with my tools, equipment, and working setup.

I do not want to argue with the other opinion that the lift is better, but would just say that working on my back, while having the head and arms in kind of natural (and supported) position was definitely a plus for me. I would probably not manage looking up or keeping the arms and tools above my head for the same amount of time. The only pain was getting below the car and moving around there.

I used jack stands and while having the jacking rails on my car (Steeda full length low profile) I decided to put the jack stands on the "jack stand points" which were the subframe in front and the marked pinch weld further back. It made getting below the car easier.

1) Panel removal - managed to drop 3 clips from the console and then spent maybe 15 minutes looking for them. Always check you have all clips on all panels.

2) OEM shifter removal - no loctite on the ball thread. I removed the lock pin without removing the rubber sleeve and the gasket. Just pulled it off with the spring later.

In the video there is a removal of two latches, both related to the linkage arm, but you only need to remove the one, which connects the linkage arm to the lever, because you will eventually remove the linkage arm as one piece.

3) Lowering the transmission
On stock Mach 1, I had to loosen the exhaust brackets before the resonator to give the pipes a bit of leeway to be able to lower the transmission.

The other thing I was not sure about was if I should loosen the nuts in the center of the gearbox bracket. I did, as it was kind of implied in the video, but in retrospect, I am not sure why as they seem to hold in place some kind of support for the transmission body which seemed to be flexible enough even without loosing the nuts. Would not do it again.

I wondered though, how lowering the trans could affect the driveshaft (or the front connection to the clutch), because it seemed that everything pivoted around the central driveshaft bracket/bearing, and I had no idea how it looked on the clutch side.

4) OEM shifter removal (part 2)
It was easier for me to get to the linkage pin bolt and the top bolt from above, so I worked through the hole in the central tunnel rather than from below.

5) Getting the shifter main body in
The video suggested to either put the rear pin bracket on outside of the car, or inside of the car. I decided to do a dry run, mounted the bracket and then tried to slide it in.

Since screwing the bracket onto the body was not smooth at all, and I imagined it would be even less smooth while already in the tunnel and since putting the shifter body with the bracket was actually relatively easy, I decided to screw the bracket on in advance. Definitely suggest to anyone in doubt to try this like that. It is far easier to screw it on outside, not to speak about potentially putting also loctite on it.

Connecting the linkage arm with the pin bolt was not that bad actually was struggle with starting the thread. Tightening can be done through the hole in the tunnel as well with short wrench.

6) Attaching the front bridge to the transmission
What turned out to be a minor hiccup was aligning the holes in the transmission bracket and the front arm for the top bolt. The front arm needed a bit of pushing to get into place and it was basically impossible to visually verify. I was lucky because I had an endoscope camera at my disposal and its owner, who could navigate me.

Before screwing the front bolt in, and after few tests, I decided to completely remove the right bridge arm which was a relatively cheap procedure and greatly helped with the top bolt. With this setup I was able to access the top bolt from above through the tunnel hole, which gave me a wider swing than what I would get from below. This is a long bolt...

Even though the bolt was originally not loctited I decided to give it some loctite love anyway.

7) Attaching the front bridge to the shifter body
I followed the suggestion from the video to screw all bolts in while leaving 4-5 mm of each thread exposed, then using a thin brush for painting the exposed area with loctite.

8) Raising the transmission
The video suggests that you should "neutralize" the trans by catching it onto the bracket and then releasing the supporting jack and then bolt it on. I wonder if it actually work this way. I could imagine that if I could somehow support the trans by something on which it could slide, it might self-center this way, but whether it sits on the bracket or on the jack, if it is already off, it will remain off, no matter on what it will sit. The trans cannot slide from one side to the other over the bracket, or over the jack.

There is an optional rubber gasket in the shifter package which may go between the rear bracket and the frame. I decided to not use it as I reasoned that the dampening is already provided by the thick rubber sleeves in the bracket and the bracket itself should be fixed to the frame without an additional dampener.

When raising the transmission the video says you should wiggle the rear bracket over the studs to make sure there is no binding, I am not sure it can ever bind as the rear bracket literally is sliding over the rear pins so it should self adjust as needed in any position.

Finally I put some loctite on the rear studs (which hold the rear bracket) and the second nut with the nylon insert. Not sure if it was really necessary though.

9) Rubber boot
What I envisioned as just a "final touch" turned into a nightmare. Getting the rubber boot over the groove on the shifter body seemed like an impossible task.

When trying to use the top hole for the fingers, it turned out that the rubber got pushed up/out by the stick torso.

When trying to put the torso into the hole and slide the fingers around it was difficult to do anything sound.

After several failed attempts using different strategies, starting from the left side (at the reverse lockout), either at both corners at once, or going from the bottom corner counter clockwise, I was becoming desperate and got only saved by @Esset who tried it the opposite way, starting on the right side with both corners simultaneously and then proceeding to the left side (on top and bottom at the same time) which finally did it.

The rest was easy. The estimated total time spent on it was 15 hours (4 hours one day, 11 hours next) while the biggest challenges being the attaching of the front arm, the bridge to the body, and the rubber boot.

A great thank for the help and support both moral and material has to go to @Esset who not only let me use his shop for the install, but saved me few times as well.

 

[mattlqx]

More than a little dejected today after spending 7 hours on this. I've been stuck on the boot for about 2 hours now. My hands are pretty sore and that boot is no closer. At first, I tried hand soap to lube, but that dried right up. Then I tried tire shine and that made it slippery but to a fault, any progress on one side will just slip right out when trying to work around it.

I'll try tomorrow to attack it from the right side rather than the left, but I'm definitely in that "it's impossible" state of mind.

 

[mcky2011]

I'm not sure you can get that from the right side without tearing it.

If the beaded part of the boot is not in the slot on the shifter it will never fit correctly.

If you can't get it to go it, may be worthwhile to drop the shifter and install the boot, then reinstall.

More than a little dejected today after spending 7 hours on this. I've been stuck on the boot for about 2 hours now. My hands are pretty sore and that boot is no closer. At first, I tried hand soap to lube, but that dried right up. Then I tried tire shine and that made it slippery but to a fault, any progress on one side will just slip right out when trying to work around it.

I'll try tomorrow to attack it from the right side rather than the left, but I'm definitely in that "it's impossible" state of mind.

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