Well, I know theres been a million threads on this already but I just figured I would show you guys how mine turned out. All I have left is to rewire the 4th gen mirror switch I have and mount my window switches.

Whatcha think?

 

I love it...the '98-'02 consoles look awesome, much much better than stock.

I see you used the auto console...I have heard this is much harder than using a 6 speed unit, which is what I used. I have heard that for the shifter stalk to be located in the right position to fit the console, you have to modify the shifter, hammer down certain portions of the trans tunnel etc.

If you could post the details of your install of the auto console, and any pics that you might have taken, I am sure that myself and others would appreciate it.

BTW, what are you going to use for window and mirror switches, and where are you going to mount them?

 

looks great...good work....

 

Well, I have a 4th gen mirror switch that I need to wire up and put there where that open hole is in this plate I'm making for it. The window switches will be mounted in another plate in the ashtray area. Keeps it clean looking by not putting the switches anywhere else I think.

Let me tell you a little bit about the Auto shifter plate... Had I known it would be so hard, I would have went with a 6 speed one... I drove around all this week without any shifter plate trying to figure out how I was gonna do this. I finally realized there was no way around it and I had to modify the shifter mounts and move stuff...

Here is a quick little writeup on the process for using the Auto shifter plate...

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First things first. The auto shifters MUST be moved back as far as your TV cable will allow it to. It MUST be moved to the drivers side about 1/2 an inch, and it MUST be moved down about 2 inches... There is no way around it if you plan on using the auto shift plate in the console... Trust me, I tried everything I could to get around it...

First you need to tear out your old console and unbolt your shifter assembly from the shifter plate mount. See that teal piece of metal laying on my passenger floor? That was the old shifter plate mount. I drilled out all 8 rivits that hold it to the tranny tunnel and then used the dye grinder and cut it off from the mount that holds the airbag module in place. Which, by the way, can take one hell of a beating without going off. I accidently hit it once with the hammer and it didn't set off the airbags. lol

Anyways, once you have the mount removed then you will need a big hammer. I took a flat piece of steel and used it to keep the tranny tunnel flat for remounting the shifter assembly while I was smashing it down. Now here is a concern that most people might have. How do I not go too far that it hits the tranny tail. Don't worry about it, if you hit your tranny tail then you've gone waaaay too far. Theres a good 3 inches between the tranny tunnel and the tranny tail. This is the part that involves a lot of test fitting. Beat down the tranny tunnel from where your TV cable comes in, clear back to in front of the airbag module. I knocked mine down about an inch or so.

Remember, we removed the shifter plate mount so that dropped off about an inch of height right there. So get the tranny tunnel down about another inch and then put your console back in without the auto shift plate in it first.

Next you will need to remount your shifter... This is how I got all the slack out of my TV cable to make it reach... I picked it up and pulled straight back and up at about a 45 degre angle and pulled all the slack through... Another thing that you can do to help. Take the dye grinder and take a little bit of that black cusion away and some of the bottom of the hole the TV cable comes through. I also slotted the mounting hole slots a little further towards the front of the shifter...

After your done with all that and have the shifter about where it should be, you need to drill a small hole through the tranny tunnel. Don't worry about the bolts, they will self tap the rest of the metal out of there. Be sure to drill your holes where you have enough room to use the slots to your advantage for fine adjustments of the shifter assembly.

Before you test fit the auto shifter plate there is one more modification you need to do... The shifter assembly MUST be trimmed for it to fit the auto shift plate... Remove the U clip from your shift **** and pull the **** off. You will see a white extension within the hollow part of the shifter. Leave it there so you can move your shifter while you do your trimming. Ok, turn the key on and pull the shifter back into somewhere around 1st or 2nd gear... Now that its out of the way, you need to trim the Park stopper a little. You will notice its kind of a thick piece so you can trim off the front half of it like an upside down V with your dye grinder so that you still retain the stopper and most of its strength.

Now give it a little test and make sure your Park stopper still works good. Now, you will need to trim up around the base of the shifter shaft. See where its welded around and where it actually hits against the Park stopper? just to the left of that needs to be trimmed back about 3/8th's of an inch clear across and you can fade it into that angled part. This is just so that this piece will clear the white underside of the auto shift plate for your gear selector. I also shaved a tad off the tip of the white piece on the auto shift plate just so I was sure it would clear but you might not have to.

The key here is to just keep trimming and test fitting as you go. Some might have to take off more material than I did, others, less possibly. Each car will be different as all our tranny tunnels will not be beaten down the same amount.

When you go to put the auto shift plate on, I found it easier to pull the shifter back into 2nd gear and slid the plate down over it from an angle and then tip it into place. Once you start doing it you'll understand what I mean.

Thats pretty much the whole process, short of a few refits and pictures...
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Sorry I didn't take any while I was doing it. When I take the shift plate off again to do my mirror and window switches I'll be sure to take a few pictures for you guys.

 

Sheesh...I am more glad than ever that I used the 6 speed console then. Too much work for me to make the auto work, especially since I don't mind the 6 speed appearance. I do think yours looks awesome, though.

I also mounted a 4th gen mirror switch in that compartment up front (where the TCS switch goes on a 4th gen). I didn't even make a plate, it just wedged in there perfectly. Let me know if you need help with the wiring, I believe I wrote down the connections somewhere.

What window switches are you using? I went with ones from a Ford Contour. The are smaller, good looking, take very little movement to work, and have a cool green LED in the center so they are visible at night. I also mounted them on a plate in the ashtray, as you intend to do.

 

Yeah, if you still have the wiring connections for the 4th gen mirror switch I sure could use em.

I was just gonna use my stock window switches for now. Unless the Countor ones wire up easy and look better? Got any pictures of yours anywhere?

 

Check this thread...there are pics in there of the switches. I intend at some point to make a mounting plate for them out of plastic, but the wodden plate painted black looks ok for now.

The wiring for them was not bad. I believe I have it written down for the switches and for the mirror. I will check, and get back to you.

 

Ok, cool... Oh and what thread are you talking about? There was no link anywhere. lol

 

looks good, but sounds like it was lot of work but I bet it was worth it the 4th gen 6 spd consoles never look right with the auto shifter ,yours looks great, and is much better than other I have seen

 

Thank you.

Now all I need to do is swap out my steering wheel for an older one and fix my door panels... I tried to paint them when I was younger and it was a bad idea... I think I might try recovering them with a tan/black mix.

 

D'oh! Sorry I forgot the link:

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/body...n+console+swap

 

Ahhh nice... Yeah, I definetly am glad I went ahead and did the auto shift plate instead. I'm not sure why but I like it better.

 

Oh, hey, I agree with you, it does look better. An auto shifter is not supposed to be sticking out of a 6 speed boot. I'm just not ineterested in doing that much work for appearance's sake on a driver! lol