,
 |
| Reverse your steps and place the rubber shifter boots back over the shift lever in the order you removed them. |
 |
| Tighten down the shift boot bracket to secure the largest rubber boot. |
 |  |
 |  |
Tighten down the leather shifter boot to the bottom of the shifter cover. Reinstall all interior panels and screws removed earlier during the shifter's installation. Plug the connectors back into the shifter cover buttons and firmly push the cover back into place.
 |
| Now to solve the issue of the destroyed factory knob, I made a call to Scott Vanderheide of NissanRaceShop.com over at Fontana Nissan. He had these sleek JDM Nismo shift knobs in stock and for a solid price. I ordered one up, and next day UPS ground had it delivered to my door allowing me to complete my install. |
Shifter throw is claimed to be reduced by 33% and feel is supposed to be significantly improved. After the install, gear selection precision was significantly improved and throw distance was noticeably shortened. Shift effort was higher, but nothing a performance enthusiast would complain about. Shift feel is similar to high torque/large displacement V8 transmissions, like the T56 in many modern American muscle cars. Confidence inspiring to most racers, but maybe not the most comfortable for non motorsports enthusiasts and people who do not drive manual regularly. We did encounter an issue that could not go unnoticed. At about 5000rpm an intolerable vibration rears its ugly head through the shifter. Not only can this be felt through the knob, but also audibly which was a huge red flag.
After some investigation and forum research, the likely culprit is the fact that the B&M shifter base is constructed from aluminum (as opposed to the stock shifter's plastic base). We believe that the metal shifter cup and the B&M base are vibrating against each other due to the natural resonance of the motor. This vibration was felt since I bought the car, but the stock shifter's plastic base kept it from being anything more then a minor vibration that could only be felt at a miniscule level and never audibly. We tried some tricks that were supposed to help with this issue found on forums by other owners. One of which involved layers of electrical tape around the outside of the shifter base to provide some damping between the shifter cup and the aluminum base. As well as foam tape underneath the shifter plate. None of these methods provided the same level of low NVH through the shifter as the stock plastic base design. In a dedicated track car, or race car such an issue would go either unnoticed or ignored. But in my 370 which I use for daily commuting, this was extremely aggravating. We are continuing to investigate ways to reduce the NVH issues related to the new shifter and will report back with our results, so stay tuned…
Sources
B&M Racing and Performance Products
Want more Project 370Z? MotoIQ Project Nissan 370Z
