Is the heat shield under the shifter on a 98 really necessary? I have a PS adjustable throw shifter that I can't set to the shortest throw unless I cut or remove the heat shield. Removing is way easier than cutting if I can get away with it. Any suggestions?

I removed mine. Only change was once in a while I would notice my shift knob getting warm. Far from hot just like a heated seat. :)

I don't have mine in either, it does get warm, but in Tx, everything gets hot so no big deal :)

Thanks. That thing is as good as gone as soon as I can break those damn cat bolts loose.

i have a question im in the process of actually putting in a ps short shifter in my 97200sx se-r and my q's? do you have to actually take the cat out of the way to put on the shifter........

did have time to put it on today we just got finish working with the air/fuel ratio from cyberdyne......it works fine now i know my car is running really rich on full throtle....any suggestion on how to get the fuel/air ratio back to a normal response...?

Why dont you pound it flat so you have more room. If you beat it with a hammer on the top, you can dent it enough to still use it and have the lowest setting on the pacesetter shifter

Yes, you do need to un-bolt the front of the cat so that it drops out of the way. This gives you access to the heat shield that needs to be removed to expose the bottom of the shifter.

BTW, I rounded one of the nuts that bolt to the cat today. Anyone have any suggestions for getting it off? I have a HS header and Greddy SP I would like to have on my car right now. F!!!:mad:

Originally posted by spudnex
BTW, I rounded one of the nuts that bolt to the cat today. Anyone have any suggestions for getting it off? I have a HS header and Greddy SP I would like to have on my car right now. F!!!:mad:

can you get a vice grip around it? maybe that'll work. i've used a file a couple of times on nuts from a 72 VW.


in response to the heat shield question: i placed two nuts on each bolt between the shield and the underbody. this gave me enough space, and keeps the heat out. :)

Originally posted by spudnex
Thanks. That thing is as good as gone as soon as I can break those damn cat bolts loose. I don't think you need to drop the cat to get the heatshield out. If you aren't putting it back, the metal bends real easy. Note: If you are in the process of installing the shifter or adjusting it, you do have to unbolt the cat.

This may sound odd but I did NOT have to unbolt the cat to put my shifter in. I just removed the one piece of heat-shield to get to it and then reinstalled it. Wasn't too bad but was a lengthy process, not a 10 minute job at all! :rolleyes:

I didn't unbolt the cat either. Just remove the hangars (the b-pipe hangar too) and there should be enough room to work.

I also put some spacers around the bolts between the heatshield and the car to lower the heatshield away from the shifter.

Well, I just removed the whole heat shield. I guess I'll find out soon enough if I shouldn't have. So far I noticed the shift boot (??) got warm while I was warming the car up in the garage after I finished putting my headers in ( that's another question I have). Right now it looks like there are several solutions to this original issue. You can bend, remove, or install spacers. Thanks for the help.

I'm wondering, with the heat shields removed, is it possible for water to get into the shifter?

I didn't have to remove my cat to install my shifter either. If you take the heat sheild out and pound on it pretty good (I stepped on mine) you should get more than enough clearance for all settings but the most useless extreme ones. I wouldn't take the heat sheild out permanently, though, that wxhausr gets pretty hot and some of your shifter parts are or the plastic and rubber variety.

Originally posted by JRios
I'm wondering, with the heat shields removed, is it possible for water to get into the shifter?
no, heat shield not water gasket :)