I figure I'd make a detailed thread on 2 popular shift **** adapters. I made a trip to a local Home Depot and purchased the cheaper alternative, which is quite popular, and bought the $1.97 rubber plumbing shank.

At the same time, I had the Zeetoys stainless steel finisher shipped to me and recieved it on Friday.

Prior to ordering the stainless steel finisher, I contacted Terry @ Zeetoys and discussed the fittment when using the ARC shift ball. He never had an order for a finisher to be used in conjuction with the ARC shift ball, so this would be the 1st attempt at it.

After a couple hours of trial and error, I was able to complete both installs. One using the rubber shank and the other with the stainless steel finisher.

 

Here are a few detailed pictures of the Stainless Steel finisher from Zeetoys. I tired to get all angles as best possible....

 

I took a few measurements of the inner diameters of the finisher and also made a weight comparison so you guys could have an idea of how much it weighs. For those that need some additional weight added to your shifter, this offers the extra edge you may need.

The object I found that was closest to weight was a small Craftsman ratchet.

 

I also snapped a few comparison pictures of the 2 different finishers. They are almost the same size. The rubber shank does have a larger bottom base as well as larger inner diameter...

 

1st I installed the rubber shank. It was alittle trial and error getting the correct height, but nothing too difficult. As you can see, I ended up using a zip tie to hold the shift boot in place at the correct height. In order to get the zip tie tightened enough, I used a pair of needle nose pliars to make sure it was fastened down real tight.

In the last pic you'll notice the inner shank diameter is large enough to go around the zip tie...

 

Here are a few pics after the ARC ball is screwed on....

 

Next came the Zeetoys stainless steel finisher installation. I thought I was going to easily slip it over top of the zip tied boot, but this proved difficult. As you can see, the inner diameter of the finisher is not large enough to circumference the zip tie.

Back to the drawing board...

 

I had to figure out a way to get the shift boot to stay up on the shifting stick without using a zip tie. Before I removed the zip tie, I maked the top of the shift boot with a black sharpie marker.

Since this height worked fine with the rubber shank I figured it would also work fine with the stainless steel finisher since the two are almost the same height.

The yellow arrow indicates where I marked it off...

 

I started brainstorming simple solutions. I thought about using a zip tie on the back side of the shift boot to hold it up, but you can't fit a zip tie underneath the boot.

I finally decided to cut thin strips of 3M duct tape and just keep wrapping it around the shifter stick until it built up a make-shift barrier to stop the boot from falling.

This was also a trial and error process. After you place the duct tape on, you have to slip the boot over the shift stick to see if it sits at the marked line. If not, you can use a box cutter to neatly trim off some tape...

 

After enough trimming was done, the boot settled on top of the duct taped barrier to the correct height. I then placed a small strip of tape where the zip tie used to be.

The 2 pics below are the final height of the trimmed out duct taped barrier and what the finisher looks like sitting on top without the ARC ball installed yet....

 

also, if you do use a ziptie underneath, the locking mechanism will stick the shift boot out where it lies, creating a little bump which looks bad.

you can also use a rubber band to the same effect.

 

Finally the installation is done. This is what it looks like complete. I must say I'm quite impressed at the fittment and quality of the Zeetoys Stainless Steel Finisher. It's well worth the money IMO. I figure if we enthusiast are willing to shell out $50+ on a new shift ****, why go cheap on the finisher.

 

At first I thought it was a joke. A couple hours later? I think I changed my shiftknob/finisher in the time it takes to smoke 1/2 a cigarrette. Anyways nice clean post here.

 

please post a price for the Zeetoys shift **** finisher. I thought it was $20 bucks?


I admit, with the ball **** it needs the narrower inner diameter hole of the Zeetoys piece, but to still have to rig up the boot is inexcusable for such an expensive part.

 

Any change in the way it feels to shift compared to the rubber one? Great write up!

 

ok mr 172 posts, take note that he installed more than one ****, took multiple pictures and was probably not in a hurry.

beware the man named Vo if yee be a noob.

 

Overachiever...

 

+1

 

That is ballin! I love the way the ARC **** sits with the SS finisher much better. It also appears that the SS finisher makes a better more luxurious look to the interior as oppose to the rubber one.

 

$12.00 plus shipping.

+1 on the narrow inner diameter. The ARC ball mates perfect with it.