Hey everyone, So as most of you may know, taking the stock shift **** off an 03' z33 is a huge pain the ****ing ***After completely destroying it with vicegrips, I finally got it off. However, changing the shift **** lead to another problem... As I was twisting the **** off, the shifter thread also snapped off with the **** because of nissan's stupid idea to use locktite for a ****ing shift ****... So now, I need to buy a new short throw. Might as well go for a short shifter. Now my question is... should I buy a reputable brand short shifter that will typically go for $200+? Or will a short shifter off of ebay or amazon work just as well? Let me know what you guys think! I don't really care too much for throw reduction, but I don't want to buy the stock part from the dealer, as it is way too expensive. I'll still buy a cheaper one off of ebay, even if it only meet OEM standards.

 

I like my TWM shifter with one of their heavy *****.

I still have my factory shifter, ****, and boot if you don't want to spend the extra cash on upgrades.

 

Im not sure what happened to your oem stuff but mine was really easy. Took 2 minutes max. Id go with a used oem setup over a cheap ebay short shifter for sure.

 

^^ It’s the 2003 models that present awful resistance to removing the shift ****. Later model years are more malleable.

I agree that CNunes_95 should go with the OEM lever. The **** makes no difference.

--Spike

 

Mine is an 03 and I had no issues removing the shift ****. Maybe I was just lucky?

 

^^ Are you the original owner? In other words: Did you buy the car when it was a new car?

 

No, but it was completely original when I bought the car. I guess the previous owner could have removed the shift **** and but the **** back on without doing anything else.

 

Methinks it has been removed before he tried it.

They call me Magilla Gorilla because I overtighten everything and will just use manpower to avoid wasting time using other things to lift stuff for me.

I almost couldn't get my stock shift **** off....

 

It mightve been. I saw no sign of it being removed but it was quite easy.

 

Different 2003 owners report varying experiences removing the shift ****. I suppose it depends upon the conditions where the car is stored, the method used to secure the shift lever ****, etc.

 

Maybe... My 04 was basically welded on. Ridiculous.

 

I’m empathetic.

I destroyed my shift **** during its removal. I did manage to keep my shift-shaft intact by wrapping the shaft in a towel before applying a ViseGrip.

 

I managed to save everything and got my factory **** off by hand. (giggity)

It just wasn't an easy job.