[Crazjtk]

I lost the use of my transmission the other day. In 6th gear. I feathered it home, opened the hood, and saw that one of the cables had hopped off its pivot. Considering how hard of a time I've been having with reverse, and how common the problem is, I sprung for completely new shifter cables. They arrived in the mail Thursday, and I have the console out, but I can't reach the bolts to remove the cable to save my life. What can I do to make that long reach easier? I've cut the carpet out, tried my best with the sound deadening, and pulled the plastic tubing out that goes to the rear vents. The only thing in there I haven't removed is the air distribution box. Any tips on getting that out, or working around it?

Any help would be appreciated, it just got nice out and I can't get my SVT fix...

 

[NJSVTGUY]

Once you get everything out of the way a ratcheting combo wrench and patience are your best friends.

 

[RevLimit]

Removal:
From the drivers side, you've got to remove the right-side kick panel. Then you will find a large black ventilation box. Remove the three? bolts and wiggle and remove the lower portion of the box.

This will give you access to the two shifter cable bolts that are against the floor/firewall. You might also need to make some cuts in the carpet to gain access to the two bolts which I think were 8/9 or 10mm.

Be sure to also detach the cables from the transmission, and the cable guide clamps that are between the exhaust and firewall. It's best to do this from underneath the car. Then remove the cables by pulling them from within the car cabin.

Installation
Before you feed your new cables through, wrap the cylinder shaped plastic spring loaded bracket clamps in electrical tape to prevent damaging them when you are feeding the cables through the firewall. I nearly broke the plastic cable clamps when I was feeding them through the firewall port.

Like NJSVTGUY said, remember to take your time and be careful. You will probably also need a buddy who is familiar with how a manual transmission feels to help you adjust the cables after installing.

 

[Crazjtk]

Thanks for the help, guys! Got the old cables out and the new ones (mostly) installed last night.
Now to go browse the forums on how to get them hooked up and feeling correct.

 

[RevLimit]

It should be fairly straight forward. Feed the cables through the firewall.

Then feed the cable ends to the transmission cable bracket and slide the cylinder shaped clamps onto the bracket, which at the same time will slide out the yellow retainer clip that's shipped with the cables.

Once you wiggled the clamps into place, tighten them by hand onto the bracket. Then using your hands, press the cable ends back onto the shift level knobs by pressing on the center of the cables ends. They will snap into place easily if you press on the right place.

Go back into the car and tighten the two bolts to hold the shifter cable plate aginst the firewall, then get underneath the car and snap the shifter cables back into the cable claps that's above the exhaust. If you forget this your cables might get too close to the exhaust and melt.

Go into your car and snap on the other cable ends to your shifter.

You will then need a buddy to help you adjust the shifter cables from the engine bay by pressing the adjustment clip out, moving the shifter a tab bit, and pushing the adjustment clip back into place. The adjustment clip is an orange tab that's at the cable ends that attached the to transmission.

You've got to tinker with it until your able to move throughout all of the gears.