Quick procedure

1. Raise and support the vehicle.
2. Remove the heat shield front (RH) bolt.
3. Remove the heat shield middle (RH) bolt.
4. Remove the heat shield rear (LH) bolt.
5. Remove the heat shield rear bolt.
6. Remove the transmission gearshift rod-to-shift lever nut.
7. Remove the transmission gearshift lever clamp (7K104) bolt and the transmission gearshift rod and clevis (7B140).
8. Remove the floor console.
9. Pry out the transmission gearshift lever support shaft spring (7227) and remove the gearshift lever (7210).

To install, reverse the removal procedure.

Thorough walk through

Estimated time ranges from20 minutes-35 minutes (depends how quickly you can jack your car up and take out the console.)

1. Under the car you have to remove the bolt that holds the shifter to the linkage rod. be sure to hold onto that as well as the bushings, most shifter don't come with a replacement for these. if you have the nice urethane bushings then you can forget the old bushings. but keep the bolt anyway.
2. Inside the car now you need to remove the center console. There are 6 screws holding it in place. Screws 1 and 2 are located at the front of the console closest to your gas pedal, and directly opposite on the passenger side. Screws 3 and 4 are directly next to the reccession where the e-brake sits when not engaged. Screws 5 and 6 can be seen after moving the seat all the way back and leaning left and leaning it back, you should be able to see a screw that is near the slot where your seat belt protrudes if you have the automatic ones.
3. Once these screws are removed unscrew the shift knob, this may take some strength depending on how tightly it was screwed down in case of any other trans work or for whatever reason it was removed.
4. Take off the rubber dust boot that may or may not be around the base of the shifter. once this is removed you may want to remove all the dirty grease that is around it, by wiping it with a towel.
5. Somewhere in that grease is a retaining spring/clip, this has two spots where the spring has a flattened coil on either side, these are squeezed inward towards the shifter to contract the spring release the shifter. It may take a second set of hands to pull the spring up while you are squeezing it.
6. Remove the shifter. This will require a lot of strength and may require assistance. You may want to go back under the car and have someone hold it steady while you tap it a bit with some sort of blunt object.
7. When the shifter actually gets moving it should come out pretty smoothly. Once it is removed take some cleaner and spiffy the gaping hole up a bit. now that you are ready to install you need to lube up the shifter with the grease that should have been supplied. In the B&M shifter the housing is aluminum and has o-rings installed, so be sure to lubricate the o-rings as much as possible. If you have the TSW or Pacesetter shifters, recycling the plastic housing may be required, so be sure to remove those from the stock piece.
8. Once everything is lubed up and ready to go start by lining everything up properly (the shifter should bend towards the rear of the car) and begin cramming it back into the hole that it came from.
9. Reinstall the spring clip, one it clicks into place, go back beneath the car and bolt the shifter back up to the rod. This is a good time to replace the bushings or install new polyurethane ones.
10. Replace the entire center console by screwing it back in, starting from the rear this time.
11. Install your new shift knob or the stock one if it is threaded to fit the new shifter.

Also see

• Shift knob & boot installation
• Ford Escort & ZX2 section for the entire index of all Ford Escort and ZX2 related articles.