Cut Shifter For Better Looks
By: Antonio

Link to this page:

 

 

 

"Till KO_SI's shirt thow shifter this was pretty much the best mod you could do for shifting, and its basicly free.'"

 

 

Background:
The stock shifter in my opinion is ugly and too tall. The shifts are much longer then they should be. Unfortunaly nobody makes a short shift kit for the 3rd gen that actually shortens the throw. This is due to the overly complex shifting mechanism on the Prelude which to my knowledge it's different then all other Honda cars.

Tools needed:
Dremel w/ fiberglass cutting wheel or Hacksaw. Phillips screwdriver, wire cutters, and a couple towels.

Install:
Start by removing the center dash piece around the shifter. There are three screws on each side. Push down on the base of the shift knob to separate the knob from the boot. Unscrew the stock knob and set aside.

Now that you have everything out of the way, place towels around the shifter to keep shavings from going everywhere. I cut the shifter directly below where the threads stop, roughly 1". You can experiment with cutting more or less to fit your taste better. Also keep in mind that different shift knobs are different heights.

A lot of people ask this question. The stock shift boot has a large plastic base that clips in to the stock shift knob. Well, when you install a aftermarket shift knob the base looks out of place. Removing it is very simple, flip the boot inside out. You will see a rubber band and a zip tie. Cut both off and remove the base. That easy!

Now all that is left is reassemble the dash in reverse order.

NOTE:
The above method only works with a aftermarket shift knob that does not screw on but instead uses allen screws at the base. Also be sure to save the portion of shifter you cut off, so in the future you can weld it back on to return the car to stock form.