Installing Celica Auto Shift Knob in Camry/Solara
by Dave D » Fri Nov 21, 2003 7:20 am
First, the parts you need are as follows:
Part # 33542-20240 - Knob, Shifter
33623-20120 Button, Shifter
33624-20020 Guide, Shifter
33626-20020 Stopper, Pin
90501-08198 Spring, Compression
I bought all of the parts from Texas Toyota of Grapevine.(817) 481-0290 any dealer should do though.
I used the existing ferrule at the bottom of my Solara shifter, It looks great. I also used the existing overdrive button because I didn't want too much chrome and I wanted to keep costs down as the Celica overdrive button costs about $20.00- $30.00.I'll tell you more about fitting the existing button in a minute.
Okay, first remove the existing shifter by shifting the lever to the lowest drive position and remove both screws.
Next, gently raise the existing shifter up about 2" until the shift button pops out.
Remove the shift button and spring and set aside.
Next, on the inside of the shift button housing there is a phillips screw at the back wall of the housing. Remove that screw and then, while raising the shift knob again about 2", remove the shift button housing
just enough where you can get to the overdrive button wires.
Mark the wire on the D side of the button, the leaving about 1/2" of wire from the button, clip the wires.
Remove the entire shift knob assembly. There will be a white angled piece of plastic at the top of the depression rod inside the tubular shift lever. Unscrew it and set it aside.
Next take a tubing cutter and cut off 3" of the tubular shift lever.
Be patient as you do this. You could use a hacksaw but a tubing cutter does a much neater job.
Next, take some boltcutters, or hacksaw, and cut off 3" of the depression rod.
Then take a file or Dremel tool and round off all sharp edges of
the depression rod where you cut it.
Have the Celica shifter assembled (Spray or lube the moving parts with silicone grease or lubricant before assembley)
Make sure that the original bottom ferrule is on the tubular lever,and thread the overdrive wires into the shifter as you slide it onto the tubular shift lever. (It will be tight so you will have to work the shifter on. Lube the tubular lever a little to ease assemble.)
Make sure to slide the shift knob all the way down and tight against the bottom ferrule.
While holding the shift knob down tight, make sure that the shift button functions properly and that you can get your keys out at the park position. (I had to tweak mine a little to get the keys out.)
If every thing looks good take a small drill with a a sharp 7/64 bit and mark both shift knob holes. (I used a Dremel tool because it was small enough to angle properly.).
Remove the shift knob and complete the drilling of both holes at the correct angle. You will need to tap the new holes. I used a 6-32 thread tap. (very close to the original metric size screws)
Tap both holes the best that you can.
You will be able to get 6-32 screws 3/8" long at Lowes or any hardware store. I got a countersunk style screw with a phillips head in brass and after installation I painted the black with a paint pen. Be sure to use a small washer (1/4") to take up some of the length of the screws. If not, the screws will impinge on the depression rod and the shifter will not work correctly.
Re-install the shift knob, threading the overdrive wires in the correct position, tighten the screws and prepare your soldering iron. If you don't have one you need on.
Go ahead and carefully strip back about 1/8 " from all wires and tin them. Let me know if you don't know what that means.
I took the original button and all I had to do was take a file and file a little off of the bottom tab, (sides and bottom), to get a perfect fit.
I used a quarter sized O-Ring (experiment with the thickness size, they're cheap and I can't remember what number O-Ring I used) to trim around the button, and it looks pretty good.
When I took it in to the Toyota dealer and pointed out the shifter, the service manager flipped and called out all of the techs to take a look because it looked so good. Let me know what you think or if you have any questions.
Check out the old guy's Solara @
http://home.onemain.com/~foxcroft/index.html
Part # 33542-20240 - Knob, Shifter
33623-20120 Button, Shifter
33624-20020 Guide, Shifter
33626-20020 Stopper, Pin
90501-08198 Spring, Compression
I bought all of the parts from Texas Toyota of Grapevine.(817) 481-0290 any dealer should do though.
I used the existing ferrule at the bottom of my Solara shifter, It looks great. I also used the existing overdrive button because I didn't want too much chrome and I wanted to keep costs down as the Celica overdrive button costs about $20.00- $30.00.I'll tell you more about fitting the existing button in a minute.
Okay, first remove the existing shifter by shifting the lever to the lowest drive position and remove both screws.
Next, gently raise the existing shifter up about 2" until the shift button pops out.
Remove the shift button and spring and set aside.
Next, on the inside of the shift button housing there is a phillips screw at the back wall of the housing. Remove that screw and then, while raising the shift knob again about 2", remove the shift button housing
just enough where you can get to the overdrive button wires.
Mark the wire on the D side of the button, the leaving about 1/2" of wire from the button, clip the wires.
Remove the entire shift knob assembly. There will be a white angled piece of plastic at the top of the depression rod inside the tubular shift lever. Unscrew it and set it aside.
Next take a tubing cutter and cut off 3" of the tubular shift lever.
Be patient as you do this. You could use a hacksaw but a tubing cutter does a much neater job.
Next, take some boltcutters, or hacksaw, and cut off 3" of the depression rod.
Then take a file or Dremel tool and round off all sharp edges of
the depression rod where you cut it.
Have the Celica shifter assembled (Spray or lube the moving parts with silicone grease or lubricant before assembley)
Make sure that the original bottom ferrule is on the tubular lever,and thread the overdrive wires into the shifter as you slide it onto the tubular shift lever. (It will be tight so you will have to work the shifter on. Lube the tubular lever a little to ease assemble.)
Make sure to slide the shift knob all the way down and tight against the bottom ferrule.
While holding the shift knob down tight, make sure that the shift button functions properly and that you can get your keys out at the park position. (I had to tweak mine a little to get the keys out.)
If every thing looks good take a small drill with a a sharp 7/64 bit and mark both shift knob holes. (I used a Dremel tool because it was small enough to angle properly.).
Remove the shift knob and complete the drilling of both holes at the correct angle. You will need to tap the new holes. I used a 6-32 thread tap. (very close to the original metric size screws)
Tap both holes the best that you can.
You will be able to get 6-32 screws 3/8" long at Lowes or any hardware store. I got a countersunk style screw with a phillips head in brass and after installation I painted the black with a paint pen. Be sure to use a small washer (1/4") to take up some of the length of the screws. If not, the screws will impinge on the depression rod and the shifter will not work correctly.
Re-install the shift knob, threading the overdrive wires in the correct position, tighten the screws and prepare your soldering iron. If you don't have one you need on.
Go ahead and carefully strip back about 1/8 " from all wires and tin them. Let me know if you don't know what that means.
I took the original button and all I had to do was take a file and file a little off of the bottom tab, (sides and bottom), to get a perfect fit.
I used a quarter sized O-Ring (experiment with the thickness size, they're cheap and I can't remember what number O-Ring I used) to trim around the button, and it looks pretty good.
When I took it in to the Toyota dealer and pointed out the shifter, the service manager flipped and called out all of the techs to take a look because it looked so good. Let me know what you think or if you have any questions.
Check out the old guy's Solara @
http://home.onemain.com/~foxcroft/index.html
Dave D
- Dave D
- Just Licensed SolaraGuy
- Posts: 24
- Joined: Fri Dec 27, 2002 8:08 am
- Location: West Frankfort IL
