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For those of you who are tempted to show your neighbor who is who at a street light, will discover sooner or later that the stock shifter will let you down at a strategic shift from 1st to 2nd or from 2nd to 3rd.  There are a couple of reason for this but the 2 main reason is the attempt to isolate any engine noise from the interior of the car, and the cost of fabrication.  A reasonable upgrade to solve this dilemma is to upgrade the stock shifter to an aftermarket shifter.  These are usually a billet fabrication which by nature means a much more accurate machining process.  

The installation in our subject car, a 2002 GT, will be identical for most applications.  First thing to do is to remove the shifter knob that is presently installed.  Remember, lefty loosey!   Now you need to access the shifter itself.  The plastic console cover is held in place with spring clips and to remove you only grasp each side near where the drivers knee might rest and the passenger knee might rest.  Pull the panel straight out at about a 45 degree angle.

Once the panel has been pulled loose, there is an electrical connection to the lighter on certain models.  Unplug this connection and the shifter boot will lift off of the handle.  There are 2 bolts that mount the stock shifter handle to the shifter itself.  Remove these and you will see one of the reasons for a less that stellar shift from 1st to 2nd.  There is a lot of rubber there to help isolate noise and build in and inherent flexibility to the shifter.

There is another rubber isolation boot that is separating the interior from the transmission itself.  Remove the 4 bolts that secure the perimeter flange.  Be careful to not drop any of these bolts, there is not a whole lot of room in the console area for big fumbling hands.  There is a rubber gasket that is probably stuck pretty good to the floor panel of the car.  Careful lift the flange so as not to damage the seal, it will come with a little persuasion.   This will now expose the stock shifter  that is mounted to the top of the transmission.

Remove the 4 bolts that secure the pressed steel plate mounted to the transmission.   You will be crawling under the car if you drop any of these.  There is a thin film of sealant between this plate and the transmission.  This will take a little more persuasion than the boot did.  I used a small pry bar against the bell housing well and the edge of the shifter plate.  With steady pressure the sealant eventually releases.  If you try yanking this out by hand, when it lets go it if very likely that you could end up with a shifter handle in the eye. 

With the seal broken, be careful when lifting the stock shifter out of the transmission to avoid any crap falling into the transmission.  It is wide open with out this cover in place

The stock shifter on the 2002 model has a nylon spacer over the business end of the shifter.  This spacer needs to be transferred to the new shifter.  Pry carefully and slowly so it doesn't go off like a Champagne cork.  Snap it in place before anything else so that you don't loose it.

Take a couple of sheets of paper towel and tuck them into the opening to the transmission, preventing anything from falling in.  Now take a scraper and clean any excess sealant on the top mating surface of the transmission.  Apply a thin film of high temperature silicone along the mating edge of shifter.  

Remove the paper towel and place the shifter on top of the transmission using a bolt as to get the initial alignment.  Replace the other 3 bolts and slowly tighten the 4 bolts using a criss-cross pattern until the new shifter is snugged down completely.

Bolt the new shifter handle to the shifter mechanism using the supplied bolts or use the ones from your old shifter handle.  Make sure they are good and snug, they are going to take the brunt of abuse from hard shifting.   Shifter the car into first gear.  Now tighten the stop bolt until it just touches the shifter handle, then back it off 0.001 of an inch.  Tighten up the jamb nut to secure the stop bolt in position.  Don't cut this tolerance to fine, more is better.  Less could cause your transmission to premature jump out of gear or ride on the synchromesh and wear them out.  Now shift into second gear and let the handle go.  Do the same procedure that you did for first gear.  Tighten the bolt to touch and then back it off 0.001.  Tighten the jamb nut to secure the stop bolt position.  Try shifting through the gears (motor off) and see if every thing seems to engage properly.  If you are not sure, increase the clearance a little on the stop bolts.  These are there for those extra hard shifts and will prevent damage to the shifter housing.

Remover the rubber boot that covers the existing stock shifter mechanism and use it to cover the new one.  Carefully pull it down over the shifter handle so that one of the bolts for the handle is exposed and one is concealed by the shifter.  Now stretch the bottom part of the rubber boot over the shifter stop bolts.  It will take a little bit of stretching but it will cover it.  Be careful not to rip it.

Replace the secondary boot and tighten the 4 bolts to the floor boards securely.  Replace the console panel with the lighter electrical connection re-connected and snap it in place.  Replace the shifter knob and tighten just enough to properly align the shift pattern and so that it won't turn on you while shifting. 

Start the car with the new shifter in neutral.  Depress the clutch and shift into first, second, third, forth, fifth and reverse.  No problems, then it is time to go for a drive.  Listen carefully to make sure that the gears are engaging properly.  It is going to be a completely different animal to shift than the stock shifter and will take a day or two to get used to.  Don't go out on the street in race mode right out of the garage.  Get used to shifting, try some speed shifts and then have at it.