Core/Hurst NV3500 shifter install

[sewlow]

This showed up @ my door yesterday. This is my Christmas present from Mom. She asked what I wanted & gave me the $$$ to order it. Came to $285.00 plus another $38.00 for taxes, & duty slapped on @ the border. (********!) I looked for an aftermarket shifter for almost 2 years. Found 'Core' shifters. They use factory 'Hurst' shift arms, then they make the lower tower part, as this has been discontinuied by 'Hurst'. Waited for 6 months for production to begin, only not to be able to afford one when they did become available! When I could afford one, they were sold out of that production run! Aaarrgh! 30-60 days before anymore would be produced. Chris @ 'Core' was kind enough to scour his inventory, & managed to come up with enough seperate pieces to put together a complete unit. Yay! Big thanks!
Now let's see if all that was worth the wait!

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This is what's inside.
A 'shift tower', shifter arm, shift ball, jam nut, 4 10mm head, fine thead bolts, 2 hex head shifter arm bolts, a rubber grommet thingie, a dust boot, and a sheet of instructions.
They call this a 'Hurst Competition Plus/NV3500' for the GMT400. They come in 2 styles. One has a 5% throw reduction, & the other has a 30% reduction, which is what this one is.

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Bottom of the tower. Nice machining. Obviously CNC'd. This shows the ball end that 'Core' makes. GM no longer produces this part. This will fit stock shifters. They sell it seperately. Apparently it will take a lot of slop out of the (well used) factory shifters.

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Top of the tower. Hard to see in this pic, but there are serrations that run up & down the shaft stub that match the shifter arm to ensure a good contact area.

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Shifter arm had a plastic protective sleeve on the ball end threads.

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A nicely done jam nut with a collar...

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...that fits up inside the shifter ball.

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[sewlow]

O.K. lets get this oar out. Set the 'E' brake, & put it in neutral.

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Gotta start by removing the shifter boot ring. There are 4 #2 phillips screws on each corner. Lift the corner of the shifter bellows to find 'em.

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It's a bit of a fight to get the ring off. Gotta work around stuffing the boot through & under the ring.

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Once the ring is off, there are 4 more #2 phillips screws holding the boot down to the floor. these are in the center of the straight parts. Keep all 8 screws for reuse. Remove the boot.

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Under the boot, you'll find a foam/rubber secondary boot. This just pulls off.

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Compare the size of the plates & screws on top of the shifter with the 'Core/Hurst' one a few pix back.

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Take note of the offset of the shifter flange that bolts to the top of the trans. The four outer bolts are 8mm. Remove those to get that old POS off.

Shifter removed. It's sealed from the factory with RTV. Make sure to remove any left on the mating surface.

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New shifter bolted in. Use the supplied 10mm bolts. Put the new shifter in neutral before attempting to install it. That'll make for a lot less fighting to get that ball into the top of the shifter mechanism in the top of the trans. (Leason learned!) Use some RTV to form a gasket between the shifter & trans. Torque to 10ft. lbs. or just pretty tight using a 3/8 ratchet.

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Install the supplied internal dust/water shield boot. This has to be zip-tied onto the new shifter tower. It has a special groove for the zip-tie to fit into, just make sure that the boot is on all the way around before zipping it tight.The zip-tie is supplied.

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Don't do what I did & forget to install that foam/rubber boot. It'll fit over the new dust shield. Luckily!

Re-install the factory boot in the opposite order that it was taken apart. The boot has been molded in such a way as to angle towards the driver, if you forget which way it was facing when you took it apart.
Because the 'Core/Hurst' shifter arm is so much narrower, this is what it looks like when re-installed.

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This is what the rubber grommet thingie first listed is for. The factory boot has a lip around the inside, & the grommet thingie has a groove for that lip to fit into. Just gotta stretch it down over the shifter arm, & position it so that the two pieces fit together. This is the only thing so far that I'm not liking. Looks kinda half-assed. The instructions say that a 'Hurst' boot can be purchased to get a better fit & look if desired. Nawww! I think a custom boot is in order!

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Screw on the jam nut, and then the shifter ball. Position the ball where you want & lock it with the jam nut.
In some of the pix, the ball is installed. Had to play with it a bit before I buttoned it all up, y'know! Go ahead & do that if you want, but you just end up taking it off & on. Lol!
Stay tuned for custom boot fab & install, & the driving tests results. Coming soon!

 

[1low95GMC]

NICE!!! I need one now lol

 

[Bearcat91]

Very nice!!!

 

[Gatorboy]

I'm jealous lol I want to put a 5speed in mine

 

[94Sierra4x4]

Nice write up, love that shifter. Does look a little "off" with the rubber boot deal, hopefully you notice the improvements in the throw and feel of your shifts.

I've got the metal ring and rubber slinky boot screwed down with just the 4 phillips screws so it removes in 2 pieces, at one time, instead of pulling them off over your shifter..
However, that is a 95+ shifter, not sure if the entire shifter arm unscrews from the tower or not? Would make it kinda hard to remove.

 

[trailer-trash]

I like this...nice write up and pics...I mite have to try it on my 96!

 

[5spd Z71]

Nice man!!! Been wanting to get a good shifter for my truck. Lets us know how it feels after driving it a bit.

 

[98slv]

do you have a link to where you got it from? any idea if it'll work for a 4500 or if they make one for a nv4500?

 

[Darkrider]

Nice! I gave the "Core" Shifters a very serious look when i was looking at getting that '04 Ram since they make one for the Dakota that will work in the Ram as well. Dang it now i kinda wish i had a K1500 with a 5 speed lmao.