OK, so I'm replacing the stock plastic shift ball in my '04 Cooper with a new MOMO ****. And true to the advice of many good people on this board, the old **** pulled right off with a little application of brute force. But I'm getting a less than ideal mount of the MOMO, due to the presence of that plastic sleeve around the metal stick. Details of the problem available on request. The question: Is there a straight forward way to get that plastic sleeve off, or maybe move it down about an inch? Short of a hammer & chisel, or cutting it off with a Dremel tool? I know some have written that the sleeve came along when they jerked off the OE ball. Mine seems pretty secure, but I wonder if I would do more harm than good if I went after it with some rubber tipped pliers.

Any advice appreciated.

John

 

Sorry I can't help ya, but I REALLY wish these
shift ***** threaded on like every other vehicle I've
had over the years
I have a large assortment of ***** that a now useless in this car

Is this pressed on **** a BMW thing?

 

that sleeve appears to be molded right onto the shaft. you have to cut it off or trim it down to fit another ****.

 

My Saabs (damn them all) had the same 'yank hard and hope you don't hit yourself in the face' shift **** removal feature. I tend to think it's either cheaper way for the Mfr. to go or it ensure the ***** don't come loose.

 

if i understand you correctly, you want the shift **** to go all the way down to the plastic. or at least as close to it as you can. well this is what i did when i replace my **** with a momo.

pull off the shift boot, just carefully pull up on the plastic ring around it. now that that is loose, pull it up till you can access under it and you will notic a zip tie holding it on. cut that and move the boot down and out of the way. now just place the **** where you want it and tighten it down. then postion the shift boot to you desired position and rezip tie it. try to stay above the little rim there so that way it doesn't slip down on you. after you zip tie it, just snap the boot ring back in place and presto, your shift **** will now be down a bit further and smoother looking.
i had the same problem as the **** just sat that inch too high leaving a gap between the bottom of the **** and the top of the boot.
good luck and i hope this helps you out. let me know if there are any issues.
later
ja

 

sanity29, great instructions! I'll remember that when I get my Momo ****. :smile:

 

Thanks for your response to my problem, sanity29, but I'm not sure we're on the same page here. If the boot is the leather/vinyl skirt around the bottom of the shift lever, then my problem is not the boot.

Here's my problem (cut and pasted from another forum):

My new MOMO **** (a "Race Air") is pear/lightbulb shaped, small end on the bottom. There is a brushed chrome ring around that small end. To install the **** you first screw off the chrome ring; this reveals three holes for the set screws which will hold the **** on the shaft.

You drop the chrome ring down around the shaft; then push the **** down onto the shaft, tighten the set screws, and then pull the chrome ring back up and screw it to the bottom of the ****.

My problem is that when I drop the ring onto the shaft it rests on that plastic sleeve. When I then push the **** down onto the shaft, it rests IN the chrome ring (because the ring is stopped, high on the shaft, on the plastic sleeve), and the set screw holes are covered such that the screws cannot be tightened. To tighten the set screws I have to pull the **** up a bit, and secure it NOT firmly seated down on the end of the shaft. Not only is the **** a bit higher than it ought to be, but I feel like it can't be as stable or straight as it would be if it were firmly pushed all the way down on the shaft.

So the problem is that sleeve. Also, perhaps, this **** is just unusally long vertically. The sleeve may indeed be permanently welded on. I seem to be driving fine with things like they are (much better than with the old billiard ball), but this imperfection bothers me, knowwhudimean?

 

hey great choice! i have the exact same **** on my car and still got the exact same problem as you got...

to secure the **** (and trust me it's been loose on more than 1 ocassion) is to use some liquid thread lock which will hold it in place.. the problem is trying to get it off!

im looking at ss kits, this **** has given me the reason to anyways! if you found out how to solve it or anyone knows how pls post it up!

 

I also installed the Momo air shift ****. The ring will not go as far as you want it. Push the **** as far down as I could against the ring. I left just a little gap to screw the set screws down, then I screwed the ring onto the ****. It sits a little higher but that's not a problem for me.[font=Verdana] [/font]If you reverse the boot you will see that it is zip tied to the shaft. Cut the zip tie and raise it a little so it can butt up to the ****.