Shifter arms, left to right - 90, 91-94, 91-94 cut down, Short uncut. Not that the top half of the Short arm is the same height as the 90 top half, and longer than the top half of the 91-94 - if you install the Short Shifter uncut in a 91-94, it will be taller than the old shifter. This is because the shifter was made for GVR4s, which have a taller shifter. NOTE also, however, that the bottom half of the Short Shifter is longer than any of the others - this makes the ratio of top-to-bottom half smaller, resulting in a shorter throw (and cutting down the Short arm reduces the ratio even more, making for an ultra-short throw).

Lower half of the shifter arms, left to right - 90, 91-94, Short. Note that while the height from the pivot point to the bottom of the arm is the same (making the left-to-right handle movement for selecting gears the same distance on all of them), the height from the pivot to the top is different. The taller the top half height (with corresponding longer lower half height on the shifter handle), the shorter the throw front-to-rear. Note also that the 91-94 is wider than either the 90 or Short.

The bolts the shifter arms pivot on in the shifter base - this is a key point for the install. Note that the shank of the 91-94 bolt (top) is very small compared to the 90 (bottom). The Short shifter comes with nylon bushings for the 91-94 shifters, but the pivot bushing will not fit on the huge 90 bolt, requiring the use of the stock 90 bushings and a shim. The nylon washers that come with the shifter for 91-94 are not needed for the 90, since the width of the bottom half of the shifter arm is the same for the Short and 90s.

Remove the ribbed trim panel between the dash and console (just grab the bottom ends of it, pry outward slightly, and lift it up). Remove the ashtray and coinbox. Remove the 3-4 screws circled (you may not have screws at all these spots).

Unscrew the shift knob. If you've never removed it, it may be on there really tight. Just get a good grip on it, and give it a hard twist counterclockwise to break it loose. Pull the shifter boot trim ring up to get it loose from the shifter arm. Lift the console lid, then lift the console top off, and rotate it down into the driver's footwell. If you want, you can remove the driver's side carpeted console panel, follow the cigarette lighter wiring from the console top to the side of the console, unplug it, and totally remove the console top to give you more room to work, but it's really not necessary - I have installed 3 shifters by just propping the console top against the radio.

(Note the bleeder I have mounted in front of the shifter - with the yellow knob. This made the shifter install a bit harder, you won't have the access problems I did with the main shifter pivot bolt.)

The 2 things you need to disconnect are circled - the shifter cable, and the nut for the main shifter pivot bolt.

Grab the adjuster nut (you'll see that the end of the shifter cable has one really long adjuster nut and 2 jamnuts on it) with pliers or a 10mm wrench, put a 10m wrench on the jamnut nearest the cable end and loosen it a bit. Pull the cotter pin from the shifter arm pin, slide the cable end off of the shifter, then spin the entire cable end out of the adjuster nut (if you sand down the pivot pin on the Short Shifter, removing the cable end isn't necessary, but having it off of the car makes it easier to test fit it to the shifter as you are sanding down the pin).

90s - Put a 17mm boxend wrench on the head of the main shifter pivot bolt (circled, hidden by the shifter mechanism), put the 14mm socket on the nut, and remove it.

91-94s - Put a 12mm boxend wrench on the head of the main shifter pivot bolt (circled, hidden by the shifter mechanism), put the 12mm socket on the nut, and remove it.

This picture is here so you know the right order to reassemble pivot bolt. Note the nylon bushing the return spring rides on. Then the large washer, then the lock washer, then the nut. Note also how the spring is installed - the top loop is on the left side of the pin on the shifter assembly, the straight end of the spring (circled) is on the right side of the pin - this is what makes the shifter spring back to center from either side. Note how the curved end of the spring locates against the shifter base, you need to push it back into place when reinstalling the spring.

Once you remove the nut/lock washer/washer/nylon bushing/spring, slide the metal bushing and rear nylon bushing off of the pivot bolt. Then push the bolt out of the shifter base.

Here's one last pic of the proper order of the parts on the pivot bolt.

Lift straight up on the shifter arm to pull it out of the base. Be careful not to lose the bushing that is on the very bottom of the shifter arm assembly (circled), you will need to transfer it to the new arm. This is the stock shifter (left) and Short Shifter (right). Note how much higher the pivot point is for the Short Shifter arm, and how much longer the bottom half of the shifter arm is. Note also that the Short Shifter is taller overall. This is because it is made for the GVR4. If you put it on a TEL, I'd suggest cutting the tubular part of the arm down about 2" like I have done on both of my 90s (and will soon be doing on my 92).

Note that while the gear pivot is much higher, the selector pivot (down bottom) is the same distance from the very bottom of the shifter arm assembly to the pivot - this is what retains the stock side-to-side selector movement (distance between gears 1/3, 2/4, and 5/R).

Here's a closeup of the spacing between the bottom of the arm (selector arm) and the selector pivot. The bushing you don't want to lose is circled. Note the white nylon bushing inside of the Short arm, and the nylon washers taped to it - these are for GVR4s and 91-94 TELs, they are not needed for 90 TELs (you might want to keep them if your kit comes with them, in case you sell your 90 and buy a 91-94 later).

Here's a view of the front side of the 90 assembly, with the stock pivot bolt in the stock bushing. Note that it is a tight fit, and the bolt shank is very large.

Here's a view of the stock 90 bolt in the bushings on the Short arm - note the gap, the inner diameter of the bushings needs to be about 1/16" smaller. Carefully pry the black bushings out of the Short arm.

The stock 90 bushings between the Short bushings - they are slightly different sizes.

The stock 90 bolt and bushings on the Short arm - the stock bushings are slighty smaller than the hole in the arm, so a shim needs to be made to tighten it all up.

Here's the pivot bushing included with the kit (note, it may not be included for 90s in the future, since it isn't needed). I bought a plastic For Sale sign to use as my shim. Start by cutting a strip about 1/4" narrower than the bushing (if the bushing is not in your kit, it is the same width as the arm, so use the arm as a guide).

Trim down the plastic until it fits inside of the arm with a decent gap between the two ends.

Make sure that the plastic is inset from the ends of the arm by at least 1/8".

Test fit the 90 stock bushings inside of the plastic shim - they need to fit all the way into the arm, and the 2 ends need to fit tightly together. It will take some experimentation to get the shim the right width/length so that the bushings fit tightly, but aren't so tight that you can't insert the bolt. You want the bolt to be a tight fit without deforming the bushings. It only takes a couple of minutes of trimming/testing to get the right fit, though.

Once you have the shim cut to the right size, put it in the shifter and line it with grease. Press the stock 90 bushings into the shim. Transfer that small plastic bushing onto the bottom of the Short Shifter (lube it on the inside before sliding it on, then lube the outside). Then install the shifter arm into the shifter base (make sure the bottom plastic bushing drops into the selector arm), slide the pivot bolt through, assemble the parts onto the end of the bolt (metal bushing, nylon bushing, spring, nylon bushing, washer, lock washer, nut), and tighten the bolt down.

Then you can either bore out the cable end to fit the Short Shifter, or grind down the pin on the shifter to fit the cable end (covered below). Screw the cable end back onto the cable adjuster nut, adjust the shifter (center the shifter arm front-to-back, then screw the cable end in/out until it easily slides onto the shifter arm pin), tighten the cable end jamnuts.

Then you are done, unless you want to cut down the shifter (covered below).

Installing on a 91-94 is easier than 90s, because Short includes nylon bushings/washers to make it bolt right in. Here is the stock pivot bolt, with the stock metal bushing.

The Short Shifter and washers/bushings - note that there is a thick and thin washer.

Here's how the bushings install on the pivot bolt - the thicker washer is towards the front, to keep the bottom of the arm aligned with the selector lever properly.

Transfer that small plastic bushing onto the bottom of the Short Shifter (lube it on the inside before sliding it on, then lube the outside). Slide the pivot bolt through the shifter base, through the thick washer, then drop the shifter into place (make sure the bottom plastic bushing drops into the selector arm), run the bolt through it and the thin washer, and out the other side of the base. Then assemble the parts onto the end of the bolt (metal bushing, nylon bushing, spring, nylon bushing, washer, lock washer, nut) and tighten the pivot bolt down.

Then you can either bore out the cable end to fit the Short Shifter, or grind down the pin on the shifter to fit the cable end (covered below). Screw the cable end back onto the cable adjuster nut, adjust the shifter (center the shifter arm front-to-back, then screw the cable end in/out until it easily slides onto the shifter arm pin), tighten the cable end jamnuts.

Then you are done, unless you want to cut down the shifter (covered below).

The stock shifter arm with cable end on top, Short arm on bottom. Note that the pin on the Short arm is larger. You can bore out the cable end to fit the Short arm, but it removes most of the ball in the ball-and-socket joint, so I prefer to grind down the Short arm to fit the cable end (this also makes it easier to swap back to the stock shifter if you get rid of the car).

Here's the pin after a lot of sanding with Dremel and metal sanding drum. Take your time, make sure the pin stays round.

Note that the washers that come with the Short arm are sized for the pin, and are now too large, and sit on the pivot ball. Get a smaller washer (you will only need one thin one).

Here's a pic of the arm installed uncut - note that it looks a bit tall. This pic was taken without the C-clip in place (it holds the shifter boot up against the knob) so you can see how much the arm can be cut down.

Start cutting through the welds holding the handle to the top half of the shifter arm. I used a Sawzall on one shifter, it worked fine, but used a Dremel with cutoff disks (make sure you have tons of them, they break often!) on the second one for cleaner cuts and a tighter fit.

The handle cut free. Make sure to scribe a mark along the arm and pivot tube before cutting completely through, so you can align them properly for welding.

Sribe a mark along the bottom of the S-curve, and cut off the bottom.

The arm cut down.

Place the arm back into its base - make sure to line up the scribe marks you made.

Weld up the arm (I know, messy welds - I'm using fluxcore wire).

Bolt the handle back on the rest of the arm - make sure that the large washer is between the handle and lower part of the arm, it spaces the handle away from the arm so the bumpstop pin doesn't hit the base.

The cut arm next to an uncut Short arm.

Uncut shifter...

Cut shifter.

Throw the console top back on, fasten it down, screw on the shift knob, and go get used to the much shorter throw you have, with the peace of mind of knowing it was done right!

This is a cut shifter - notice how my hand and arm are almost completely flat - this makes it very easy to shift a lot without strain on your wrist (handy for autox or roadracing).