Wow! Did the install of my MGW yesterday and what a job it turned out to be. As a former and now, retired mechanic, I noted things I could have done differently to speed up the install. First of all, I probably took longer than most to install this thing because I did it on jack stands that could have been adusted higher for more clearance if the jack stands were a little larger. As it is, I adjusted them as high as I dare which only allowed about a foot of room above to work with. That, coupled with the fact that I ain't no tiny person, made things a little tight. Even at that, had I pulled the drive shaft, the space above would have not been a factor. But, then, your talking about removing that damn truck like drive shaft with the carrier bearing.
Obviously, I didn't do that which made things a little more difficult. First of all, the space above the drive shaft is limited and tight. Once you get the lower assembly loose, it needs to be pulled out of the shifter 'hole' from above. Then the fun begins. Let me note that you will spend as much time under the car as in the cab because of the lower assembly. It gets installed from under the car and with the drive shaft in the way and the way the MGW lower is designed with the now extended studs, putting the assembly together around the selecter arm which now have the MGW bushings installed on it and then installing the cover was, to say the least a chore all because of the drive shaft. Wtih the studs installed on the main body of the lower assembly, little room to maneuver and trying to keep the selecter rod in place, it was fairly difficult but, can be done with patience. Once the cover was on, I screwed on a couple of nuts to hold it together and went to work on attaching it to the mounting bar. This was kind of a pain again because of space and the added obstalcle of poor visiblity. Now that the lower box is installed, it was time to install the rest of the screws. With driveshaft in place, you really need a 1/2 inch ratcheting wrench or at least, a 1/4 inch ratchet and 1/2 inch 1/4 shallow socket to tighten the screws above the drive shaft. Once you have ALL the screws tightened on the lower assembly, your pretty much done working on the underneath side of the car. Installing the shifter itself is pretty straight forward and follows the instructions fairly well.
I also installed the optional heat shield and it went fairly smoothly with little problem.
The bottom line to all this is, while they have instructions for install included and on-line, you will not be using some of their methods, especially, putting the lower assembly together outside the vehicle. The front mounting bolt for the lower box bracket is pretty much barried and would require you to lower the rear tranny mount to get to it. Not recommended.
Anyhoo, the shifter has a definite difference and is way more precise than the stock one. I gaurantee you won't be disappointed with this shifter. Good luck
