Delica Canada | Mitsubishi Van Club

Hi guys,

I have a cool, much shorter universal mount aluminum shifter knob with the "release button" (to move from park) on top of the knob as opposed to the ugly, huge original plastic shifter knob with the side-mount of the "release button".

My question is: How do I remove the original plastic shifter knob (the one that also holds the "overdrive" button) without wrecking it.

I looked all over for a hole / screw or something to "gently" remove it.

My goal is to remove it and leave it intact so that I could mount it back if - against all expectations - my short aluminum shifter knob wouldn't work.

I would - upon successfully mounting the new knob - also mount a "board-cannon" style switch on the shifter assembly housing (the plastic housing that covers the 4WD and shifter) for the overdrive in/out...

Has anybody changed their shifter knob without wrecking it?

Tried the search function - couldn't find anything conclusive - except for manuals - which is obviously a completely different story.

Thanks in advance and cheers,
Chris

Jfarsang has made a good point against a metal knob here:
http://www.delica.ca/forum/aluminum-shi ... ht=shifter

I made half an attempt at looking into changing the ugly auto shifter. When I actually took things apart I found there was more than just removing and then replacing with an aftermarket one. It didn't look very feasible to me.

-Mark

Hi Mark,

That's too bad... sounds discouraging... were you concerned about the O/D button / wiring or was it the release/lock mechanism that threw you off proceeding?

In any case, could you let me know how you managed to remove the butt-ugly plastic shifter knob? I guess if I can't figure out a way to make the aftermarket button work - at least (if I manage to remove the original one without damaging / cutting it) I could put the original one back on again...

As to the issue of the aluminum getting hotter than the plastic - that is a valid point - although I think it could be worked around as you don't really touch the shifter knob for very long when putting it into park or drive or reverse etc.

I guess the biggest thing is the lock that prevents the shifter from being moved without the release button pressed.

There are actually three locks in the shifter mechanism: The one that prevents shifting unless the brake pedal is pressed - the one that prevents shifting unless the ignition key is inserted and "on" and finally the mechanical button that prevents shifting unless the release button at the shifter knob is pressed.

Since the lock that prevents shifting unless the brake-pedal is pressed froze up on me last winter (when we hit minus 19 C in Vancouver!!!) I simply disconnected it (it is a small bolt that is supposed to retract once the brake pedal is engaged and as such release the shifter mechanism). So as soon as the ignition is on, I can shift my transmission - whether or not I step on the brake... no problem for me.

Most older North American vehicles (especially the ones with the shifter in the steering column) didn't even have any locking mechanism whatsoever (neither ignition, nor brake nor lock-button) - so not having to step on the brake is no problem for me (after all, with a manual you don't have to hit the brake, step on the clutch - only if engine is not running, turn the ignition on etc. to move the gear shifter either....)

As stated above, working around the release-button mechanism would be the biggest thing. And the O/D button shouldn't be a problem. This is not a manually operated mechanism that requires any mechanical moving parts in the shifter button - but rather it is just a simple electric switch that operates the solenoid for the O/D at the transmission - so rewiring this switch and mounting a small push button (or as I would like to do, one of the "army style" flicker switches) should not be a problem at all.

Anyway... anybody who figured out a sophisticated way to remove the ugly plastic shifter knob and keeping it intact doing so, please share your technique with me...

Thanks in advance....

Cheers, Chris

I changed mine to this:



I found that there was no way to save the original big gearstick cover unless you cut/break it so i did it carefully (it took nearly 2 hours).
You need to use a cutter to cut the soft rubber on the outside then you need to saw/cut/break/dismantle the hard plastic on the inside.
There was no need to save the original OD switch because this new gearstick had it's own OD switch built in to it and i just connected the wires to the original OD wires.
Don't know if this helps

HOLY SHXXXX! Are you serious or is this a photo you found on the net? This interior is craaazy...

there stickers of wood im pretty sure

I obviously need to contact your detail shop, because the 'kids' at the one here in town looked at me like I had a second head when I asked for wood trim. Sweet job! Do it yourself? Got the wood steering wheel? And a vurv-console?

This is actually a picture of my Delica L300, here: http://www.delica.ca/forum/delicars-l300-5848.html

It took me over 3 years to get it like this.
The wood trim isn't stickers but instead a chemical coating. I had to take each interior part to the coating factory for the chemical process.

mararmeisto wrote:I obviously need to contact your detail shop, because the 'kids' at the one here in town looked at me like I had a second head when I asked for wood trim. Sweet job! Do it yourself? Got the wood steering wheel? And a vurv-console?

They also have black wood trim, many different shades of brown wood and also carbon fiber trim too

Hi Delicar300, Awesome.!

I really like your wood trim... where did you get that done (you mention several trips to the coating factory...)

I figured I would have to destroy the original shifter knob... not that I feel too sad about it - I just wanted to have a "go-back-plan" in case something doesn't work out with my aftermarket shifter.... I will, however, have overdrive button placed next to the shifter as my shifter knob doesn't have a button built in...

Worked on it yesterday evening for a bit.. took half the shifter mechanism apart and still couldn't figure out a way on how to salvage the original knob... oh well, I guess it'll have to go... I just wonder how the Mitsubishi factory put that thing together - no visible "put together" kind of edges and stuff...

Will post some pictures once I'm done...

Cheers,
Chris

I had to take each interior piece off the van and then take it to the factory in China to get the coating. The coating is scratch resistand and doesn't fade, it is very thick and after you get the coating there is no going back, it stays on forever.

I also had the problem of looking for screws, assembling lines etc. along the side of the original shifter but after a long look i decided to bite the bullet and had to use a bit of force to take the original shifter off.

I always think you must take risks to be a pioneer and i was willing to take the risk to have a different interior than the rest... in fact the shifter was nothing compared to the analogue clock in the centre of the dash (seen in the photo between the two aircon ducts), i had to saw a few big chunks out of the dash (where the digital clock was) to get it to fit!
Unlike other parts which i can buy to replace the old/broken (such as the shifter) if things go wrong etc. the dash has a big hole and i will not be able to replace it!! But the clock looks really nice and classic so it turned out well...

Thanks very much for the info.... with your feedback I didn't really feel all that bad about trashing my original shifter.... actually, apart from the rubber-coating that I had to cut off, the plastic stuff underneath that houses the release button is still intact...

So I spent about a half hour yesterday... the worst part was getting the lower plastic-shaft off (the one that is a cone shape and sits underneath the plastic shifter knob... I ended up just prying it off with a big screwdriver.... (works all the time.... )

Now this is the "interim" result... I still need to make the shifter a bit shorter and place the O/D switch more conveniently (it is just coming from underneath the plastic lid that covers the whole shifter mechanism...

I like it so far... but - as I had said - need to do a bit more finetuning....

Cheers,
Chris

The shifters are looking good, they are a nice match!

I forgot to mention, i can get the Auto gearstick with O/D button if anyone needs one as i found a place that do these when i was looking for mine.
They told me not many places do these anymore because alot of the 'newer' style cars don't have these?