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Holden shifter in a G8

11K views 24 replies 12 participants last post by  GXPaycheck 
#1 ·
Bought a Holden Commodore shifter off Ebay Australia for $230 American shipped just to see if it would work. Had to transfer the column lock micro switch and splice it to ground since the ground is shared with the LEDs and the circuit board and had to be cut. Works like a champ. Decided to leave the brake pedal shifter interlock solenoid out, though it could be transferred with little problem as the shifter bases are exact mirror images of each other. The actual lock lever connected to the solenoid is lhd only. There's a spot for a rhd version, good luck sourcing that part. Here's a few pics after install.

Rob
 

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#2 ·
Don't know how to do multiple pics in one post.
 

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#3 ·
Flat out awesome man! Can you elaborate on the column lock micro switch? I have no idea what your talking about and would love to do this mod.
 
#4 ·
On the left forward side of the shifter base there is a small microswitch that disengages when you press the shifter button. It is depressed once the button in released by a roll pin in the shifter shaft. Should have taken a picture before I put it back together. It is kinda hidden by the lock lever that attaches to the shift interlock solenoid.

Rob
 
#5 ·
This is really cool for those who just can't get used to the bass-ackwards layout of the US-spec cars.

Do you have any wiring pinouts or color info about the shift column interlock you describe? I guess if you're splicing it to ground, that is easy to understand, but which wire gets spliced to ground, and where?

Did it take you long to get used to the new aussie shifter style?

Does it feel wierd, sliding towards you to go into sport mode? That would get me for a while I would think!

Well done OP.
 
#7 ·
Press the shifter button??
 
#9 ·
The button you press to pull it out of park. Microswitch attaches to these two pins behind the interlock lever and the roll pin opens and closes as it moves up and down, locking and unlocking the steering column. Will try to get a pic of the switch tomorrow on the new shifter.
 

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#8 ·
Took a little getting used too. Have pushed the wrong way once downshifting instead of upshifting. The movement toward the driver has a more natural feel than the stock shifter. It drops right in the palm of your hand, like I 1-2 shift position in a manual.

Has a black wire and white wire for the shift interlock solenoid. Has a black wire and a blue wire for the column interrupt microswitch. Shift interlock, LEDs, microswitch, and circuit board all share the ground(black).
 
#11 · (Edited)
Here's the microswitch mounted to the right side of the holden shifter. Transferred from the stock shifter.
 

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#12 ·
Why is it that you guys feel the shifter is reversed?, Pull the shifter down to downshift, push it up to upshift, can't get any easier, it'd feel weird to do the opposite way :), but good too see there are options for those who want something different, or perhaps i'm one of the weirdos for liking it the way it is, either way, good find.
 
#13 ·
This seems to be a pretty popular topic lately. I guess none of you guys grew up driving old muscle cars. They are always forward to upshift and back to downshift - like our stock shifter - unless you had a reverse valve body. Seems perfectly normal to me.
 
#16 ·
I'm 36 and have this is my second auto floor shift car. Heck, 75% or more of my cars have been manuals including my Chevy truck. Just can't figure out how to make the auto shifter go up and down to upshift lol. I like it better this way.

Rob
 
#15 ·
Shifter position in manual mode is much more comfortable than before. Haven't measured but probably close to 4 inches closer than the factory setup.

Rob
 
#17 ·
Having driven 90% of my hours in the daily driver in "manualomatic mode" since new in March 09, I humbily believe that I've gotten used to the standard layout of the shifter and never mix them up (and over rev or hit the rev limiter) when I'm tromping or playing around. It's become second nature to me.

But I applaud those who it didn't make sense for and who want to make the switch themselves. That's awesome inginuity. I think re-learning to slide LEFT to shift to sport mode would have me going crazy after the first day... but hey that's just me!

:)
 
#19 ·
It's bolts right in, just about 5 minutes to address the column lock switch and about 30 minutes to swap it in the car. It's identical, just backwards. Now that I'm getting accustomed to it. I like it much better. Especially being close to 4 inches closer to me than the Pontiac manual position.

Rob
 
#24 ·
Nice setup OP! I'm hoping to get the same setup on my rear to put me into the 11's as well. Good luck at Fayettevill next week guys!
 
#25 ·
Upload to photobucket then copy/paste the links in the post. You can do as many as you want.
 
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