I just installed a new *lighted* shift **** on my manual transmission 2003.5 Protege5. It was actually easier than I had thought.

I ordered the (skull) **** over the phone from http://www.epcomfg.com/shiftknobs.html. I gave them the thread pitch of 10mm x 1.25, (thanks to specs posted on this forum by Sir Nuke) which allowed Epco to include an insert for the Protege stick threads that allowed for a correct fit of the new shift **** to the existing stick. It took about 10-15mins of work to line the new shift **** up just right, and I had to add 5-6 large rubber washers underneath the shifter skirt boot to make the top of the skirt flush with the bottom of new shift ****. The physical install of the new shift **** would have been easier if I did not have two very small wires coming out of the bottom of the new **** that I needed to be careful not to damage.

Once the new shift **** was seated tight and centered correctly, it was just a matter of grounding one wire of the new shift **** wires to metal, and hooking the other up to the power for my headlights. Before doing that, I had to poke a small hole in the leather shifter skirt boot, and slip the small wires through. I made the connections in the open area of the console underneath and just forward of the stick.

The P5 has plenty of room to pass wires under the center console forward to the firewall. I had already found the wire for the headlights when I installed two interior footwell red side marker lights last year. So I just spliced the single wire from the new shift **** to one of the side marker light wires. Note that I am no electrical expert - I went to a stereo install shop and paid those guys $30 to find the right wire for me, and drop down leads on the driver and passenger side for me to splice the red footwell lights into. At night, the skull throws a decent amount of light in the dark and looks pretty cool combined with the red footwell lighting. The final touch was using some black touch-up paint to mask the 1/2in of the wires that are exposed running from the bottom of the new **** into the leather shift boot. Sorry - I don't have a digital cam to post pics. All in all - it took me about 90mins to install.

William
2003.5 P5 Black
Austin, Texas