Does this look Right???

[fastfirebird2002]

First off I hope this is the right place for this thread if not can you tell me where to repost it

I bought my wife an MGW short throw shifter for her 2003 MACH 1(Yes I know its a ford unch and when I was installing it I came across this. I always thought that any cuts to the body of a car (example the hole where the transmission goes up through the floor) from the factory would be fairly smooth and clean cuts. When I removed the rubber dust boot exposing the transmission this is what it looked like (look at the area to the right of the shifter and below it ) the metal looked like someone took a hacksaw to it
Is this normal or should I be asking someone some questions??

[Tyler_LS1]

That seems unusual, but then again its the first ive seen a mach 1 shifter

[fastfirebird2002]

Ok not trying to be a jerk(do I need to re-word my question??) I am asking about the jagged looking metal to the right and below the shifter if it seems I am asking about the shifter I am not sorry

[blackhawk01]

Hmm..from my standpoint that doesnt really look factory..i would think that the factory would have a more smooth cut

[TransAm11973]

i would be asking A LOT of questions that is def not right.

[fastfirebird2002]

Hmm..from my standpoint that doesnt really look factory..i would think that the factory would have a more smooth cut

Thats what I was thinking, any reason why the crappy cut job is there a chance it used to be an auto then converted?

[JonB]

That is not normal at all. It really does't look like it will hurt anything but someone cut it up for something.

[TransAm11973]

its possible that it used to be an auto. probobly. whoever cut the tunnel open did a horrible job, but I dont need to tell you that. I would def try to insulate that. It def was cut and not measure before hand, just like any old hack would do. Like i said get some rubber sheeting and cut a whole in the middle to go around the base of your shifter, epoxy the outer edges of the rubber to the sheet metal(where it was hacked), around the base of your shifter where the rubber meets the base, run a bead of RTV gasket maker around it, this will both waterproof it and allow for easy removal of the rubber around the base if you ever decide to change again. this will both insulate from road noise and keep dirt, rocks,rain, ANIMALS, etc out of that compartment. If you know of a better way go for it ,but definatley get that hole closed off!!!!

[blackhawk01]

yeah thats what i was thinking..could have been an auto..hell my car would have looked like that if it would have came auto..i would have changed that thing REAL quick lol

[Tyler_LS1]

Ok not trying to be a jerk(do I need to re-word my question??) I am asking about the jagged looking metal to the right and below the shifter if it seems I am asking about the shifter I am not sorry

no i know what your talking about i must not have said it right, i didnt know what they call that piece thats why i said shifter, it could be that it was an auto and they converted it to a stick.

[fastfirebird2002]

Well what I am mad about is that we are supposed to be the 2nd owners and the first owners were an elderly couple 55+ who bought the car new and only took it out on weekends and thats why it had 3100 on the odometer and it was 4 years old and the guy said they had never serviced the vehicle so now I am not so sure he isnt lying

[TransAm11973]

yeah i would be pretty pissed off if i were you. like i said get face to face and ask questions!

[Ryans99LS1]

I installed an MGW shifter on my mustang right before got rid of it. Mine looked the same but was cut neatly not all jagged like that. So the hole is normal sized and looks about the same as mine, it just looks like someone did a terrible job cutting it. My guess is someone swapped trannies.

[JonB]

Well what I am mad about is that we are supposed to be the 2nd owners and the first owners were an elderly couple 55+ who bought the car new and only took it out on weekends and thats why it had 3100 on the odometer and it was 4 years old and the guy said they had never serviced the vehicle so now I am not so sure he isnt lying

Did you run a carfax on it? That will atleast tell you how many owners there has been. It may even tell you if it was an auto or stick but don't qoute me on that I may be mistaken. You should be able to look at the codes on the door to find out if it went from and auto to stick. I would think if there was only one owner before you they would know the floorboards got chopped up.

[02ls1ram]

look likes they made it a 6speed car it was problay auto

[gspfunk]

I'm w/ them^^^^. Looks like someone did a Auto to 5speed swap. My 90LX looks kinda like that, but then again, I knew it had been converted when I bought it.

Get a carfax or call FoMoCo w/ the VIN. Also, if you can get the #'s off the computer (passenger side kick panel), you can probably use google to find out if it was an auto from the factory.

[02ls1ram]

yea i would write down the vin and look for a vin decoder on a forum or google or sumthin like that