Install - Part IV
The beefy 3/4 shift rod was the one that would present an issue with clearance in the tunnel. It mounts to the outer 3/4 shift leg below the shifter body, and as luck would have it that leg already protruded out beyond the tunnel wall (see image 1 below). I installed the shift rod and wedged it up between the tunnel and the front of the trans side cover. That allowed me to mark the tunnel where 4" of the tunnel would need to be relieved along the back end of the rod (closest to the shifter body).
Instead of pounding or massaging the tunnel outward, I chose to slot the tunnel ahead of the shifter box and this allowed the back half of the shift rod to travel through the side of the tunnel closest to where it would attach to the shifter. After it was slotted, I continued with the sheet metal work and formed a 24ga tapered cover for the outside of the tunnel. This enclosed the slot I made for the shift rod and joined to the front of the shifter box I had just finished. Building this new side cover with a tapered front, it was 7/8" deep at the point where it joined the box, and tapered out to be flush at the leading edge.
Here you can see the outer shift leg for the 3/4 position rod is out beyond the side of the tunnel. This is why it needed to have the side of the tunnel slotted.
I marked out the chalk lines in the tunnel and transferred them through to the inside before making my lateral cuts.
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Only the first 4" of the slot would have the rod pass out through the side of the tunnel, but I decided to cover it with a longer tapered box that ran 8" forward of the box.
Cutting a longer slot than needed, a tapered box was made with it being 7/8" deep at the shifter end and feathered out to nothing at the front.
I added a coat of epoxy to the inner seams and once it was all done and welded into place, I sprayed a few coats of black paint to the tunnel side.