LS Nova - TCI Blackout Diablo Shifter Install 

Awesome, I appreciate it! Excited for you and your new inheritance :)

Awesome! I can’t remember doing that but glad I did too!

Yeah it’s super close! Those rivnuts were a life saver. I’m having a hard time finishing mine too. It’s in wiring prison right now and wiring is so not fun!!

Bad Luck Garage thank you! I get that.. a ratchet would shift faster. I just couldn’t find the perfect style I wanted for this car and I figured if I ever got really serious about going extra fast then I could tune the shift points on my transmission. This will be good for now on the streets till the hunger takes over haha

Brother I’m really liking the look of that shifter and you’re right, one of the advantages of having an electronically controls transmission is that you don’t have to shift for yourself. You can tune them to do exactly what you want. The only reason the DR Nova has a ratchet shifter is because it was already in it when Ray bought it so I just ordered the four speed indicator from B&M, pulled the low gear pun out of the shifter and rolled with it. Same for project SteppinWolf. I had bought the B&M Hammer shifter years before I did the LS swap when it just had a TH400 in it and adapted it over to the 4L80 when I did the swap but when I was at the track I would just put it in D3 since I had the shift points set where I wanted them already. 😉 Seriously though I absolutely live what you’ve done to this Nova so far. Shifter included.

Bad Luck Garage if I would of had a shifter already I would have used it in a second too! I really appreciate the encouraging words you always have towards my build! I super appreciate it! I’m looking forward to what you do next with the camaro! Keep up the great videos, they are greatly appreciated as well :)

ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-1wkgqcD-is4.html Fast forward to 7:00 in and I explain what I did and show photos. Another guy showed me and it works great!

Also, I love the riv nut idea. Where did you get those and the installing tool? I am installing a TCI shifter in my Chevelle I’m restoring.

@@MrGriffin23 Ah.. I see, another was trying to explain that and it made no sense to me. I couldn't do this because I had to completely remove factory linkage for my headers to clear on drivers side. Is it annoying still having your column rotate with shifts?

@@MrGriffin23 I got the tool kit from Amazon.. I think it was around $100 for the tool with 6 dies and some packs of riv nuts. Its Astro brand I beleive.

BillyFargon Actually after I posted this I realized my set up is a bit bit different than yours. Mine is originally a floor shifter (grand National/Turbo T) not a column like yours, so all I was doing was keeping the originally functionality of the linkage and mainly the neutral safety switch by welding that piece on. So you are correct for yours the column would still rotate if u did it the way I did.

Mike Stobbs awesome, thank you! I’m your first subscriber so get that content coming :)

Stan Mendoza thank you! Your comments keep me motivated!

Nice! Did you end up getting the same shifter or the outlaw version? What engine and trans are you running?

Glad the video helped! Bummed your parts broke! I know the feeling :(

Victor Baker Jr that sounds weird, I have never heard of it done that way.. hmm.. old linkage is already out and I only need to connect a couple wires to make that stuff work. I feel like the less moving parts the better!

It would work like a stock column

Victor Baker Jr I must just not be following... I don’t want the factory column to work :/

Clint Cochrane the dash is all factory, it didn’t come with a radio so it was the cheap model :) but I like it not having a radio there! Door panels are all stock base model too

@@BillyFargon I really like that radio plate thing. Same with those door panels. I have been considering doing something similar with my panels.

Brad McILvaine I’m not sure, I only had to change from 3 to 4 speed and that was a set screw. I do know the instructions sucked :(

Thank Bill.

I don’t remember the length of cable but it’s whatever came with shifter. I have it going through floor, it heads to passenger side, then loops over to drivers and length is perfect,

@@BillyFargon Great, I’ll measure it out in the morning when I have the car in the shop. Thanks for the details to measure by.

There was actually nothing wrong with the column shift at all. But... when I switched to Dakota digital dash I just thought it would be cleaner to move it to floor and my direction for the car is changing to more aggressive.

@@BillyFargon ohh ok makes scene thank u

Jacob Deem thank you!

Aw man! That sounds like something I would do too :/ can you make some kind of trim ring to hide the mess up?

@@BillyFargon I'm not good at making things and dont have the tools to do so. In my head peeling the carpet at that seemed like a good idea until I peeled it lol. Carpet was there before i got the car and that's well over 12 years

infamousnova so did it tear awkwardly? Can you just glue it back down? Bummer :(

@@BillyFargon like it had some weird stuffing under it. On top of that my dipstick tube wont fit the block. It goes in to easy with no resistance and that's what holley recommends for there oil pan. Wishing I went Big Block right about now lol.

The one that came with it

Dell Jr that’s how mine is too :)

@@BillyFargon I got mad at my install guy blaming him for either installing a defective part or poor install. The more common stuff from TCI and even B&M you can actually know for sure it's in 1st, 2nd,3rd, ect... because it clicks into position and it stays there until the driver shifts it. This Diablo shifter has a sloppy 1st-2nd-Drive, it dont click, it just slides around. Have you smashed your finger trying to get into Park yet? Ive got pinched good a few times on day 1. It looks cool tho.

Dell Jr maybe I wasn’t totally following you.. so with mine when pulling handle back from 3-2 you only really feel the clicking from the trans itself.. 2-1 you obviously bottom out on shifter.. then the other way.. 1-2 it’s kind nice cause you can just smack it upshift then you gotta handle it into 3 or 4. It was kinda weird at first cause it’s not a ratchet shifter but I try to treat it like one.. I’m used to it now though and I enjoy it. Don’t even have too look down much! I pinched my finger a few times at the beginning and learned fast to change my method cause it freaking hurt haha!!

@@BillyFargon Yea, that pinch is real. The first thing I noticed about Diablo was how it didnt click from 1st to 2nd like a traditional ratchet shifter, but the Diablo does operate like a ratchet in Drive, N-P-R. I still like, I'll just need to learn it better. If Diablo did ratchet shift all through the spectrum it would be perfect A+ for looks and operations.

Dell Jr to me you can’t beat the look of it and the handle feels awesome to me. I have no regrets with it yet!