2001 Manual Shift Knob
 

theres some extreme confusion about weather the 01 shift knob comes off or not, does it come off with extreme force or is the whole knob 1 peice...

another question, how do u remove the anoying feature where you have to put your car into reverse before removing the key.

It will come off. You have to twist it really hard. I turned mine to the right while pulling up, that seemed to work best. It's heatformed on there with these little spiked grooves. You'll see what I mean when you get the knob off.
To get rid of the reverse "lock" mechanism... take off the cover and shift boot. Reach down into your shifter area and disconnect the cable with the little orange clip on it. If I can find a picture I will post it up.

thanks i got the orange clip off, but when i did the little white plastic peice with the spring and ball poped out, still works fine thou. as for the shifter, couldnt get it off, ive heard from other ppl on this site that the 01 shift knob doesnt come off.

thanks

it does come off...you just gotta twist and pull up...its sank on there into a million lil splines that just dont let go

Once the stock knob is off what is left? I mean how do I go about replacing the knob with an aftermarket type once it comes off?

You're probably better off getting a B&M, Fidanza, etc... shifter if you have the $$$. You'll get shorter throws as a benefit.

On mine, there was no way the stock knob would come out. I had to cut the effer with a metal saw. I just cant remember why I cut it out though, since I got a complete short shifter assembly :lol:

Edit : Oh yeah there was a part that had to pass on the up part of the shifter but the knob was in the way.

Let me rephrase, if I want to keep the stock shifter can I put an aftermarket nob on it?

I have a have a short shifter. When I took the original shifter out I just disconnected the small cable on the bottom right of the shifter assembly (as stated above). the new shifter did not incorporate the option for the reverse lock. There is an extra small rod that extends from the original shifter to ensure that it locks in place after the key was removed. Not a big deal though. I assumed that this option was not extended to the aftermarket model to maintain compatibility with the cavalier/sunfire models.

As for the shift knob.. there was no way that mine was coming off. I huffed and I puffed... but no luck. I am pretty sure that in order to replace the shifter the knob had to be removed to save the plastic retainer that holds it in place. If you're not too concerned about the old shift knob you may have to use a wrench. As far as I'm aware the shift knob is removable on all models though. You just need to show it whose Boss ;)

you are left with a right hand threaded rod and the reverse collar. I think that alot of the aftermarket knobs that you can buy are fastened with small allen screws. Most wont work well with the reverse lockout on our shifters. You can buy an aftermarket weighted shift knob that is compatible with the reverse lockout.

Get a short shifter and a fancy knob. end of story.