Barton Short Throw Shifter With Shift Knob V6/GT 2011-2014

We recently started the modifications to our 2011 Mustang with a Roush axle back system. Now that our Mustang is sounding right, it's time to get it shifting right as well. The factory shifter leaves a lot to be desired, so today we're going to upgrade to a Barton shifter and their matching two post bracket. Both the shifter and the bracket are made in the USA using only the highest quality 6061 billet aluminum and 304 stainless steel. The shifter is going to reduce throws by approximately 40% and the bracket is going to decrease deflection, making the shifter a lot more accurate. The two post bracket is sold in kit form with the shifter. It is also available separately. You want to keep your stock shifter, adding the bracket is going to decrease deflections and still make the car shift a lot nicer. We do suggest using the bracket with the shifter for the ultimate performance.

For this installation you'll need a jack and jack stands or lift, 3/8 ratchet, 12-inch extension, 10-mm deep socket, 3/8 shallow socket, half inch wrench, flat-blade screwdriver or small pry bar and safety glasses.

We're going to start the installation inside the car by removing the factory shift knob. Our car has an aftermarket Boss 302 knob installed on it. It will unscrew counter clockwise making it pretty simple to remove. If you have a factory Boss 302, many times this knob is actually lock tighted on at which point you'll want to bolt it from the bottom. Now we're going to remove the top plate of the console and open up the rear storage. I'm going to pull up from the back. Slide the boot off and then unplug your trunk release and the traction control and set it aside.

Now we're going to pull back the sound deadening, and then remove the shifter seal. These four bolts get removed to pull the shifter out of the car. The bottom right bolt is pretty hidden by the transmission tunnel. We're going to remove the bracket down below to give us a little more play. Now remove the two nuts that hold on the bracket. Now we're ready to remove our stock brackets. On the passenger side there will be a little retaining clip and you'll have to remove that as well to get the bracket off. Now we can slide the bracket off the back of the shifter assembly. Here you can see a comparison between the stock shifter bracket and the piece by Barton. Even without changing the shifter you can tell it's going to make a big difference. Changing the shifter is going to give much shorter throws, as well.

Now that we removed the shifter bracket the four bolts to remove our stock shifter are much easier to access. We're going to pull the shifter and replace it with our Barton. Lifting the bolt up, pull the shifter straight up and straight off. Here again you can see a huge difference in quality between the Barton shifter and our stock shifter. The stock one is a thin metal plate with a plastic trim ring. The Barton is a much beefier unit to give us much more positive shift. Before we install the new shifter you have to pull this plastic cuff off the stock one and transfer it over, and we're ready to install. Want to make sure when we're installing the new shifter that this plastic cup fits into this opening in the transmission.

Now we're ready to bolt it down. Going to reinstall the original bolts and get them started and tighten them down. These tend to strip very easily so you want to get them snug but make sure you don't over crank them. Now we can go install our bracket. You want to install it with the Barton facing the backend of the car. We also need to remove this piece here first and install just the top half of the bracket. Slide the bracket up into place to the top of the tail of our shifter and push it up onto the original studs. Now, holding it in place, we'll reinstall the original retaining nuts. You don't want to tighten these down all the way. Just get them tight enough to hold it in place. We're going to install the lower part of the bracket. Again, just get them hand tight for now.

Now we'll tighten down the nuts that are holding the bracket to the floor and you'll want to tighten down the two bolts to the lower part of the bracket. Now we're ready to move back to the interior. Now we're ready to install our lower shift boot. This step may not seem terribly important, but if this isn't seated properly it's going to really affect the performance of the shifter. This ring here must be installed around the machine groove built into the shifter. We can put our sound deadening back into place and we can reinstall the top of our console. Don't forget to plug in your switches again. Now for the last step reinstall your shift knob. Installation finished. Shifter feels good but you're only going to really test the performance if you take it for a test drive. Barton is a huge improvement over the stock shifter. It goes into gear real easily, nice and short as well. Since this is the boss's car we want to take it easy. The Barton shifter performed exactly as advertised, short crisp shifts and no noticeable increase in noise or vibration. Installation should take you no more than around two hours. You'll be back on the road in no time.