I snagged a shifter from a 95-99 Sunfire from the junkyard so I could lengthen it below the ball, and noticed it doesn't have a centering spring on the left to right arm. Pulled the shifter out of the Cavalier today and it does have a spring. Does anyone know why they would be different, and would it be alright to leave the spring out (shimmed to make up the difference) of the Cavalier assembly after I swap shifters to do away with the left to right tension.

There were two styles used in the 95-99 cars, you have to use the one that matches what came out of your car.

After some searching it seems like they changed in '98, but from what I read they are interchangeable. Didn't have a chance to take my shifter assembly into work last night to compare to the one I have in my toolbox.

I'll make it even easier.... they didn't change somewhere in 98...

One assembly is for the getrag f23 transmission which is shown below..and only on j-bodies 00-05... end story, unless someone has done the swap.



If you have something different, and 75% metal assembly you have the one for the Isuzu transmission.

I'll make it even easier and post pics since I have done the swap.




Shifter in the car right now is the one from the junkyard from a pre '98 model (had 2.2L instead of 2200). It's been shimmed up to keep cables levelish and make room for the extra 1" added to the rod and 1/2" to the arm or it would have been on the floorboard, but it's a one piece stamped assembly without a spring on the arm.




Second shifter assembly is out of my '99 and is a two piece welded frame with a spring on the left-right arm.

On a side note, there's a HUGE difference in the throw with the extra inch welded in.