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How difficult is it to change shift cables and install the LETSLA?

13K views 50 replies 14 participants last post by  rek3  
#1 ·
I just did the Stan's and Reinforcer mods, for my ability, I rated the difficulty level as 3. Trying to decide if I should just have a shop do it, expected labor cost to be about $400-$500.

For reference, I installed headers and electric cutouts on a 2002 Z06 by myself in the garage many years ago.
Thanks,
 
#6 ·
Thanks!
I'll check them out.
Do you recommend that I change the cables as well? Will that increase to the difficulty level?
There's alot more disassembly to replace the cables. You have to remove them from the shifter mechanism and get under the car to reroute, which is a bit tedious but not hard. If your cables aren't damaged, you might want to decide if you want to do it now or wait. But the new cables are much higher quality and avoid the eventual wear that the original cables will experience.

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#5 ·
 
#7 ·
At 50K miles when I replaced cables with SCC cables the difference was very noticeable as was the wear on the old cables. You can see the elongation of the pivot hole in this photo.
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owns 2006 Lotus Elise
#8 ·
You need to remove the cables from the trans end to do the Letsa, by definition. You should remove the console to allow adjustment after.
So the only increase in complexity is fishing the new cables through.
Not nothing but not that difficult, although I did not bother
 
#10 ·
As we do alot of transmission rebuilds, I have a couple comments on the LETSLA. Basically, great care must be taken that it is setup correctly such that the lever throws are right. Many, many times transmission issues were caused by incorrect setup. I am not bashing the product, it seems to be well-built, just that it needs to be installed carefully and diligently with lots of testing to make sure it is right. If you have a shifting issue and you just installed a LETSLA, it is the first place to look!
 
#15 ·
I just picked up my 2008 Elise SC from my local Lotus dealer. They installed the entire Ultimate ShiftR111 Package with cables and everything. They charged 4.5 hours and it was worth every penny. The installed seemed like it was very time consuming and challenging given my current tool collection and such
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Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#16 ·
Mine was the first customer install of the LETSLA . 2007 Exige. Troy developed it for/on the 05 Elise I sold him. Drove to his house so he could install it. He told me I could install it, but I preferred he do it. He had a few challenges, especially in adjusting the thing.

At the end of the day, it's just’ unscrewing some things, then re-screwing others. There are some tight places and things you have to do by feel because you can’t see what you’re doing.
 
#17 ·
I like tinkering, so "unscrewing some things, then re-screwing others" is the fun part for me, but what I'm kinda worried about is the adjusting the cables part. Seems like it's a subjective thing, different people prefer the throw differently. I'm not sure if any damage to the trans will happen if I adjust the cables to my liking, but it's not the right way,...
 
#19 ·
I did mine years ago with no difficulty. Here is a golden hint. If you want to lift and remove the center console to adjust the cables at the front, you may not need to , but if you do then after removing the alloy handbrake sleeve the handbrake lever won’t lift high enough to remove the console. If you remove one rear tire and simply disconnect the cable at that end the the handbrake lever will lift to nearly vertical and it is easy to get the console out. I ran the LETSLA with stock cables for years and it was great. Good luck.
 
#28 ·
I figured it out. For some reason, the photos from the install instructions didn't show up, must be my computer. I opened it up on my son's computer, and all photos were there. Anyways, I've attached a photo of where I'm at. The metal sleeve is on the crossgate cable, with hose clamp tightened at the bottom so that the sleeve cannot slide on the cable. The OEM rubber boot will go back on, covering that metal tube.
Thanks!!
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#29 ·
Ah, OK. I see the clamps and tubes are shown in Troy's install instructions as you show them. Because I am using SSC cables, I asked Troy if I should use the tubes and he said no. So that's why they aren't detailed in my video and I didn't remember the clamps. Does the cable move freely through the tube? What's the hose clamp doing? He doesn't appear to cover the clamps with the gator in the instructions but that would make me nervous. Water could easily get between the cable and jacket and damage them without it. I don't know if you'll be able to get the gator over the hose clamp but I would try. I've had a broken gator and had luck with cutting a section of a road bike innertube and stretching it over the gator and jacket end to seal it off.

I'm still not sure what the tubes do. I don't think there's a need to keep the cables straightened as they enter the jacket.
 
#30 ·
I guess the tube protects the black OEM sheath? It has a stop on the inside that only allows it to slide down and only covers the black sheath of the cable. The stop is where the red line is in the photo. The clamp tightens the metal tube against the black sheath. Yes, cable moves freely inside the metal tube.
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#33 ·
It's not. The clip should be on the other side of the bracket. Take the clips off, pull the cables further until the groove that's closest to the flange is on the other side, and then press the clips into the groove. The spot where you've got the clips now isn't the correct groove. You have to pull a bit and then make sure the clip is in the groove. Then press hard to get the clip all the way on.
 
#36 ·
When I had the cables not in the right groove, with clips on wrong, shifting was weird, very hard to get into reverse. Now that the cables are in the right place, things feel great! HUGE improvement with all 3 mods done. Thanks a lot for all your help!! Save me a 2 hour drive and about $400 for a shop to do it.
 
#39 ·
A little update:
I previously said that the improvement is huge over the stock feel, and that sentiment still stands. Everything is just more solid and precise, exactly what I'm looking for. However, I'm finding that going into 1st and 2nd is very hard, the other gears are butter. I'm not quite sure where to make adjustments, at the shifter (extend the crossgate cable by a few threads) or at the transmission (selecting a different hole in crossgate lever) ? I left the rod ends for both cables at the same holes like how they came from Troy. Attached is a photo of their positions.
Thanks,

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