How technical will you get on an afternoon project? If you’re deep in the guts of an engine, trans or axle, you’re going to be in deep, that’s just the nature of the beast. But what if you’re doing something a little less pointed, like pulling off the door panel. Do you fix any clips you break? Why not? Those clips were fit on for a reason, and every time you ignore another clip you let the car go a little bit closer to the junkyard. That’s not hyperbole…those tiny parts add up over time. One missing screw turns into one new rattle, one new rattle becomes a broken part, and as those add up, at some point somebody says “enough” and leaves the car to face death alone.

The Pontiac Fiero that Ronald Finger has been restoring for a while now is nearing the very end of it’s phoenix-like resuscitation. Every last part has been touched, cleaned, inspected, prepared, and refinished…except one: the shifter. Now 95% of the shifter isn’t seen…it is  hidden underneath the shift boot and console. But if you’re going to take on a restoration, you need to do the project right and down to the last little detail, there can be no accusation that the Fiero is being done right. Here’s how the shifter unit got cleaned up and put back to proper condition: