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Has anyone had experience connecting the Discovery 2's transmission shifter cable to a 6l80 transmission? Or using a GM shifter cable and setting it up with the Discovery shift lever?
I modified the Discovery 2 shifter bracket and lever to fit the 6L80 transmission but the cable is just a little too short to reach. Before I get too crazy, I was hoping someone else had already solved the problem.
Closing the loop on this post in case someone has the same question. I ended up doing the following, which is working pretty well.
I made a bracket to mount the Discovery 2's original shift cable bracket in place. It needs to hug the transmission as closely as possible to get in line. You can see I had a few iterations to get the alignment just right with the shift lever. I ended up with two layers of a thinner metal as it flexed a bit much. A thicker steel would be better but harder to bend.
I used the 6L80 shift lever on the transmission but drilled out the post where the GM shift cable connects. I drilled it out to fit an M6 bolt.
I attached an M6 heim joint to the end of the Discovery shift rod and then attached the heim joint to the 6L80 shifter bracket with an M6 bolt.
To attach the heim joint, I drilled and tapped two M5 holes in the heim joint for set screws. I also filled down a flat spot in the Discovery's shift rod so one of the set screws would hit a flat spot in the rod and have a groove so the rod can't pull out very easily. I may go back and use epoxy for a more permanent solution.
So far this approach works very well. Just be sure to test the bracket location on the 6L80 so you get the right distance between the bracket and the shift lever. If it's too close or too far then the interior shifter won't align (you can see my extra holes where my alignment was off). To find the right position, I put the 6L80 into neutral, pushed the Rover's shifter as far forward into the neural position as possible, and then set my bracket distance accordingly. This makes it possible to shift back into Manual mode and 2nd (although I'm not able to get all the way into first, which is beyond the travel of the Land Rover shifter).