my new sundowner has a bit of a mess for the transmission tunnel. It had a type 9 at a previous stage that was attached to the floor, original gearbox mounts were cutout and now there is a large hole for the gearstick, including cutting into the tunnel reinforcement.
I want to set it up correctly from the start so i don't have to mess around with it later.
 
I'd like to leave the option to switch between 4 and 5 speed boxes.
Has anyone here done that?
 
If i use the cortina extension housing on the 4 speed does that make it about the same position for the gearstick as the 5 speed?
 
If i understand correctly from research, to get the type 9 to sit at the right angle it needs to sit higher into the tunnel than the 4 speed. Is that right? Is that what this raised selector plate is for and is that going to allow the whole box to come up enough?
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Ed, the easiest way to set the tunnel up is use a TC/TF 2.0 cortina gearbox as they are identical to escort except the stick is back a further 3in ,the same as the Sierra box. The body mounts won't line up but are close and then you can lightly modify (or make) the gearbox mount to suit.
The raised stick hump is for when a zetec is installed , the motor sits slightly higher over the Xmember and to keep things in line the raised tunnel was made to fix the rear tilt problem . Sierra box doesn't need this .
If you need the gearbox hole part for the tunnel they are easy to make up , i show how i did one on my Anglia build thread a few(10) years ago