B&M shifter install question

[S13Coupe]

I searched, but couldn't find this.

Need advice from someone that has taken apart a B&M shifter. I took mine apart and put the plate that bolts to the transmission on, but left the rest of the shifter out. I did this because the transmission was out of the car, and I thought that it would be easier to do it this way than to play hand yoga to get to those 2 front bolts while it's in the car.

Problem is that I did this a while back, and now I can't seem to get it back together right. When you put the shifter down into the plate, do the springs go in first, or the shifter? I hope someone knows what I'm asking, but the shifter didn't want to go down low enough so that I could bolt on the black top piece, but now that it's late, I'm thinking maybe I should have tried putting the shifter in before the springs. I wanted to make sure that I was doing it right though.

[kona240]

the shifter goes in first the the two little washers then the springs. my shifter was hard to put back in too. make sure the white bushing is on the end and in the hole in the transmission. then hit it lighty with a hammer on the top of the shifter.

[S13Coupe]

Thanks for the info, but I just figured it out a couple minutes ago. I called the B&M customer support number, and they helped me out. The guy said I should take the plate back off and put the shifter back together, then put it back on the transmission. I didn't want to have to do that because those to bolts that are so hard to get to, but it worked out. Damn that things feels tight though. I can't wait to get the rest of the accesories back on the car so I can get it running again and test out the shifter.