How do you remove the metal plate around the shifter ? Its all scratched up and I want to polish the scratches out....

 

Thats tough to do. As I remember it you have to remove the console the surrounds it and there are clips that hold it the the shifter housing. You will also have to remove the shifter. Let me know if you need to know how to remove the shifter

 

Wow,maybe I'll just sand the scratches out while its still in the car...I would rather take it down with my buffer but oh well....

 

That's what I would suggest. I buffed mine out before I converted. When you fix it you will be amazed how careful you are. It looks great when it is all fixed.

 

Here is a post I did a while back for an installation of a tiptronic paddle-shift steerign wheel, which required me to remove the shift "bezel" to tap into the tiptronic wires. Not too hard to do, no special tools needed.
Paddle-shift steering wheel install

Once the bezel is off, just use a coarse grit to remove the shiney finish, then work your way to finer grits (in one direction only) until you get the desired finish. I did nto bother with the sides or the inner edges of the shifter slot or indicator lights. I left those shiney for some contrast. Doing so, it will look like this:

 

That's the best way to do it. I removed my plate completely. After I had to take out the console to get to all the clips the sand it while the plate is still attached is the best method. Nice final job ...looks great