truck 3 speed floor shifter?

[supersonictoys]

has anyone installed a floor shifter on a truck 3 speed that originally came with column shift? my columns shift mechanism is so sloppy worn out that its almost imposible to find the gear you want. anyone ever done this or even have an extra shifter laying around? thanks

[PackardV8]

1. Very easy conversion, since the center floor pan unbolts to get at everything
2. You'll be horrified at the grease and road crud collected on top of the transmission. I removed the mat and the center floor pan, sprayed it with GUNK and then drove it to the local car wash and washed it off from the top down. Take plenty of old towels, cause it makes a huge mess. There isn't any easy way.
3. Don't get hypnotized by the continuous chant, "HURST, HURST, HURST" going on right now in the background. There were several almost as good three-speed conversions available. I have successfully used many other brands, including B&M, Mr Gasket, Speed-O-Motive and Ansen. Use what you find - they all work.
4. Finding a long enough shift lever with the correct curve is the most difficult part of a truck conversion. I did one by buying a wrecking yard 4-speed truck lever and welding on the flat bolt mounting area from a shorter car lever. The weld was hidden under the boot.
5.Keep your column linkage and parts to pass along to someone who wants to do a correct restoration

thnx, jack vines

PackardV8

[supersonictoys]

LOL, the hurst chant got to me but it wasnt as bad as you might expect. bought a long truck 3 speed floor shifter with all linkage and mounting stuff from summit racing for $119 complete. did have to buy a boot from them though as it didnt come included ($11 for the boot). unfortunately my truck has no removeable floor plate in the shifter area. it has a small welded in plate where a 4 speed lever might go on the other side of the hump and way up right next to the fire wall there is a removeable cover but its probably 8 inches ahead of the shifter area. cant imagine what it would be for. anyway, here is a link to the shifter I boughthttp://store.summitracing.com/partde...&view=1&N=700+

[mbstude]

What year/model truck do you have? All of the C-cabs have the removable panel. Is your's a Champ (T cab)?

Matthew Burnette

[Guest]

I bought the same one from Summit for my '63 T-Cab. Works fine on the T-85 OD, 'cept it hits the seat.

Western Washington, USA

[Mark57]

quote:Originally posted by supersonictoys

has anyone installed a floor shifter on a truck 3 speed that originally came with column shift? my columns shift mechanism is so sloppy worn out that its almost imposible to find the gear you want. anyone ever done this or even have an extra shifter laying around? thanks

That's what I have installed in my truck... a 289 with a T-86 O/D in behind with a 3 spd. floor shifter. Just keep in mind that you will have to disengage the O/D before you can put it into reverse gear. Wish I could tell you the details of the install, but it came this way when I bought it.

<h5>Mark
'57 Transtar Deluxe
Vancouver Island </h5>

[Transtar60]

Mark if he is using a floor shift that uses the external arms of the original shift fork(or bolts on where they did), to the inside of the tranny its the same as if he was using the column shifter.
I believe yours has the "Jeep style" top of case conversion, does it not??
The Champ has a cover over the center of the hump where the floorshift of a stock truck tranny would come up. Using an aftermarket shifter, may call for sawzall work since the shifter will mount toward the left side I believe.




3E38
4E2
4E28
5E13
7E7
8E7
8E12
8E28

59 Lark
etc

[Mark57]

quote:Originally posted by Transtar60

Mark if he is using a floor shift that uses the external arms of the original shift fork(or bolts on where they did), to the inside of the tranny its the same as if he was using the column shifter.
I believe yours has the "Jeep style" top of case conversion, does it not??

Charlie - Your assumption is correct. Mine is the "jeep" type conversion.

<h5>Mark
'57 Transtar Deluxe
Vancouver Island </h5>

[gordr]

You might want to look at the shifter used by GM in some of their small cars. I know specifically the Monza had it, but I ASSume Vegas and Skyhawks also used it.

Shifter is built into a "cup" that fastens to the car floor, and connects to the side levers with linkage rods. I had a V8 Monza with Saginaw 4-speed, and it had this style shifter. It would not be hard to configure it as a 3-speed shifter, and merge it into the floor of a Studebaker.

Shifters bolted right to the tranny tend to telegraph a lot of noise. By attaching the shifter base to the floor, that problem is avoided.

Gord Richmond, within Weasel range of the Alberta Badlands

[Alan]

Gord, If you had driven an old Monza with the Saginaw 4 speed you would not want the shifter in your Stude mounted to the body. Every time you get on the gas hard the shift rods would jam and you could not get it into 3 gear with out letting up.

[gordr]

Funny, Alan, mine never had that problem, Maybe you had one with a bad motor mount.

They are a real little tin can of a car though. Fun for a while.

Gord Richmond, within Weasel range of the Alberta Badlands

[PackardV8]

It's not just the Monza. Any car Alan ever owned eventually had problems with the shift linkage. Have him tell the story about bang-shifting the T86 in his '53 coupe with the 232" race motor at 7,500 RPMs and having it hang in second gear. Then, he had to drive it all the way home like that with a 5.38 rear gear.

thnx, jack vines

PackardV8

[Guest]

I have a 3 spd w/OD that came out of a '56 Hawk. I've been wanting to put it into a Champ truck I have. And I wanted floor shift. I bought a top-loader shifter on EBay. It has two shift forks. The seller said these were used on Jeeps with T86 3 spd. A local transmission shop told me they did not see how it could be made to work with my transmission. The bolt pattern on the top plate is the same- they just couldn't see how the fork arrangement could go from the side to the top. And they couldn't see how you would plug the holes in the side where the old shift rods go in. Anybody ever done this? - thanks -

[PackardV8]

that little "search" button in the upper right corner is magic:

http://www.studegarage.com/overdrive.htm

BTW, don't take it back to that tranny shop. They didn't want your business.

thnx, jack vines

PackardV8

[BeeJay]

Back in the 50's when I had my first Stude (53 C Commander, I used a pickup truck top loader shift mechanism on my three speed OD. Worked like a champ except it wouldn't back up. You could hear the gears tuen, but the car wouldn't move. Being a very young man at the time, I drove the car that way for several months. On time, being nesr a Stude dealer, I stopped in the service department and talked to the Trans service man. Seems that the side shifter has a pin that automatically locks out the OD. The top loader did not have this and the car wouldn't back up while OD was engaged. Had to manually disengage OD before reversing. Only other problem was on a hard shift to second gear, the shifter would change stations on my radio.

Bob

Own '53 Commander Starliner. Red w/beige top. 350 Chev/700R4. Tilt,cruise,A/C.http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j3...ontheBeach.jpg