Hardest part is getting to know your Studebaker's eccentricities. On my Silver Hawk, I had to go up past the shift point, back down a tad then into second. On my current car it snaps at the shift point up to second. Turning after a stop sign and shifting into second simultaneously can be a fun little bit of driving. Overall three on the tree is pretty simple.
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i guess, with the you sliding in the bench seat from the turn , trying to move the lever away from you and up, while , getting thrown back in the seat while accelerating ....... risky? -
I hope you're being facetious, because most of the cars we had in those days were not fast enough to do that. Even my 300hp 62 Chevy with vinyl seats wouldn't do that. No matter what you're doing, you should be able to reach the shift lever. (And we all installed seat belts in cars that didn't have them originally).
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What hasn't been mentioned is the fact that bucket seats became popular in ordinary American sedans in the 1960s, and were often associated with (supposedly more sporty) floor shifts, sometimes even with 3-speed floor shifts. With front seating for only two people, the original reason for the column shift pretty much disappeared.
I've had two vehicles with column shift for 50+ years each and something like 175K miles (62 Impala and 54 Stude pickup) and (like Bob Miles) have never even thought about it being difficult or weird. It was just the way one drove.Skip LackieComment
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Josephine used to be 3 speed manual & column so when I put the torqflite in I just used one of the two rods from the original Studebaker stuff & it worked fine; didn't even have to replace any of the bushings & I just added an alu piece in front of the steering wheel with the pattern on. Sorry, no good pic of it:
Then later on I got a Hurst stick & made my own setup screwed onto the trans + a rod & geezus that was way tighter shifting!Comment
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It is an easy fix to repair the linkages for a column shift Studebaker. One, many of the vendors have the linkages for both 6 and V8 models. Second, with a shop manual and the exploded drawings you can either make the parts needed or have a good machine shop duplicate the parts. Most of the time I have ever had a problem is not with the linkage but with the shaft that connects the linkage from the clutch to the column to the transmission levers. The other problem is when the linkage is worn and will cause the jam from 1st to 2nd. You can deal with worn shift linkage by a change in how you shift, if you don't want to replace the parts.Comment
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[QUOTE=6hk71400;n1998664 Most of the time I have ever had a problem is not with the linkage but with the shaft that connects the linkage from the clutch to the column to the transmission levers. [/QUOTE]
What?? None of the eleven vehicles I've had that had column shifts , or any of the floor shifts, have ever had any connection at all between their shifters or transmission shift levers and the clutch.
I also agree, fixing a sloppy column shift is usually really easy. That aforementioned, 1st to 2nd jam is usually caused by worn "dogs" on the shift arm of the shifter assembly. It's also easy to fix but requires disassembly of the steering column and repair or replacement of the shifter arms.
If your column shifter is correctly adjusted and isn't so loose as to be rattling out of the car, shifting with two fingers and little to no effort should be the norm. All eleven of mine have been this way. I never had ANY issue with any of them, which is more than I can say about the externally mounted floor shifts I've had or encountered.
To be honest; most of those eleven column shift, and some floor shifted vehicles, I've had eventually ended up with automatic transmissions for one reason or another, none of which had anything to do with a shifter problem. Most were because of complete drive train swaps or body/chassis swaps but some like my GT were due to catastrophic transmission failures.
I can't tell what exactly Mason is talking about with his comments to posts. Evidently he drives in a much different way and world than I.
Also, again Mason, adjust your seat properly and wear your seat belt. This will stop you from sliding around and keep you from needing to reach in order to shift.Comment
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The 2004R is a decent trans, it just won't take a LOT of abuse and is usually more difficult to fit in place of a TH350 than a 700R4. But depending on the application it does have better gearing. IF, I was to replace a 2004R with a stick It wouldn't be an ancient three speed, I have a pile of those; it would be a Tremec 5 or 6 speed, if not a Lenco. Then again, I do tend to USE (beat the hell out of) my stuff but keep it in good nick.
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Last edited by DEEPNHOCK; 08-05-2023, 01:02 AM.HTIH (Hope The Info Helps)
Jeff
Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please. Mark Twain
Note: SDC# 070190 (and earlier...)Comment
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the reason i ask is Studebaker Restoration here locally; i visited tommy last week and the Studes he's got over there and working on are awesome, he has a complete 3 on the tree, he can swap over, and the estimate i got for the 200-4r also close by, from the renown art carr is edging to 7k, i get an overdrive either way, still researchingComment
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The shift tubes DO wear out. It causes a lot of the first to second gear looseness.Comment
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Jeff back in 1968 I taught my then girlfriends brother how to drive on a car his dad purchased for him, a 1963 Ford Fairlane which had three on the tree, very easy, but have not driven a car like that since maybe 1969.Originally posted by DEEPNHOCK View PostComment
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Gosh, something to make me feel really old: I can't imagine people NOT knowing how to drive a manual shift car with 3-on-the-tree, but it's true! I learned how to drive a manual shift car in 1960 on a 1956 Chevy that belonged to a girl friend's mother. It took about 10 minutes to get the hang of it. My 1941 Commander has a column shift, the 1948 M5 and 1932 Indy car have floor shifts. The '41 Commander shifts easily , especially if you pause a bit when changing gears, just needs finger tip attention. When I have to take the cars for their state inspections every year, I have to ask specifically if the youngsters know how to drive and shift them. Against the state inspection rules, they sometimes have me drive the cars into the official inspection areas monitored by TV cameras. But, even my 1965 Wagonaire with automatic transmission has a now non-standard shift pattern that requires me to point out where Drive and Reverse are on the column. I was taught that D=drive, L= leave 'em, and R = Race. Be careful how you use this information!Gary Ash
Dartmouth, Mass.
'32 Indy car replica (in progress)
’41 Commander Land Cruiser
'48 M5
'65 Wagonaire Commander
'63 Wagonaire Standard
web site at http://www.studegarage.comComment
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I spent some anxious moments trying to teach a young lady how to double clutch back into first while the car was moving. I soon gave that up in order to save the transmission. (Circa 1963. Car was a 53 ford)American iron, real old school
With two tone paint, it sure is cool
Its got 8 cylinders and uses them all
With an overdrive that just won't stall
With a 4 barrel carb and dual exhausts
With 4.23 gears it can really get lost
Its got safety belts and I ain't scared
The brakes are good and the tires are fair.
Tried to sell her, but got no taker
I"ll just keep driving my StudebakerComment
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I agree with Gary; it's hard to realize that there are people who never have & don't know how to drive a 3 speed manual column.
When I met Sonja I had a -67 chebby wagon with auto trans but that didn't matter cuz she didn't have a license yet but when she was gonna learn to drive I / we had a -62 Savoy without any fancy stuff exept power brakes & we drove out to an industrial area one sunday & I left her alone in the car for her to train on what I told her & it didn't take long before she did it all & good too.
So I reckon that if you just sit in the car & concentrate you'll be awryte soon enough!
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My first car restoration was a ‘41 Chevy special deluxe business coupe. It featured a “vacuum shift”, in that you really needed only fingertips to shift. Mine though, for some reason 2-3 was quite difficult, but 1-2 was but a fingertip.Comment
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When I taught a 29 year old who had not yet got a driver license, I had a 3 speed column shift 1970 Hornet After a few rock and roll starts, I hit on the idea to go vacant gravel lot, got out and had Don over and over again start and stop until he would get a smooth take off and stop.
This was 1972 and I suppose there are not any gravel lot any more. I used the same lot to have him parallel park, which at that time it was a requirement to pass the driving test. So Don and I were in our uniforms and Don took the written test. I stepped out of the office and went by my car so he would take the written test. Don came out with his license
He said get in the car and then told me it was a retired Colonel working at the DMV and pencil whipped his license.
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