older shifter thats a P.I.T.A.

grumpyvette

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Staff member
have you ever made a mistake in selecting a component for your car?
I sure did a few times, but thats one route to learning and in most cases, how you learn, and its amazing how a small component like a shifter can effect your whole attitude about a car.

I just today had my memory refreshed when a buddy stopped by to show me a new project car he purchased, its a 1967 GTO, (I got this picture off the Internets his looks very similar except his cars a very dark metallic green, it looked great
,I wish I owned that car! because it sure looked great

1967_pontiac_gto-pic-43343.jpg

the only problem was it had a mister gasket manual shifter on its muncie manual trans that I learned very quickly to detest!
when I built my first really serious drag race car from a fully tubed and roll cage equipped 1968 corvette with a dana 60 rear and 4 link suspension , back in the early 1970s, I had several experienced friends help me because at the time my welding and fabrication skills were really not up to the task.
Id purchased the car as a stripped out previous stolen insurance buy back car which was a good deal as 90% of the crap the thieves stole was crap I didn,t need or want in a race car, like the original engine, interior and rear differential.
I had a local race car suspension shop install the roll cage per the NHRA specs and local track rules along with a 15 gallon fuel cell, and the 4 link rear suspension, with a dana 60 rear I SUPPLIED which at the time had 4.56:1 rear gears.
I already had a built 496 big block engine and a m22 4 speed manual trans and lakewood blow proof bell housing.
when it came time to select a shifter I went to the local MURRYS auto and they showed me the very latest, shifter it was a vertical gate MR GASKET design that I was told was faster and more durable than a typical HURST shifter/... its was a TOTAL PIECE OF CRAP IN MY OPINION FROM DAY ONE!
now to be fair if you were drag racing it allowed fast sure up shifts as it was designed to do
,
but it was a huge P.I.T.A. if you wanted to do anything except shift to the next higher gear and it made down shifts a hit or miss random and almost unpredictable exercise.
the shifter worked fine if the car was started in low gear and each shift was at full throttle to the next higher gear, but anything else was miserable to do.
heres a few pictures of that shifter offered by MR GASKET I saw on the internet

mrg1.JPG

mrg2.JPG

mrg3.JPG

http://garage.grumpysperformance.co...y-to-adjust-my-hurst-four-speed-shifter.2936/


viewtopic.php?f=71&t=2936&p=7698&hilit=hurst#p7698

http://www.hurst-shifters.com/?wpsc_pro ... l-shifters

hurstshifter1.jpg

11739HurstShiftLinkage_Muncie.jpg


THE Hurst competition plus allowed smooth shifts in either direction

I swapped to a HURST shifter as soon as my funds allowed and never regretted the swap to the traditional hurst shifter
 
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Grumpy did you ever have any experience with the hurst ramrod shifter? I believe this was the first vertical gate shifter available.

20180203_182107-1814x2419.jpg

I picked this one up about a month ago for a ton cheaper than they go for. I've heard it was a lot better than the mr gasket version. Its hard to see but the step for second gear is a smidge lower than first which allows you to shift to second gear without holding the t-handle up. From a trial run in the vice this proves to be valid.
 
I don,t remember the name or working on something that looked like that picture,
but it might just need a good clean-up lube and adjustment,
I hope you carefully cleaned and de-greased the bolt threads and used carb cleaner spray to de-grease and flush the female threaded bolt holes in the trans and put a couple drops of loc-tite on those shifter bracket bolt threads, so it stays firmly fastened or youll eventually find that your back under the car duplicating that effort.
 
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I don,t remember the name or working on something that looked like that picture,
but it might just need a good clean-up lube and adjustment.
I hope you carefully cleaned and de-greased the bolt threads and used carb cleaner spray to de-grease and flush the female threaded bolt holes in the trans and put a couple drops of loc-tite on those shifter bracket bolt threads, so it stays firmly fastened or youll eventually find that your back under the car duplicating that effort.

I'll definately report back on it. Though I got it for cheap there was no linkage. The guy I bought the shifter from introduced me to a guy named gary pena that drag raced for dick landy and built cars/bikes professionally for 50+ yrs and he's going to help me build the linkage for it as well as modify my chassis and rearend.

Not sure if you've seen this video thats been going around on the internet but pretty sure its the shifter above.

 
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