Howdy,

1955 2nd, 3 spd with o/d.

Can anybody tell me if they've tried to convert thier column shift to a floor shift with a 3 spd with o/d. The Hurst kit doesn't seem to fit the tranny if you have one with o/d on it. Does anyone else make a kit? I don't really have the capability to fabricate brackets for this shifter. My old column shifter was shot - I even tried a new shift box but couldn't get 3rd to work.

Thanks in advance for any help.

KO

How is the overdrive activated? Is it really a 4th gear? Or converter lockup? Or an aftermarket overdrive altogether?

You might look at the Hurst and B&M shifters that use a steel cable instead of solid linkages. That might be more of what you need.

__________________
1997 BMW M3 - 3.2litre Inline 6 cylinder

Sounds like you're talking about one of the old style three speed transmissions with a Borg Warner OD on the back. If you can't fab brackets you have one choice that I know of -- a floor mounted (not transmission mounted) shifter. Hurst used to make one for vans that had a base plate that mounted to the floor, not the tranny. That would work, but I'm not sure if they still make it. I don't know of any other aftermarket shifter like that. You may have to shorten the shift lever.

The only other option I can think of is to check e-bay or www.ramblerparts.com and see if you can find a Rambler "Twin-Stick" shifter. You'll need the "hump" adapter also (a metal "hump" that screws to the tranny tunnel). You'd have to modify that hump slightly to fit you floor. The Twin-Stick shifter is a three speed shifter that bolts to the adapter, not the trans. On the right side of the shifter is a short shift lever that the OD lock-out cable connects to. Get that cable too if you can, though a heavy duty choke type cable can be made to work. Another neat feature is the kic-down switch is on the shift knob.

The Rambler Twin-Stick was designed to shift like a five speed, but it won't work that way with a standard three speed trans. The TS three speed had a big gap between 2nd and 3rd gear. This allowed shifting 1-2-2OD-3-3OD. It wasn't fast, but gave five forward speeds. The kick-down switch was on the shift knob so you could easily kick out of OD between 2OD and 3rd, and from 3OD down shifting to 3rd. There were a lot more relays and wiring to accomodate all this too, or you'd stand a good chance of blowing the OD unit! It can't have ANY pressure on it when shifting in and out of OD. That's why the free-wheeling clutch in the back and the ignition cut-off in the wiring for going into OD.

Howdy,

Thanks for your responses. Some more info. Tranny is just the old regular 3 spd with the o/d mounted on the back. The o/d has a speed switch and at 27-32 it will activate to engage the o/d. A speed switch will drop it out if you need the acceleration or you can manually do it with a cable on the left side of the dash.

I'm still working the column shifter but it's sloppy and not very cool. I've got an email into Hurst tech but no response so far. Phone call yielded long times on hold.

Thanks again for the ideas.

KO

http://go.mrgasket.com/pdf/shifters_accessories.pdf might have what you need.