55.2-59 Console Manual shifter

[MD2020]

So I have a Muncie m22 4 speed and the Hurst shifter knob/stick is about 24" tall.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The shifter stick bolts to the shifter linkage about 1" off the floor

I want to make a console but the long swing from gear to gear my console would need to be lower at the shifter movement area or a big open area.
Is there any kind of shifter extension/linkage so all the movement would be up higher with a shorter stick?

Here are 2 quick ideas I drew up but something I could buy may be the way to go.

[mr48chev]

I've got that same handle on the 3 speed Hurst Shifter in my 48 and had it on the 4 speed shifter I had in it back in the late 70's.

The lever doesn't actually move that far at seat level or shouldn't if it is set up right. Meaning you build the console with an opening for the shift lever that is large enough for the lever to move at the top of the console.

[MD2020]

I will bolt the shifter on tomorrow and see

[mr48chev]

This is the 4331 shift handle you have except I don't think yours is welded on. https://www.ebay.com/itm/28480890434...MAAOSwSLZieqyy

From the weld above the bolt holes to the all it is 16-1/2 inches. That puts it about three inches above a stock truck seat. https://www.ebay.com/itm/28480890434...MAAOSwSLZieqyy

It's not going to be way up in the air like a Roth cartoon shifter or even up like a stock AD truck 4 speed shifter.

[leegreen]

If you have too much swing on the shifter I'd look at modifying the shift linkage so you could mount the pivot higher above the floor rather than add more complexity.
I have the same shift lever from and old 3 speed shifter but cut down, welded to a nut and bolted onto a T5 shifter

[MD2020]

Thanks for the Happy Birthday today


I did not say at the start, but I want the console to butt up to the under dash valance just to be clear on that. my bad. also the under dash valance is 14" off the floor with a FLAT trans. cover.


The ball is 14-1/2" off the floor.
At 7" off the floor the stick moves 2-1/8" left to right with reverse, and 5-1/2" front to back. That is outside the stick.
With me setting in the seat the shifter ball is at the bottom of my knee and 1or 2" to the right in 2nd gear, I need to put a wedge where the stick bolts to the shifter to give me another 1" or so.

The right edge of the gas pedal it 5-1/2" from the center of the Trans. cover, so my console can only be 8 to 9" wide at the floor.
I can see that my console needs/could have a hour glass look in some places.
14" wide at the Valance

[mr48chev]

I'd just install the shifter, design the console around it and make my hole/opening for the shft handle accordingly. Most likely you will have to have someone sew up a custom boot for it.

As for mine with either the 4 speed or the 3 speed the shift ball is right where it is real comfortable to shift. More comfortable than reaching up for a Granny shifter handle and probably more comfortable than the handle for the AX15 is going to be in my 48 even though I will probably have the handle off an old SM 420 that came with my cab but was frozen up from laying out in the weather for a number of years.

[dsraven]

I'm in the '48 camp. get a shifter installed that is comfortable and easy to find in the dark and one that anybody could figure out. install that and set it up so it works flawlessly. then go about building a console around that and other parameters, like accel pedal footroom, armrest height, cup holders, storage areas etc. you can make a screen mold and then cover that in fiberglass if you have a bunch of weird shapes needed to fit around stuff, then cover that in something of your choice, be it padding with vinyl or leather or simply painted or gelcoated like a boat. best to get the mechanics of it right THEN worry about the aesthetics. you could also tour the junk yards for something that may work but will likely find they are almost always for an automatic trans.

[mr48chev]

That shifter is only going to go in one spot and the throw isn't that long at the height you want to set the console at.

[MD2020]

Thanks for the info.

[MD2020]

Originally Posted by mr48chev

That shifter is only going to go in one spot and the throw isn't that long at the height you want to set the console at.

In my drawing (comment #6) the console was designed around the shifter and when in reverse the shifter stick is to close to the left side of the console and going to 2nd gear my hand is hitting the side of my knee. My seat is centered to the Steering wheel and the center of the gauge cluster. I could wedge the shifter stick some and move the seat over to solve the problems.

I have been paying attention to the way I drive, knees spread apart, top of right foot cocked to the right, not using my whole foot on the gas pedal, just the top 2 or 3"of it.
If I'm going to modify it, let's modify it.
These truck are small inside and as some of you guy's have said you need to be comfortable for those longer drives to events.

Here is a drawing of it in reverse.



With this spacer/lenkage and some 1" round tubing I can move the shifter stick over to center. More on this spacer and 1" tubing down the page.






Fab up a L bracket to bolt to the pivot place the shifter stick goes, and a new/modified shifter stick with the spacer/linkage, Drawing "B", Notice the
shifter area of the console is higher and I could have a shorter swing from 1st to 2nd, "A" is what I would have now.
I can play around with the pivot points and get what I want and it's not that much work to do it.



I may have missed posting a few things.
My back ground was Tool and Die work and Machine work for 28 years and in my spare time I have and still do Fabrication.

[leegreen]

How does your new linkage move the shiftlinkage from side to side? just by being stiff and precise?
Would just bending the shift lever to the right solve the clearance to knee issue?

I actually like the A profile best, it is more shapely, B is too boxy but to each his own.

Have you considered a cable shifter? Get a shifter box off an Audi or something to mount on the console, then modify the trans end to shift the hurst shifter on top of the trans. One cable back and forth, one side to side. It would not be simpler than what you propose but it would let you put the shifter lever where you want it and build whatever shift throw you liked.

[MD2020]

Originally Posted by leegreen

How does your new linkage move the shiftlinkage from side to side? just by being stiff and precise?
Would just bending the shift lever to the right solve the clearance to knee issue?

I actually like the A profile best, it is more shapely, B is too boxy but to each his own.

Have you considered a cable shifter? Get a shifter box off an Audi or something to mount on the console, then modify the trans end to shift the hurst shifter on top of the trans. One cable back and forth, one side to side. It would not be simpler than what you propose but it would let you put the shifter lever where you want it and build whatever shift throw you liked.

The 1" thick wall spacer form McMaster and the 1" round tubing would be very stiff at 8" long.

I could use the spacers to bolt the stick, verses bending the stick.

The radius (at the flat area) is the same where the console comes down from the under dash valance to the flat area but I could make the radius bigger and it would look better. A is 7" off the floor and B is 9".
The console drawing is still ruff, I can tweak it some for a better visual.
A does look some better than B, maybe 8" off the floor.

After posting this last part and hearing your comments, maybe A would be a better choice with the spacers moving the stick over to the center of the console.

The cable shifter
My first question on my first post was "Is there any kind of shifter extension/linkage so all the movement would be up higher with a shorter stick?"
I don't know anything about them

[leegreen]

the cable shifters I am familiar with are in most VW/Audi from the late 90s.

one cable is the back and forth movement, one is side to side

Honda version may be a little easier to look at


The VW ones work fine, haven't driven many hondas. There are lots of aftermarket ways to spend money on them to 'improve' them and they do wear out eventually.
for your muncie, you'd need to make a way to connect the two cables to the top of the shift mechanism where the current shift lever bolts, but then you'd have quite a bit of freedom locating the shifter. I do not know how much the shift pattern is integrated into the shifter box on either, that would be something to check.

your idea is simpler

If you just space, bend or shim the shifter over for clearance by your leg, does the throw of the shifter still interfere with your console plans by requiring a large hole?

[MD2020]

With the A console, for clearance the hole would need to be 3" wide and 6-1/2" or 7" long.

[leegreen]

A large shifter boot would cover that.
this boot is 6+ wide and 7+ long at the first accordion bellow.
I have it stretched vertically to cover the nut I welded onto the hurst shifter arm to thread onto the T5 shifter stalk, normally it would want to sit flatter.

The boot is spectre brand of amazon, but I cut the top bellow from a ripped and torn Hurst boot and it fit right over the top bellow of the new boot, so now it looks like a Hurst boot.
Sorry for messy photo, in the midst of audio install

[mr48chev]

All you need on the top of the console is a hole big enough for the shifter to comfortably move though the gears.

From there, being able to seal the hole in the floor off and your artistic ability as to building a great looking and functional console is what applies.

[dsraven]

don't forget to allow some extra room for driveline movement under load or decelleration.

[mr48chev]

Originally Posted by dsraven

don't forget to allow some extra room for driveline movement under load or decelleration.

??????????
Please explain this one in detail

[dsraven]

well, there is usually some give in engine and transmission mounts so when the engine torques up under load it is allowed to move a little. the same thing happens under decelleration but usually less movement. if the shifter is mounted to the trans then it will move a little with the driveline. if it isn't mounted to the trans, but has solid linkage-like rods-then the shifter can also move a little. if it is mounted to the floor and has cable linkage then it will likely not move becauise the cable absorbs the movement.
dunno if that made sense of it?

[dsraven]

well, there is usually some give in engine and transmission mounts so when the engine torques up under load it is allowed to move a little. the same thing happens under decelleration but usually less movement. if the shifter is mounted to the trans then it will move a little with the driveline. if it isn't mounted to the trans, but has solid linkage-like rods-then the shifter can also move a little. if it is mounted to the floor and has cable linkage then it will likely not move becauise the cable absorbs the movement.
if you have driven in a truck with a tower style shifter where the shift lever exits the top of the trans then you have probably seen the shift lever move when the engine torques up, especially if the engine mounts have seen beter days. if you were to build a console with tight tolerances around that lever then you mat be disappointed.
dunno if that made sense of it?

[Rickysnickers]

Unless the motor and transmission are solidly mounted, such as a motorplate, they are going to move around a bit. I think that's what Dennis is getting at.

[57tailgater]

My truck has a car 3 speed shifter in it (I didn't know any better at the time when I got it way back when) and the throw is long and would be really long if it had a long shifter handle. You need a shifter designed for a truck/long shifter handle which gets your throw shorter for a long handle where you can reach it comfortably. The difference is the shifter pivot point distance in relationship to where the shift rods connect.

[MD2020]

Originally Posted by 57tailgater

My truck has a car 3 speed shifter in it (I didn't know any better at the time when I got it way back when) and the throw is long and would be really long if it had a long shifter handle. You need a shifter designed for a truck/long shifter handle which gets your throw shorter for a long handle where you can reach it comfortably. The difference is the shifter pivot point distance in relationship to where the shift rods connect.

Look at the Amazon Link on my comment #1

[57tailgater]

Originally Posted by MD2020

Look at the Amazon Link on my comment #1

I see now.