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Hot Rods I'm thinking ahead, what's a good alternitive?

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by HOTRODPRIMER, Aug 23, 2018.

  1. manyolcars
    Joined: Mar 30, 2001
    Posts: 9,176

    manyolcars

    I looked at the Lokar and made my own shifters and use long chrome Model A shift handles. They reach to the steering wheel. Easy to reach.
     
  2. Danny : My vote would be for the original auto. steering column...And if you go looking , find me one also...
    Ive been trying to find a '51-'54 AT column myself for a while now...Only one has popped up , but shipping killed the deal
    Good luck in your project..
    BTW : Headed to Steel In Motion tomorrow morning....
    Stan
     
    Last edited: Aug 27, 2018
  3. Johnboy34
    Joined: Jul 12, 2011
    Posts: 1,588

    Johnboy34
    Member
    from Seattle,Wa

  4. I have to agree with the column idea.:cool: It is the only way I will accept an automatic in that car.o_O
    Plus the thought of Brenda sitting close to you is icing on the cake.:) I love icing! :p
     
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  5. 41rodderz
    Joined: Sep 27, 2010
    Posts: 6,540

    41rodderz
    Member
    from Oregon

    You might mean Danny can sit closer. :D
     
  6. Johnboy34
    Joined: Jul 12, 2011
    Posts: 1,588

    Johnboy34
    Member
    from Seattle,Wa

  7. jeepsterhemi
    Joined: Dec 5, 2009
    Posts: 12,636

    jeepsterhemi
    Member

    Three forward speed and only two gear selection......................... I'm old now, but if I recall correct, you can stay in first gear as long as you wish.......
    You start in Lo, then push the shifter in Drive and bring it back in Lo before the transmission shift in second gear...

    After owning and driving manual and automatic '56 Ford for 20+ years, I accidently discover that trying to make a ''speed shift'' at a traffic light race.
     
  8. rockable
    Joined: Dec 21, 2009
    Posts: 4,430

    rockable
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

  9. Well Boy's here was my solution to the Vintage look. I had a real issue being I have a 700-R-4 and a GM power steering box. End result is the Look the Vicky needed to make me happy, P is park, N is neutral D is drive and L is low and all 4 forward gears have a detent. Sometimes the right look for the over all package takes a little extra work.
    51 Vicky 002.jpg The Wizzard
     
  10. 41rodderz
    Joined: Sep 27, 2010
    Posts: 6,540

    41rodderz
    Member
    from Oregon

    That is sweeeeeeet
     
  11. Thanks, some times it's okay to just use Stock stuff.
    The Wizzard
     
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  12. X2 on Limeworks. That's what I plan to use when (or if) I get to that point.
     
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  13. robracer1
    Joined: Aug 3, 2015
    Posts: 514

    robracer1
    Member

    There's just something about looking in a shoebox and seeing the column shifter with the ball on the end of it, to me floor shifter's just don't look right in a shoebox's
     
  14. Kiwi 4d
    Joined: Sep 16, 2006
    Posts: 3,564

    Kiwi 4d
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    We have used lokar floor shifters in a few x column shift 49 to 54 fords. Choose the one that the shift knob pushes down to select a gear and nobody can tell its an automatic, We even made our own shifter with heavy wall S/S tube , a push bike outer cable inside as an actuator for the shift detent and an early V8 worn shift knob on top with a few hidden grub screws and slots in the S/S tube.
    the yuk aluminium shift knob with the built in button went in file 13.
    We were not ready to stump up to Limeworks way cool column shifter.
    https://www.hotrod.com/articles/assembling-limeworks-safety-column-shifter/
     
    Last edited: Aug 25, 2018
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  15. Great looking interior, love the colors. HRP
     
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  16. Im looking for a column like that...Anybody got one stashed away??
    '51-'54 AT and t/sigs Dont need the wheel or shaft/gearbox
    Ive posted a Parts Wanted ad on here but no luck so far
     
    Last edited: Aug 27, 2018
    3W JOHN and HOTRODPRIMER like this.
  17. If changing the column out is a no go, I would find some auto shifter that I could bolt a Hurst bench seat handle to. The older Gennie shifters had a detent so as to maintain position. A little fabbing and the Hurst stick could look like a real trans was there. :)
     
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  18. Hard to fake out us Old Guys when there isn't a 3rd pedal. Micky Mouse has always been Mickey Mouse.
    The Wizzard
     
  19. deadbeat
    Joined: May 3, 2006
    Posts: 655

    deadbeat
    Member

    Imho column is what I would do. There seems to be a shortage of c/shift cars these days at shows etc
     
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  20. Tony Ray
    Joined: Sep 8, 2007
    Posts: 1,111

    Tony Ray
    Member

    Im running a Gennie, with a swan stick. works for me..i think its cool but its not everyones cup of tea
    iphone 138.JPG
     
    Last edited: Aug 25, 2018
  21. I have no problem at all with aftermarket shifters. For me the unit itself needs to fit the over all Visual effect of the Car. If your building a Retro profile circa 1980 Old School, a Geni or Mustang is right at home in them. I like all that stuff. The bigger issue for me is when one Car has some 1955 and some 1967 and a bit of 1972 and then a 1990 thing stuffed under the Hood. I'll walk away from that thing and maybe not notice the One well done part of it due to the Mix-n-Match pick a part program. For me it's a total package the makes it work. There are a few things on my Vicky that arn't the Build date correct but they only seem to bug me. The best comment I ever got was a fellow said "That car could have been in the Little pages" . That made it all worth while.
    The Wizzard
     
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  22. jnaki
    Joined: Jan 1, 2015
    Posts: 9,295

    jnaki





    upload_2018-8-26_3-25-19.png
    I'M THINKING AHEAD, WHAT'S A GOOD ALTERNATIVE?

    Hey HRP,

    Wow, a floor shifter in that Ford! That is very nice. When we were looking for another old car to mess around in and build, a friend from Los Angeles had a black, 56 Ford 2 door sedan with a powerful v8 and a floor shifter as tall as the top of the dash. Driving that car around his neighborhood was an exercise in fun. The shifter was so cool to use with the arm up high.

    The knob was a black round one like the photos below. We almost bought it as it had screw-in, Moon Discs and a motor sound, like no other. I was told that this Ford Sedan had a Bonneville history in the street class. It would have been my first car instead of the first 40 Ford Sedan Delivery during high school. But, I did not buy it as I bought my brother’s black 58 Impala.
    upload_2018-8-26_3-26-11.png
    What is wrong with a nice white, round ball, sized for your hands or a neutralized one to fit all hands that use the car. The 50s-60s floor shifters and column shifters, whether they were automatics or sticks had custom knobs ready to screw on at any time of the build. Some of them were the Model A, black ones, some from the early Chevys/Fords were very popular and were sold everywhere.

    The column shifter would be fairly stock in appearance. But, if you are going with what came with the car, is there a possibility that you could make a tall floor shifter lever with a round knob that would not hit the seat or dash on shifting?

    That was a popular thing to do when we were teenagers in the late 50s-early 60s. It was a fairly easy thing to do if your shifter handle can come out. Even if it can’t, one long curved rod could be made as a replacement.
    upload_2018-8-26_3-27-36.png Reverse in a 3 speed column shifter and the white ball shows to all. Sitting on top of a long shifter lever near the top of the dash height, the white round ball would show everyone, you mean business. We changed the standard, funny looking, stock black lever end for a nice round white ball in the 58 Impala. It looked pretty nice along with the other white round balls for the different knobs.

    Jnaki
    Other options:
    upload_2018-8-26_3-32-17.png C&G Ford Parts
    upload_2018-8-26_3-33-58.png classychevyusa.com (2” diameter would fit, as long as the threads are the same on the lever.)


     
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  23. BuckeyeBuicks
    Joined: Jan 4, 2010
    Posts: 2,705

    BuckeyeBuicks
    Member
    from ohio

    I always had a thing for the 51 dash and steering wheel, maybe because I remember the green 51 my uncle had when I was a little kid. Yours looks perfect, the whole car looks perfect! My compliments. I am not really a Ford guy but if I ever had one, a 51 Victoria would be my first choice.
     
  24. Gman0046
    Joined: Jul 24, 2005
    Posts: 6,256

    Gman0046
    Member

    Danny, if it were me I'd save my time and effort and use the existing column and get a Lokar shifter and forget about it. These posts about trying to fool people in to thinking you have a standard transmission is Gay. People you don't know could care less about what kind of transmission is in YOUR car.
    You brought back old memories with that old Mustang shifter. I used one in my 37 Chevy coupe my first build. They were so cheap and easy to install.
    Gary
     
  25. Gary, now that you bring it up I also used a early mustang shiftier in my model A pickup but at that time I used what I could find in the junkyard. HRP
     
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  26. 3W JOHN
    Joined: Oct 8, 2015
    Posts: 1,156

    3W JOHN
    Member

    Can you find a 3 on the tree shiftier and put it back on the steering column using it for a automatic?
     
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  27. jnaki
    Joined: Jan 1, 2015
    Posts: 9,295

    jnaki





    Hey 3W,
    When we were in the early 1960 building stage for our Willys, the 3 speed Impala was a chore to drive with the Willys hooked up in the rear, using a tow bar. So, we had the C&O Stick Hydro guys install one of their early hydro transmissions and gave them the 3 speed Chevy trans as part of the trade. They were pretty good at installations and wanted to make sure everything was right.

    They used the original white ball Chevy Impala, column stick mechanism and below, made it work for shifting the new C&O Hydro. They originally wanted to install a floor shift unit, but we wanted to keep the Impala somewhat stock in appearance.

    Jnaki
    The only odd thing was there was no PNDLR dash gauge indicator, so we had to just "know" where all of the gears were. When my mom drove the car, I am sure that even though I taught her where every gear is, there were some comical mishaps. It was a comedy, but it did bring up some classic comments like: Aren't you missing something down there? Where is the clutch pedal? How do you know when to shift, etc...

    In racing, the joke was on them... the start line always gave me an advantage with the C&O instantly grabbing and shooting out for a lead.
     
    HOTRODPRIMER likes this.
  28. Not visibly knowing what gear the selector is in may not be a big deal. Not having a detent for the gear selector to set in is asking for trouble. Just hit a good Pot Hole at highway speed and have the weight of the shifter, specially with a big shift ball hanging on it and your going into Low Gear. Now under duress grab the Ball and push up knowing what happened and mistakenly go into Reverse. Your Fu--ed!! Don't be Cheep and don't be Stupid. A stick shift column shift single rod connected to any Automatic is a Stupid decision. There are good reasons both column and floor shifters for automatics have detents.
    The Wizzard
     
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  29. gotit
    Joined: Aug 27, 2009
    Posts: 357

    gotit
    Member

    I use Gennie shifter in any application like yours HRP. I am kinda bias as the owner is my good friend but I can say it is a really good quality product. I’ve purchased cars with the Lokar and it isn’t terrible but I will say the button gets extremely stiff in cooler weather and I have replaced all of them with Gennie shifters. Gennie has a huge assortment of knobs also, there must be 20k knobs in his building.


    Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
     

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