i love mine.....theres just something about throwing that big power shift from 1 to 2 and hearing the pipes back talk a little bit. i have a 216 with a 3 up on the column. its fun to tear through the gears in town. on the freeway its a little slower. it'll cruise at 60 - 65 no problems at all. i have run it up to 70 75 but not too long. like posted earlier,.....it slows you down and reminds you to just cruise. mine is not my daily, but it gets driven almost daily. the non-synchro first in mine can be a pain in the ass in parking lots and when you are trying to turn across traffic into a parking lot and you are in that lag spot between 1 and 2. i just leave it in 2,....rev the wee outta it and let people know i am comin in. plus then the pipes crack and pop a little. i really wouldnt have it any other way. like i said an overdrive on the highway would be nice but shit man....i still have 4 wheel drum brakes so i guess i can only drive as fast as i can stop. ultimate plans on mine are a multi-carb 235 with fentons and lakes with the column shift.
Double clutching every day for the last 14 years. Do whatever you like, but I never let go of my 3s on them trees.
Nothing compares to the action of the MOPAR 3 on the column. when properly adjusted the lever goes through the neutral gate when you release the lever in first. then its just a straight up for second. Gripping it right by the column I can shift with just a roll of the wrist. Once rolling, there is so much torque, downshifts aren't necessary till below 20 mph. Round a corner and just walk away in third. No balky neutral gate between 1st and 2nd is the real nice thing about the set up though.
My 66 Chevy P.U was the same way and it drove me nuts. Is there any way to synchronize these transmissions? The shifting I didn't mind but the grinding on the non-synchro in 1st every time you came to a stop was ridiculous. I put in a turbo 350 and it was a new truck.
Heres an oddball for ya. A friend of mine had a new 66 marina blue Nova SS with a 350 hp 327 L-79 with a bench seat and a 3spd on the column! how many were made you ask?.......................FOUR. Ran the quarter in 2nd gear and never got beat on the street.
I'm leaving my Falcon column shift. Looks better that way and the shifter doesn't get in the way of the lady friends that want to cuddle while going down the road.
Back in the late 60's I had an 65 Impala S.S. convert that was buckets, console and 3 spd on the column. As far as grinding getting into first all the time all it reqiures is to completely stop then there should be no problem with grinding
dude, the floor shifter being in a 'less than ideal spot' was part of the fun of the bench seat snuggle driving.
Andy from Kerrville built his 32 Roadster with a Dodge Red Ram Hemi hooked up to A Ford synchro-1st 3 speed shifted on the column and it is a peach to drive. Sweet and smooth and very advanced for an old time hotrod.
I still run three on the tree!!! would never change it, coming into second and hearing the pipes rap as you start to slow down is just priceless. When you cruz with a chick and she is in the middle(where she belongs) after you shift into 3rd you just follow the path of your shifter with your hand and your cruz just got better, cant have that fun with a floor shifter. Last but not least ... 3 on the tree is infact TRADITIONAL! I dont remember Sam Barris putting out to many customs with floor shifters that hit the roof of the car.
had the 3 on the tree drove it every day like that and loved it.....i just needed more gear for the road.put a t-5 in it for that ....hated to get rid of the three but the trade off is worth it.....
You haven't driven my Stude...... It has an "H' pattern but it's a cursive H. Finding second is an art form and requires a VERY light touch and a lot of wiggling around, You bring it out of first like you're going to shift into reverse and "just" before it grinds you bring it down a hair and gently ease it across and up into second but you have to do it in one move otherwise it hangs a little and then you have to move the shifter down into 3rd, up to second and then back into first and start all over. May have to do something about that this year. It really gives you a sense of accomplishment just shifting into 2nd though and it's a pretty good theft deterrent device. At a stoplight I usually put it into reverse then back into 1st to make sure things are lined up, of course turns are always fun because with the low ass gears you're making the 1-2 shift about halfway through your turn.......... As for power shifting a 3 on the tree? I sheared the shifter dogs out of the column of a brand new '76 Chevy 1/2 ton 350 4 bbl. with 3 on the tree on the 1-2 shift one day. It was a company truck, my bosses to be exact. I had it to the wood with QuadraJet a howlin' passing a dump truck that had pulled out in front of me. When I hit 2nd gear the tires barked and the shifter just kept going right on around. It was down 3 weeks waiting for parts. I 'fessed up right away, he told me later he knew exactly what I had done and if I hadn't confessed he would have canned me. Needless to say it was awhile before I got to use his truck again.
Still driving my 1952 ford courier with flatty power and 3 on the tree with OD. I wired the OD to a toggle switch so I can controll the shift points and this allows me to have a 6 speed-Something I actually did in the 50's. Gets a lot of thumbs up and is a great cruiser.
My neighbor on the island has a 59 T-bird with 'three on the tree' - he says it's the last year you could get that - I have no reason to argue - he owns five T-birds between 58 and 66. It's pretty funny to see a clutch pedal in that thing, and I can tell you - the linkage is pretty funky - not smooth - he says that's they way they were - like an afterthought setup. dj
292 3spd w/OD. A blast to drive. Alas I sold it. Current project. 352 3sd W/OD. Holmon & Moody style.
I have a 40 column and a chevy 3 sp trans in my roadster. The column shift was the thing to have in the early 50's. I took the car to a NSRA deal and had it safety inspected. The inspectors said I failed due to no shift diagram. I had to explain what a column shift was and that I did not need a diagram.
something I wrote I thought would fit in here, THREE ON THE TREE 1st gear, down and to the back, clutch out. Up and forward, 2nd gear, accelerate. 3rd gear, cruzing. Decelerate, pop, rap, snap, music played thru open pipes. 11 o'clock, 1 o'clock, and back, bias plies wander. Reflection in the shoe store window, slow down. Santana on the radio, Samba Pa Ti, light turns green.
Yup. I have the stock one in my 53 Chevy. Drive it everyday. I learned to drive with a 3 on the tree in my old 60 Chevy. Love them.
Best reason to keep the 3-tree is that it ggreatly eliminates the amount of people who ask to drive your car. My truck is a column shift an I have yet to have anyone ask me to borrow it for moving .
Lets see, 3 on the tree in my 51 moredoor shoebox, 3 on the tree in my 55 customline (now gone), 3 on the tree in my 70 f100 (now gone), and a 4 on the tree in a 67 Saab I rebuilt a few years back. All work(ed) great. I dunno, just love the feel of a column shifter.
Kinda along this thread. Does anyone remember moving the shift lever to the left side of the column. My brother did this to his '49 Ford in 1952. Kinda cool shifting left handed
The purpose of this is so you can have your arm around you're chick and still be able to shift.but to do this you've gotta shorten it on alot of cars
speeking of kustoms geeting girls, my 50 chev. had what we called the sweetheart shifter,switched over to the left side of the column, so you could put your arm around your honey. now thats old school.
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