I just traded my way into a 1956 Olds Rocket 324 engine and manual trans for a model A build. The donor car had a 3 on the tree and I want to use the trans but change it to a shifter on the floor. Has anyone out there done this? If so what shifter/linkage works for this application? I've done quite a bit of reasearch on the net and here in HAMB land and can't find the info I am lookin for. Thanks,Ken
someone on here had one for sale not too long ago, they do turn up Ansen and I think Drag Fast both made them for the selector style transmissions.. (although you may be better off going with another bell and transmission)
I've got a selector trans floor shift conversion that's not for sale, but can take pictures of it if they'll help you.
Have the same trans. in my 57 Pontiac, I agree with the guys that say it's a bear to switch to a floor shift. Once things warm up a little I am going with a 4 speed. You will need an adapter as the bolt pattern on the bellhousing is different. That trans is no great shakes, the ratios are not really great, and they use a cone sincro which is weak! Hope this helps. Kevin
The Roadmaster will fit, but unless it is a '37/'38 floor shift, it too is a selector type. I think it isn't very difficult to machine the stock bellhousing to take a later GM (Chev style) side shift trans. Primarily the center hole needs to be made larger and a couple new bolt holes drilled and tapped
just having the flywheel is a big step forward several aftermarket outfits selling Chevy and other stick bells for the early Olds now, and used bells do turn up too
Ya I think I got lucky with this one. I swapped a frame for an 82 Olds car for this complete 324 Olds and 3 speed trans. This is my favorite old school hot rod engine and it's a 56.
Instead of having two equal sized shift arms like most three speeds, they have one normal sized shift arm and one very small "selector" shift arm that slides the internal fork to the left or right to engage two different shift rails. Basically, it's an early case of "redesigning the wheel". From a mechanical standpoint, I really can't see what was gained by using such a design.
AH, I see. I have a 3-speed trans from a 53 Buick Special fitting that description, just never heard the "select shift" term before. Thanks for the explanation!
I used to run a selector shift in my 57 Buick. They are strong and shift fast enough for old school. The weak link was a floating front bearing retainer. This can be fixed by adapting a bolt on front snout off a Ford. Hang in there.
An older (genius) fella out in Port Orchard, has a little roadster, He came up with his own shifter. The blade height lever off a riding lawn mover was attached to the big tranny lever. The thumb button on the lever controlled the smaller gate selector...so... button down, forward=reverse button down, back= first shove lever forward,(no button pressing) It clicks up into second. pull straight back, third. It actually works really well, and since there is little room between the seats Its kindof convenient. Plus any time lawnmover parts can be used in extra cool. (IMHO)
I did the same thing on a '50 Buick I had. The only difference was that I found an old starter solenoid and hooked it up to the selector lever, and wired it to a neat little doorbell button on the shift knob. I did it with two levers first, and it worked OK, but I needed two hands to shift low and reverse. With the electric button, it was a one hand deal.
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