Has anyone installed an "American Shifter" brand shifter????

The b&m streetrod shifter is an excellant shifter,i have installed 3 and they are quality.

 

I agree. Unfortunately, according to their catalog, they are only available for the 350 and 700 transmissions. Also, many on here would chose not to purchase a B&M shifter as I believe most of their manufacturing has moved to China. js

 

You dont understand the problem with the hoffman groop. The problem isnt where the parts are made, but who makes them. The Hoffman groop cuts corners and made an inferior products. Im sure most members here would prefer to use American made parts, but its not always practicle. And as far as the part looking like a quality piece, doesnt mean all the parts are properly made, or the right materials were used.
Just because a part is made in China doesnt necessarily make it junk. Being made by Hauffman does!

 

I looked at it, seemed actually decent. Appeared to be stout and worthy.

 

Thanks for the update...

 

Ok, I am all done and have tested the american shifter. For a background I owned several lokar and gennie shifters in the past. I have never owned a B&M. Gennie was my preferred selection because of the side action. So here is the low down based on my experience.

Parts Out Of Box
The american shifter parts are well packed and come in a color box. The brackets seem to be a little thicker then lokar and much more adjustable then gennie. The main shifter body is machined out of 1 part cast and is done very well. The upper shifter part is also machined and uses 2 arms on bearing to active the side shift. All the hardware was standard and included some extra parts as indicated in the instructions. The design of the parts was done in a way that gives you more freedom in installation and adjustment then lokar and gennie.

Ratings
#1 TIED - Lokar and American Shifter
#2 Gennie

Stock Shift Knobs
Lokar knob is really nice, american shifter knob includes 3 color oring to match your interior. These are cool, but I hat orings so I just took it off. Gennie came with no knob ( sold extra).

Ratings
#1 Lokar
#2 American Shifter
#3 Gennie

Bracket Colors
The gennie shifter came in silver and looked modern. I am not a fan of gold, and american shifter was a bright zinc gold. The lokar was a flat gold and I heard also come in black.

Ratings
#1 Lokar
#2 Gennie
#3 American Shifter

Installation
The gennie shifter was the easiest to install as it had the fewest parts, however it took the longest to set up as you had to adjust the nss and brackets to really make it fit. My lokar and american shifter installed in about the same time, but the big difference was the adjustability of the american shifter. You can tell who ever designed the american shifter did their homework as many of the brackets are adjustable. This made it much simpler to install and adjust. Also the top plate lets you mount the shifter as a front, mid, or rear mount. This is great because you no longer need to cut your tunnel to line up your shifter.

Ratings
#1 American Shifter
#2 Gennie
#3 Lokar

Instructions
Gennie had some good diagrams, Lokar was alot of words and some pictures, and American Shifter was pictures and a video ( http://www.youtube.com/user/AmericanShifter ).

Ratings
#1 American Shifter
#2 Gennie
#3 Lokar

Operation
Gennie
Operated smooth and troublefree, but was a little stiff to shift. The lack of a push button lets you put any type of knob on the shifter. The feedback is great as you do not need to look to see what gear you are in.

Lokar
Worked good but the button rattled a little, and there was little feedback from the gates. If you like a super smooth shifter you really like the operation, but I like some feedback so I know what gear I am in by feel not look.

American Shifter
The american shifter offered the best of both worlds as you could shift from pushing a button or side detent. This shifter was the only one that you could adjust to your preference of feedback and activation sensitivity. There are 3 adjustments you can tune to your preference. This shifter was also the only one that had 2 bearings to make the action super smooth. The only downside I saw was it took a little time for me to get use to looking at the shifter push button, and not using it as I side shift most of the time. Simple fix is to install a non push button knob like a pool ball.

Ratings
#1 American Shifter
#2 Gennie
#3 Lokar

Price
I paid around $200 for my gennie came with no knob, and $189 for lokar, and $169 for american shifter.

Ratings
#1 American Shifter
#2 Lokar
#3 Gennie

Conclusion
The american shifter parts are all marked patent pending and it is clear who ever designed this reinvented the shifter and made it install and operate better as they one upped the lokar and gennie shifters in most cases. The shifter looks like no other shifter I ever seen before, and works pretty dame good.

Ratings
#1 American Shifter
#2 Gennie
#3 Lokar

I been slamming the gears pretty good for a while and it holding up will report back with any updates as I put some more wear and tear on the shifter. If you want some pics pm me w/ your email and I will send over what i got.

 

good for you Pistonhead... that is what the guy asked for, not all the other bs, the hamb is becomming, more and more. the guy DID NOT ask for your opinions. keep them to yourself....damm idiots

 

And may it never fail so you don't have to deal with customer service, from one of the damn idiots. B.S. is one thing , Fact is another,

 

pistonhead, just gave you the facts..???? I know hoffman sells mostly junk, but it does not mean everything is.....and if US and Canada, union workers didn't demand sooooooo much money, manufactures, would not have to resort, going to China....and I used to sell auto accessories from China. thier Stainless was very nice quality....

 

good write up pistonhead..

 

Nice write-up Pistonhead. Very helpful, thanks

 

Thanks pistonhead for the very concise ans unbiased writeup of your comparisons between the three shifters. This is very helpful. I appreciate the fact that you decded to answer the question presented and not give a lot of unsubstantiated or biased opinions. Thanks again for taking the time to be helpful...

 

Pistonhead, heartfelt thanks for answering my question and going well beyond with your clear concise comparison. I am certain that there are others out there who also appreciate the time you spent on this as it will no doubt help them make their own decision. Once again, many thanks. js

 

What? Their web site is still active and they answer the phone

 

Don I just edited my post as I do not wish to pass along any info that is wrong. From what I have read and heard, they were no longer in business. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=631140&highlight=gennie

It would appear that my info was incorrect, my sincere apologies.

Gennie Shifter Website: http://gennieshifter.com/

 

man i have to say pistonhead wrote one of the best parts reviews i think i have had the pleasure to read , informative and helpful A++ on that one

 

Great writeup! Exactly what most people want to see.

 

These are facts and not what someone heard there buddy say about something.

And I would like to add the the best part of the old Gennie Shifter is now working for American Shifter.

 

I have a B@M street rod shifter in a 39 chevy on a 700r4 ,works great have installed 2 others on turbo 350s.costomers like them, no button to push and you can use any nob you like.

 

good info thanks ....

 

great comparison piston head!!!!!

ive always been a pro gennie shifter guy and was one of there bigger shifter dealer had sales here on the hamb and gave shifters away.

any way your bottom line was
"quote"
Conclusion
The american shifter parts are all marked patent pending and it is clear who ever designed this reinvented the shifter and made it install and operate better as they one upped the lokar and gennie shifters in most cases. The shifter looks like no other shifter I ever seen before, and works pretty dame good.

Ratings
#1 American Shifter
#2 Gennie
#3 Lokar

what you said is true im sure some one who worked at one of the athere companys had a BIG time influence in the building of this shifter i know first hand because hes a friend of mine

thanxs
alex

well i start running these shifters and selling them
well im still on the fence , only because i sell what we run in our cars

 

has anyone tryed to use a tailmount Lokar shifter on a 4l60e Iam having nothing but trouble getting it to work.

 

I ordered a shifter from AS. 4-5 months later, They still haven't corrected misfitting parts. Had to have a metal fabricator custom make a part for me. They have horrible customer service. FYI.

 

yes!

I just got finished installing one on a C4 in a 34 Ford. The shifter looks like a knock off of th Lokar. Not as high quality in parts and fittings. The mounting hardware is a MIXTURE of metric and SAE!! Poor choices! That mixing caused some installation issues. None that couldn't be handled, but unnecessary to say the least.
The tranny mount should really be done with the tranny out of the car. The mount is substantial and fits, but very difficult to do in the car.

My biggest gripe!!!! ....no instructions ( video or otherwise) how to adjust the neutral safety switch!!!!! I ha dot go to
the Lokar website to get the instructions on how to do it. Since the shifter is a "knock off" it worked first try.

All in all, I'd pay the extra together a Lokar next time. I hope this helps.

 

My American Shifter is still in the box, but I did have it installed as a mock up on my rpu. I bought it several years ago at Turkey Run, could have had the Lokar (that I always buy) for about $20 more, but I wanted to try the AS brand. It installed fine, shifted through the gears smoothly, and generally, operates like the Lokar. I also bought the adapter to run a bigger knob.

Time will tell how it is in use, but a shifter is simply a lever with some stops along the way, so it should function ok for what I want.

Don

 

My experience with Gennie shifters might be of interest, companies frequently claim their products to be of the highest quality bla bla bla etc. My shifter was one of the very few things I was able to salvage from home and garage after the High Park fire in Colorado. After being burned in the fire it sat outside in the dirt for a couple of years, one day, needing one a for another project I looked at the shifter and wondered if it could be rebuilt, I called Gennie and ordered all the rebuild parts, its now in my Chevy stepside and functions perfectly, the chrome is now a weird blue and black, but I like it. One interesting thing, I was attempting to retrieve a nut with a magnet and discovered it had lost magnetism and remembered being told years ago that some metals loose magnetism at temperatures over 750 degrees certainly temps were high as they melted pistons in engines and cracked blocks in half.

 

This is kinda funny this post, First making a post on here looking for opinions and then bitching about the opinions he receives. Then defends his positions by bragging about having a masters degree.lol. I can only imagine what that title costs. Then with his vast knowledge can't even decide whether to spend the extra $20.00 for a well known product that many have endorsed in their posts. I guess $20.00 is $20.00 when you got all those student loans to pay for for that big ole "Masters" degree to pay for. I guess he should have spent that money on some lowly auto shop classes at the Community College at night. Do they offer a masters degree in auto shop, I think I've earned on by now.lol. I just got a degree in skinned knuckles.lol. YRUHOT

 

Good read ! Constructive critisism !