I've put a lot of miles on my coupe using the Hurst Comp Plus shifter but it really wasn't all that race friendly. A rebuild might have helped but I started thinking about a vertical shifter. Last Saturday at the Wichita A's swap meet I picked up a nice Hurst Ramrod shifter and linkage for $100. Got brackets made and mounted it Monday. On Tuesday I sorted out the linkage. I've only driven it a couple of times but I LOVE this shifter! I had heard it was not suitible for the street but there isn't anything about it that bothers me. I can shift fast now. the 1-2 shift was always a bit hard but its no problem now. Looking for excuses to drive her now. Anyone else out there running a vertical gate manual trans shifter?
I had a drag only 68 Mustang with a top loader four speed and at first had the Competition Plus on it, then I went to the Ram Rod and it was a whole different ball game. I never missed a shift after putting it on and although I never drove the car on the street it was no problem upshifting and downshifting on the return road, so it probably would be ok for daily use. Does yours have the T handle knob? Mine did and I angled it a little to make it more comfortable. Don
Kerry, I ran one for a while in the '70s, it came with a 4 gear that I purchased. It was a little loose when I got it so I went through it. I don't recall having any problems with it.
It does have the T handle. I actually mounted the shifter on a bit of an angle to buy me some more leg room. It's comfortable.
Still have mine I bought in the 80's... Cant get it rebuilt (Sadly) but it still works great... Just takes practice....Wouldnt trade it for anything...Glad you are getting to use one...
I'm really bad about taking pictures. Heres a pic I got from that auction site that shows almost exactly what I got. The shifter , bracket, and linkage to bolt it to a Ford top loader. The coupe has an A833 and not much space. I cut the bottom part of the bracket off (it's upside down in the picture) and welded the top part to the piece I made to bolt on the trans. Like I said, I put the shifter on an angle to the passenger side to buy some more leg room for the driver. Here she is in the car.
A friend of mine had one in a 56 Chevy back in the late 70s and it worked great! He drove it on the street all the time. We used to take turns launching the car, banging second and see who could get the shortest distance between the rubber marks on the ground from the shift. That was damn fun.
If only she had more room for all the dragster stuff. Sometime this summer she'll get a bit more cam and a bigger lower blower pulley.
Hey, if you don't mind maybe you could throw some pix up of your car. I don't know that I've ever seen an A with a A833 tranny in it.
I don't want to rob this thread, but I have one of these shifters with mount and linkage for a 833 mopar trans. It's for sale, if interested PM me.
It's been 35 years since I had mine but as I remember you pull up on the trigger one on the front of the shifter and push forward for 1st gear. From there on the next 3 shifts are simply pulling the shift lever straight back for 2nd, then straight forward for 3rd, and then straight back for 4th.........no H pattern to slow you down. The other lever with the black knob is the reverse lock out and you can't get it into reverse accidently until you move that lever. The reason they are tough on the street is that to downshift from 3rd to 2nd I THINK you have to pull the trigger up or it will go into 4th again instead of downshifting to 2nd. I could be wrong on that, like I said, it has been 35 years since I had one. Don
Yeah Don. You got it right. It's not hard, just different. She's actually a 31 Pontiac 5 window with an early 354 Chrysler hemi. I adapted the A833 O/D using a fifties Dodge truck bell. I just hafta be different!
I just seen one for sale at the swapmeet last weekend, if I had a 4spd I definatly would have boughten it. All those levers are just damn racy looking...lol
Kerry I always knew it was a poncho but for some reason my brain always says its a dodge. DOH. Why not something is broke beyond repair or you just don't know a good machinist. Anything can be rebuilt even if you have to make the parts to do so.
I found this thread in my search for the proper reverse lever and rod, for my hurst ram rod shifter to fit a muncie. I got my shifter as a package deal installed on a Saginaw. The front two levers and rods work fine. I was told the reverse parts will work from a competition plus for the reverse but they don't. Please someone post pictures of the proper reverse lever and shift rod.
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