Technical Mr. Gasket Vertigate shifter for street use

Would appreciate hearing from anyone who has experience using the Mr. Gasket/Hurst inline shifter on a street driven car.

Car is intended to have a fairly authentic 60s gasser look, and will not be driven daily. I will have a Muncie, and have both a Hurst Competition Plus and a Mr Gasket shifter. I like the look of the Mr Gasket shifter, but heard they are a pain in the backside on the street?? Any help appreciated.

 

Other than pulling the trigger up to downshift, I don't really see the issue, I haven't used it for a while, but I own one.
Don't think the Mr. Gasket V-gate came out till the early seventies, but that probably doesn't matter.

 

You have to lift the gate every time you go to 1st or 2nd, or in the case of that shifter, the top 2 gears. The Comp Plus will probably be much more friendly as it only has a reverse lock out lever, right? That you could live with, maybe. I can see a nasty parking situation making it a pain but little else. You and maybe 10 other people a year might appreciate the 'gate.

 

I had one in my 65 Cutlass. I had a lot of fun with it. Not hard to use once you get used to it.

 

My experience between the Mr Gasket and the Hurst inline shifter's is the Hurst you had to slam the shifter every time on up shifts if not it would go from first to 4th .

 

Ran one in my Hemi car back in the early 70's. Easy to use on the street.

 

Back in the 70's I had one on a muncie behind a 409 in my 62 impala. Loved it.

 

Got one in my 31 modified, love it wouldn't trade it! It sure gets a lot of comments and questions! The car is so narrow the gas pedal is tucked way up, and I had a guy ask " Are sure it's a manuel trans?" I replied "yeah I drove it here!"

 

Also if they're adjusted right, load the t-handle up for low, and slam the rest without the button, works flawlessly!

 

Only down side is the separate lever for reverse, main stick has to be in neutral to shift into reverse, can be tricky if you get in a hurry. Other than that, like others said, fun to shift, hard to miss a gear upshifting, downshifting is a little harder but you'll get the feel of it after a few times.

 

Set up correctly, it'll take you 15 minutes to get used to it. You don't have to worry about hitting the wrong gear ... practice in light traffic.

 

I have three of the Vertigates with Muncies. My favorite setup.

 

I got a hurst vertigate in my 56 Chevy old drag car it works fine on the street for me. No issues at all

 

Thanks for all the replies. I appreciate them. Still undecided, but leaning toward the Mr. Gasket.

 

I also used these V gate shifters back in the seventies. I preferred the Hurst over the Mr Gasket shifter. Hurst was much better quality of fit and finish. I drove a D/Gasser on the street. With the Mr Gasket shifter and a 70 Nova with the Hurst shifter.. Both were lots of fun and the added safety element that the shifter was a theft deterrent..

 

I have a Hurst unit bolted to the M22 in my 55 Gasser. It takes a few minutes to get used to 1-2 shift but after that it's a blast. The Competition Plus I removed is under the bench waiting for another project...

 

Hurst Ram Rod in mine, M22 trans. No issues, and the 1-2 shift can be done slowly by holding the "t" handle up.

 

We had no issues running them on the street. Haven't used one in a long while though. Would be fun to give it a go, if I got the chance, though.

 

They were big in the 1970's. I was contemplating one for my '66 Nova, but went with a Mr. Gasket Comp Plus style one due to availability. It worked as well as a Hurst. I knew a couple of guys with v-gates and they liked them, no problems driving around from what I saw.

 

I put a V-gate in my buddys '67 Chevelle back in the '70s. No problem on the street, you just have to know how to work it. It beats the hell out of an H pattern shifter if you're rowing that 4 speed in a hurry.

 

I knew a couple of guys who thought that was a design issue, had to show them it was a "physics" issue. LOL

 

The only problem I had was making a 3-point turn, with no power steering! One hell of a workout.-MIKE

 

Used a V-gate for years and loved it. Noisy as all get out though.

 

LOS Angel, if you put a Bigger Sterring Wheel in your Car it
will Make a U turn Much Better.!

just my 3.5 cents

 

Hell, that was from 30 years ago when I could do anything and knew everything!!

 

I used one on my 56 Chevy for 6 or 7 years on the street.
A little rattly, but resting your hand on the shifter "fixed" that. You don't want to add a bunch of grease or something like that to any parts below the cars floor...that'll just attract dirt and speed the wear process.

Mike

 

We built a 63 Nova SS for a customer 2 year's ago and took out the 350/Muncie combo and replaced with a LS1/T56 Combo. But previous to changing the transmission, I thought the car was cool then I drove it with the V gate and wow what a tremendous POS to drive, I wouldn't want one anywhere near anything I own.

 

Built a Corvette for a little rich kid from Miami Beach and he wanted a wild street car. So I built him a tunnel ram solid roller 377 with a Mr.Gasket vertical shifter . Took me about an hour to teach him to drive it. Going from his new Eldorado convertible. He sure looked stupid in front of his playboy club bunny girlfriend. We all had a good laugh watching him . I thought it was easy to drive and liked the shifter.

 

My only experience is a guy I knew had one. Took me for a ride and it worked slick as shit for it's intended use (slammin' gears). My thought was that rattlin' sumbitch would drive me crazy in about 10 minutes on the street. Gimme a tried & true Comp+ any day.