Gday, I'm playing with a 35 4 door humpback sedan which is being built as a tail dragger, 8ba early 3spd, banjo diff,W/W Lincoln front brakes, wide 5's etc etc. Nothing later than early 50's. I have a bit of a quandry, floor shift or column shift? I have a 39 & a 46-48 box, plus the handbrakes to go with them.... I like the look of the 36 hand brake with alloy handle/swan neck shifter, but I also like the look of a clear floor area.... I'm looking for pics, what have you got/thoughts?
No pics but here are my thoughts..... Custom guys were usually the first to incorporate new ideas from factory cars into their customs. More then one went from the "old style" floor shifter to the "New" 3 on the tree. Some hot rods did as well. I started my custom build intending to use the column shift but once I channeled it the shifter would hit my knee when putting it into 3rd gear. So I went to a floor shifter. Just something to consider...... Torchie
Strewth, go with what you like, you have the equipment to make something nice, so do that. I don't see where you will regret it. <<<< This has a three on the tree, and unless I do any major engine changes or transmission changes, it will stay that way unless necessary.
Lots of land mark hot rods used column shift. I'm going that route in our A because it's going to give me a little more space to cram into it lol
I installed a nice column shifter in my '36 Five window, back in 1961. My '46 Tudor had a '39 floor shifter, tall stick. My mom was a gearhead, (had two Model A's, both hopped up 4 bangers, very fast...she knew what was what) Mom was shaking her head, "Floor shift for the late model, Tree shift for the '36. Are you never satisfied?" Early Ford column shift linkage is smooth and direct, when bushings AND adjustments are new and correct. Seemed like everybody's early Fords that I drove had something wrong with 'drivability adjustments'! They'd drive mine, and want to trade cars! Column or floorshift, I liked 'em both: especially if they didn't 'belong there'!!!
Column shifters, from their inception, usually worked quite well. That lasted until the mid/late'50s when the shifter was removed from it's common top/ or side mount position on the column and incorporated into a concentric tube inside the column. By then styling was exerting a stronger influence and combined with increasing acceptance of automatic transmissions, manual shifters got shorted on engineering and quality of components. I am not saying early column shifters were 'bullet proof', they were not. But their durability and accuracy was quite good until they were well worn......unless of course you were among the 'speed shift freaks' and ANY shifter was hard pressed to satisfy those guys. I always thought the Ford units, especially through the '48 models, were quite good. Many people, of all ages and 'cultures' , want to believe they are independent thinkers......until it means going against their particular herd's 'rules'. If your preference leans toward a column shift unit, and you have room for it (not restricted by channeling, for example) go for it. You really only have to please yourself. Ray edit: Apparently, I was typing my response while Awater Mike was posting his......no plagiarism here....just like minds.
It's your car do what you like, only thing I can say is when I go to a rod show and look at a interior and see a column shift and the car came new with a floor shifter I'm very disappointed!
Use real '40-48 column shift parts and linkage, adjust carefully. No problems. An exotic upgrade also fitting the idea of newer and more expensive car parts in a custom...use a '38-9 Lincoln Zephyr trans! Floor shift with a clear floor, believe it or not. The shift comes UP right against the firewall, hides under the dash, knob emerges right by the steering! Your floor will look just like Kansas, and no one will have any idea what they are seeing! Gears, Mounts, clutch etc. allee samee Ford.
Lots to think about, I'm actually leaning toward the column shifter, I just think that the floor mounted handbrake would be a nice feature... The car won't be channeled, it will be a mild custom/taildragger & It'll be 'up graded' with 39 brakes & the wide 5 wheels, I'll use a matching 36 spare wheel/carrier. #Bruce Lancaster that LZ trans would be very cool, but hard to find out here...My plan is to build a hotrod A model down the track it so could the recipient of the 'other option'. I'm not asking because I'm worried about what others think, just looking for thoughts, Thanks all who've replied so far.
Im going column in my A coupe. Lots of cars have floor shift. Only the cool old school cars have column. And its a good theft deterant. Sent from my SM-T805Y using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I like the column shifter. It's rare to see in the old cars in my area all the restored "hot rods" have been modernized and the few customs have new ls swaps or 302 with a automatic. So I'm all for a column shift any day of the week man
How are you going to drive it? If it's strictly a cruizer, then the column is OK. If it's going to be speed-whooped occasionally, the floor shift will be better. Of course, even a slightly warm 8BA in a '39 will blow either of the early Ford trannys after a few speed-whoops. BTDT. jack vines
She can snuggle in a bit closer with a column shift. Customs are for getting girls, yes? Hot rods for getting rid of them?
I didn't read the first post before I answered, I thought it was about hot rods built in the early 50's, not about an early 50's tail dragger. I really don't know what guys in the early 50's who built tail draggers used, maybe they liked column shift. But for hot rods, floor shift always was and always will be the predominant shifter.
have the 39 zypher box in my 27-T and rdstr pu, they are neat, hard to find, have a short through when shifting. next start is a 34 rdstr, 55 cad eng w/61 ford HD 3spd w/od, colum shift, my first colum shift in an old rod, my hi scool custom build...
Column shifts were popular in the 40's gave roadsters more room, flipped over to the left side was cool Girlfriend shift, you could shift and keep your arm around the girl. Mid 50's the floor shifts came back around and everybody put them in with an extended shifter and a big crazy shift knob.
Simple CC Law: customs(taildraggers) = column shifter hot rods = floor shifter Saying that, I'm thinking about a column for my '32 just to be different and the theft prevention is a good notion as well.
I was reading about the Pierson 36 coupe just last night, column shift - clear floor. I'm leaning that way. Might have to mock it up either way. ...
Ha...a great comment for shifters! (an important part of cruising...) Hello, Preface this discussion with "the choice will be yours" and there is no one way that is right or not. Customs, hot rods, roadsters, all had different looks, some had floor shifters, some were on the column. It just depended on the builder and likes.(money?) Our first “find” car had a floor shift lever. (Model A) That old car as fun to drive around the block after we pulled it out of some tall weeds. But, it did not go too far in a build. It was sold to finance a 58 Impala. My 40 Ford Sedan Delivery had a LaSalle floor shifter and that was so cool to be able to move a long lever next to you in the cab. Like a big rig truck driver, but in my own sedan delivery. But, we were happy just to have a car. from a convertible Driving around in the 3 speed 58 Impala with the column shift lever was fun, too. I even taught my mom to shift through the 3 gears when she wanted to drive the 58. She never got it out of 2nd, because she could not continually depress the heavy duty clutch pedal each time. She also kept forgetting where the next shift point was in driving. That was a doomed experiment that led to the C&O stick hydro. By this time, the 59 Impalas were out with a 4 speed on the floor with its cool curved shifter hugging the seat. So we wanted a floor shifter for the 58. Later on, we mocked up a floor shifter for the 58 with a tall rod and a white round ball. The floor shift mechanism was made in the HS auto shop. It was ok, but the tall lever got in the way on "dates." It was an important item to consider... Even a short floor shift lever got in the way. Drive-in theaters and floor shifters in any car did not go well together. It just cluttered up the smooth front seating compartment, so out it came and with a few mods, the mechanism went into an old Pontiac sedan. Jnaki The final version for the 58 Impala was the stock column 3 speed shift lever, now shifting the custom C&O Stick Hydro. You just had to know where each gear was as the selector area at the base of the dash/column was blank. Most of the time it was in the final drive gear, but since it was a C&O, we could shift through all gears in a race if we wanted to be like manual transmission guys. It was similar in characteristics to the modern BMW M3 SMG Drivelogic automatic or the auto/manual DCT transmissions. In the factory, stock, hydramatic form, despite which gear it was in, at the peak rpms, it just shifted into the next appropriate gear. Tried it many times in Pontiacs and other GM cars and were surprised at the results. But, in the C&O, if you did not shift out of the gear, it would not automatically shift itself out of that gear and could possibly blow. In drag racing, too much excitement was there, so, usually the C&O was left in Drive to make things easier. More concentration was put on the start techniques on the street or at the drags. At Lions, the difference between the full auto selector and manually going through the gears had differences. The full auto was faster overall in E.T. The 4:56 gears were also different than the 4:11s, with the former being quicker, but the latter being a better ride on the street. See the 110617 post about Pomona Winternationals.
Thanks for the input folks, at this stage it looks like I'm going to run a column shift with a 46 deluxe wheel. To complement the late 40's early 50's vibe
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