i have been trying to find the thread about floor shifts for the 3 spd od trans in our fords and mercs. i remember someone saying you could take the top off a 40s something trans and put it in or on our trans. this has been quite awhile ago so i might be wrong on what trans top or whole trans he was referring to. sooo if anyone has info or the person that did this is around please explain. is it just one trans or a bunch of them i can look for. any info on a conversion to floor shift for the 49 - 51 merc od would be greatly appreciated.
Yours is a side shift trans, right? Can see how a top, regular floor shift would work for that. Look through Summit, etc, no personal experience with converting column shift to floor shift, but many of my friends did...didn't seem to be much of an issue, I'm sure linkages are still available.
I believe the back end (behind the bellhousing) on this era Ford and Merc transmissions are the same. If that's true, I have some insight to the problem. A floorshift kit for a transmission with out overdrive will not even come close to working on an over drive transmission. A couple of years ago, I was able to procure a Fenton floorshift kit made specifically for an over drive trans mission, and it mounts the shifter mechanism higher to clear the overdrive solenoid. This is not the end of your problems, since this higher mounting requires some transmission tunnel modification to clear the shifter. I have scanned the instructions for the Fenton kit into my computer so I can send it to you (or post it here) so you can get some idea of what you're up against. The top shift conversion you mentioned is not applicable with the earlier Ford transmissions; only on some of the later "Top-loaders".
thanks tubman yes budget mine is side shift i believe the article i read was about another trans but dont remember for sure. been quite awhile ago.
copied & pasted from original thread: I know this is an old thread, but thought I'd show how I did it. Mr. Gasket #7666 universal (but lists 49 up Ford/Merc & others) shifter. Was cheap on ePay. I bought it because I like looks of the round shifter, as opposed to one made from flat stock (like a Hurst). It was for a different project (chopped 37 Chev PU), but I needed it for this one NOW. First, getting the pins out of the old arms sucked. Until I found out they are 1/4. Cut the heads off but couldn't drive them out, had to drill. Once I knew how big they were, it got easier. Had to torch a piece out of the left side of trans x-member for clearance, pic of that piece shown. Would have put a piece back in for strength, but I wanna drive this NOW. Maybe I'll do it later... Notice in the photo that I used the provided spacers on the left side bolts to space main bracket away from trans for OD clearance. There is a washer or 2 between the main part & the one that points up from the bottom. Flipped OD cable clamp to inside of lever for more clearance (thanks to my bro for that suggestion). Cut provided linkage bends off & threaded ends to add heims. Not needed, but it's what I had laying around. The stock linkage is 5/16, this is 3/8, so wouldn't fit into stock arms. For some stupid reason, I wanted to use the stock arms. Had to make bushings to use 5/16 bolts in the heims, so cut off some brake line tubing- perfect fit. Flipped shift arms & re-drilled holes so they pointed up. inserted 1/2 copper tubing into arms (where they go on trans) & mig welded the old holes shut. No cleaning up of welds in the arms that way, weld doesn't stick to copper! Put the longer arm on the front, instead of the back. That way, linkage clearance works much better. If you don't, you'll have to figure out how to cross the linkages over each other. Had to shorten the shift arms, 'cause the pattern was too long. 2nd was on the firewall & 3rd was on the seat. Look at the photo & you'll see my welds on those. I actually shortened the front one more, after the pic was taken. Should have used provided trans arms & wouldn't have had to do all that work to the stock ones, or cut the linkage either. But, you have to file a dip in the round shift actuators to use those. I also (seen in the pic) ground a slot in the bottom rear of the main bracket for 2 reasons: to not have the speedo cable bent at a severe angle, & to get it up and away from the bottom of the shift levers. It wasn't a direct bolt on like I wanted, but it wasn't terrible either. Maybe this kit has more suitable bracketry than others, maybe not. Just showing what worked for me. Attached Files: a" style="margin: 0px; padding: 10px 10px 0px; list-style: none; overflow: hidden; zoom: 1; background-image: url(https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/styles/hamb/xenforo/gradients/category-23px-light.png); background-color: rgb(246, 246, 246); border-top-left-radius: 5px; border-top-right-radius: 5px; border-bottom-right-radius: 5px; border-bottom-left-radius: 5px; background-position: center top; background-repeat: repeat no-repeat;"> DSC01210.JPG File size: 140 KB Views: 1,683 DSC01215.JPG File size: 132.8 KB Views: 477
cool.....ran a Hurst Indy three speed shifter on my Stude overdrive trannie in 1974....not sure how I did it - still had a dash pull for the OD shift like the factory.......
if anyone has an nos shifter they want to sell let me know. or one you dont need anymore that you modified to work on your od trans. thanks
We have a shifter kit that came with a 49 Merc overdrive transmission we bought a year ago. The kit was not mounted so I can't show anyone how it fitted up. I'll take some pics and post them here later today or tomorrow. It's available....
Used 3 speed Hurst on a ´51 R-11 o/drive a few years ago, wasn´t all that difficult as best I recall. I remember making/altering shift arms and having to fab mount to attach to upr bolts on tailshaft. Worked fine but have no idea if it caused interference to xmbr, do not know what it was going in.
post #8 https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/top-loader-shifter-on-a-side-shift-tranny.741070/
been on the net lookin for shifters not much out there. mac if you can find pics and shifter id be interested.
OK....I took some pics at the shop today. I can't really tell whether or not this is actually designed for an overdrive, or if it's just a generic type kit. There was no name or other identification stamped on it anywhere. Maybe someone will recognize it for what it is. Here are the pics:
That looks like "one of many" I have seen for non-overdrive transmissions. Here's a page from the installation manual for a Fenton shifter for an overdrive transmission. Take a look at the picture on the bottom right which will show the bracket that mounts the shifter mechanism high enough to clear the overdrive solenoid. If anyone is interested, I can publish the whole instruction manual and take some pictures of the actual NOS Fenton overdrive shifter I have. The whole Fenton mechanism is mounted on a large bolt that goes through the big hole in the bracket. A "Hurst", it ain't.
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