The I'm-Learning-As-I-Go 1965 Valiant Post
As part of the effort to get the Valiant back on the road, one of the projects was to stabilize the shifter. It was originally on the column, but a transmission swap to a later Torqueflite A904 (1971) required us (Bob Higgins [rest in peace, homie] and me) to install an aftermarket B&M Starshifter. When we did the swap back in 2008 the only thing holding the shifter down were 2 self-tapping sheetmetal screws, and it was a flat bottomed shifter sitting on a round transmission tunnel.
My goal for this project was to create a flat platform for it to sit on, and to be able to use all 4 mounting points to stabilize it. I came up with the idea of fabbing up a mount out of 18 ga aluminium sheet metal (so rust would never be an issue) and riveting the mount to the transmission tunnel.
The first step was to create the template. It was test fit to the tunnel to make sure it was a good fit. I tapered the base to follow the tapering of the tunnel.
Transferred the design to the aluminium and drilled out the holes for the rivets (3/16") and the holes for the shifter mounts (1/4"). Used a 4x4 and a solid work table and bent the legs.
Test fit of the mount with the shifter on top.
Bolted and riveted down.
Future project might include coming up with a custom shift indicator. heh
As part of the effort to get the Valiant back on the road, one of the projects was to stabilize the shifter. It was originally on the column, but a transmission swap to a later Torqueflite A904 (1971) required us (Bob Higgins [rest in peace, homie] and me) to install an aftermarket B&M Starshifter. When we did the swap back in 2008 the only thing holding the shifter down were 2 self-tapping sheetmetal screws, and it was a flat bottomed shifter sitting on a round transmission tunnel.
My goal for this project was to create a flat platform for it to sit on, and to be able to use all 4 mounting points to stabilize it. I came up with the idea of fabbing up a mount out of 18 ga aluminium sheet metal (so rust would never be an issue) and riveting the mount to the transmission tunnel.
The first step was to create the template. It was test fit to the tunnel to make sure it was a good fit. I tapered the base to follow the tapering of the tunnel.
Transferred the design to the aluminium and drilled out the holes for the rivets (3/16") and the holes for the shifter mounts (1/4"). Used a 4x4 and a solid work table and bent the legs.
Test fit of the mount with the shifter on top.
Bolted and riveted down.
Future project might include coming up with a custom shift indicator. heh