1962 valiant shifter change

slantsixdan said
What version of the "Bible" are we talking about here? I don't recall anything in mine about '60-'62 Valiants, regardless of shift lever location.

The '60-'61 floor shifter worked great; the only complaints about it were that it was hard for some drivers to reach 2nd gear in early-production '60 Valiants, so the end of the lever was lengthened a bit. The column shifter was not adopted because the floor shifter sucked, it was done so the marketeers could babble about seating for six. The column shifter is inferior to the floor shifter.

As for how to convert: Good question. It's not a conversion I ever attempted, though I'm pretty sure others have done so. Get with Michael [screen name] over at slantsix.org and ask him about it. Here's the '61 FPC page showing the shifter and components in exploded view; there'll be more diagrams and descriptions in the '60 and '61 FSMs (which I no longer have, but which will be necessary for doing or investigating this conversion.

View attachment 1715119007

Biggest reason for the change is the column shift is sloppy and not worth continuing to chase. The support bracket I assume is where the shifter mounts? The other bracket shown in your diagram from the fpc is a bit confusing in regards to location and what it does. The boot located/listed under the support in the diagram I assume slips up over the shifter levers and screws to the bottom of the support? The shaft that slides into the divider on the shifter I assume is what mounts the shifter to the support?

These as you can see are assumptions. Trying to make since of it. This info from you has allowed me to confirm that all of the parts that I have are correct. Pieces I'm missing are the support and the bottom boot.
Would like to locate them but if necessary can fabricate the support if I could see exactly how it all goes together