A903 - no floor shift?

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dozer556

dozer556

Not old school. Just old.
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I remember reading somewhere that the A903 is a column-shift only manual, as there is no provision to mount a floor shifter on this particular unit.

The PO installed a Hurst Indy SSA unit in my '68 Barracuda and it (surprise!) doesn't work that well. Images below show how it is currently attached to the linkage. It feels to me that the shifter handle is moving around on the attachments bolts, so the first step was to tighten them up. Not much improvement there. Also kinda of salty to see that original tranny hump hacked up, but whatever...

Any solutions to this mess, other than finding the original column shift linkage setup, or swapping out for another trans?

shifter_zpsogdnqij7.jpg
 
Don't know, but "back in the day" there were PLENTY of aftermarket "conversion" floor shifters, made at the bottom end by no- name junk, JC Whitney, and up to the upper end--- Fenton, Hurst, and others. There were several in my town, growing up, including one of my cars, used a Hurst "Mystery" shifter

These were all designed to convert a column shift vehicle to a "better shifting" floor shift
 
The A 903 is not a very good transmission anyways ...its a top loader and very lightweight.

If you were going to stay with a 3 speed....the A230 is the best way to go ......not only did the 230 give a mounting boss to mount a floor shifter, it was also a very tough transmission that is way underrated. The 230 is a side loader and built by new process and even looks like a mini 4 speed.

I have had a few A903 that went into the pile.

There have been a lot of guys on FABO trying to unload a 230 and often very cheap. Some 340 cars even came with a 230. The mid 70s 230s are good too ......in the later years they were synchronized with some other improvements.
 
67Dart273 said:
Don't know, but "back in the day" there were PLENTY of aftermarket "conversion" floor shifters, made at the bottom end by no- name junk, JC Whitney, and up to the upper end--- Fenton, Hurst, and others. There were several in my town, growing up, including one of my cars, used a Hurst "Mystery" shifter

These were all designed to convert a column shift vehicle to a "better shifting" floor shift
Click to expand...

I've heard the stock column shifts were miserable, and this floor shift isn't much better. But I just need to get it to kinda, sorta work...


Rainy Day Auto said:
The A 903 is not a very good transmission anyways ...its a top loader and very lightweight.

If you were going to stay with a 3 speed....the A230 is the best way to go ......not only did the 230 give a mounting boss to mount a floor shifter, it was also a very tough transmission that is way underrated. The 230 is a side loader and built by new process and even looks like a mini 4 speed.

I have had a few A903 that went into the pile.

There have been a lot of guys on FABO trying to unload a 230 and often very cheap. Some 340 cars even came with a 230. The mid 70s 230s are good too ......in the later years they were synchronized with some other improvements.
Click to expand...

Understood about the A903. I'm actually not looking to swap transmissions if I can help it - I'm trying to get the Barracuda running & driving just well enough that I can shuttle it short distances, mainly between my garage and storage. The ultimate goal is a V8 swap, probably using the 360/727 setup I have in my beater '74 Dodge truck.
 
The original 903s were floor shifted in the 60-62 Valiant and Lancers. Shifter was actually mounted to the floorplan of the car to the left of the tunnel.
 
UPDATE: I came across an A230 from a '72 Duster while browsing CL. It was complete from flywheel to driveshaft, including the original shifter and linkage. Price was right, so it's in my garage right now.

I wasn't really looking to swap out the trans and I certainly won't need all the parts I bought, but this was too good to pass up. Thanks to Rainy for the heads up about these. Now I just need to scrounge up a floor tunnel...


IMG_3932_zps4f7bs8dw.jpg
 
That is nothing to sniffle at. A bodies with 340s came with 230 3 speeds.
 
67Dart273 said:
That is nothing to sniffle at. A bodies with 340s came with 230 3 speeds.
Click to expand...

No, I'm a happy guy. Plans with the Barracuda have changed a bit, but that's ok. Also, the seller was a super cool guy who had a kick *** E-body in his shop. Even though I spent 3 hours in traffic bringing the parts home, it was a good day.
 
Stupid question, but I've been googling my head off and can't turn up a definitive answer. I know AMD repops the manual shifter tunnel for A-bodies - is the shifter location the same for 3-speeds (A230 in my case) and 4 speeds? Can I use the 4-speed tunnel for this swap?
 
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