Hello, i have a 73 Duster column shift and i would like to convert to floor shift with a console, my question is the floor brackets, has anyone used the AMD kit? how accurate are they and did your console fit the brackets nicely afterwards. thanks and if anyone has the dimensions as to where the factory welded these brackets and would like to share and possibly a pic or two it would be appreciated. its a 1973 Duster,, thanks again ...Rich
column to floor shift
- Thread starter mad dog
- Start date
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When I did my conversion I found the measurements here on FABO and I used 3M panel bond to glue in the brackets just in case the measurements were off I could somewhat easily remove them. From my experience with the installation there is some wiggle room for your console location built into the brackets. My brackets are original that I bought off eBay so I cant speak to AMDs quality or fitment but if they are modeled after the original pieces they should be fine. If you cant find the measurements something you can do is Install your shifter then install the brackets on the console and place it in the car, make sure the car is in park and line up the "P" on the console with the shift lever then using a sharpie you should be able to mark the brackets location on the floor pan and get a general location to where the brackets mount then gently as to not move the console shift through all the gears verifying the alignment of the gears detents to the console gear markings and the side to side alignments of the console that should get you pretty close. Good luck
65Val
Average Length Member
^^^^^This^^^^^
Buy a B&M Quicksilver cable shifter. Installs easy. You will be done in a day. Mine sticks through the factory slot in a factory console.
KC69Cuda
Well-Known Member
Mike you have any pics of yours? I just converted column to console with a used QuickSilver too! Actually just hooked cable to trans yesterday, still have to pull column apart for the new bowls. I shifted my console back approx 3" from stock location for a comfortable shifter reach & had to make many careful mods to the floor bracket & top console plate for everything to fit properly.
I will take some pics tomorrow. Yours looks really nice.
Jobbob
Active Member
I’m doing a conversion on my ‘66 Signet and am impressed with your installation. How well does that shifter fit under the coffin console? Do you have any pictures of the shifter mounting bracket and shifter before installing the console? I have a console and would rather have a cable operated unit. Thanks
I don’t seem to have any pictures of the shifter brackets. Mine was done by previous owner. The shifter on mine is actually in the PRNDL indicator slot and the letters have been moved to the shifter slot.
KC69Cuda
Well-Known Member
I have more pics, will add later this evening at home.
Plenty of room for B&M Quicksilver under the console, but it took a bit of careful mods to shifter & especially console plate for it to fit & function in the factory shifter slot.
Plenty of room for B&M Quicksilver under the console, but it took a bit of careful mods to shifter & especially console plate for it to fit & function in the factory shifter slot.
KC69Cuda
Well-Known Member
Jobbob,
More details for you. 66 Signet is still an a-body, not sure if upper console plate & related parts are the same as later years but this is what I went through.
AMD factory shifter bracket (I chopped off the upper 2/3rds of it). Rear console bracket on the left.
I mounted console into desired position with front & rear brackets attached to the floor, and the B&M sitting under it (upper console plate just sitting in place), then basically held the shifter off of the floor into position & marked/measured the required mounting height at its base. This was done with carpet removed, and used the same method to mark my carpet for cutouts & location of console brackets beforehand. PITA to do by yourself, an extra set of hands would've been very helpful.
I transformed the unused upper section of shifter bracket into horizontal mounting plates with studs (shown in my original post above).
Made small holes to mount brackets to floor with sheet metal screws while mocking it all up, before welding
brackets to trans tunnel, in case I had to make any adjustments.
Shifter sitting on my re-fabricated bracket. Red pointer is of no use & had to bend it downward for clearance anyway. 2 small drill dimples on the right edge of gate plate are locators I made - The indicator housing mounting studs of the upper console plate almost rest on it at these points.
Shift indicator housing - had to chop off the lamp housing section and part of the rear guide tab for the gate slider.
As well as scallop the center section for clearance to the shifter's ratchet mechanism. I did not modify the upper console plate at all, only the shift indicator & ashtray housings.
Shifter needs to be set up pretty close to bottom of bezel, or there won't be enough clearance in the gate opening for full fore/aft travel. The only visible mod from the topside is the slot I had to cut in the gate slider.
I also fabbed a sheet metal bracket that sits flush to the bottom of shift indicator (where I chopped the lamp housing) - to the top side of this bracket I attached an LED strip for the shift indicator.
Ashtray housing - had to cut off part of the gate slide guide tab for clearance (shown in above post). What I'm calling the "gate slide" is the black flexible plastic piece that shifter stem goes through & moves fore/aft with shifter.
All welded in
Some trimming at rear of shifter - mounting tab for the original B&M plastic "console". The rear of the plastic gate slider was hitting it.
Functional with cable attached - hole for cable is directly behind the front console bracket. I think it was a 4' cable & was the perfect length... Went around upper passenger side of bell housing, downward & across the bottom of bell housing to driver's side. Used heat shield sleeve & attached to dust shield bolt with a clamp style retainer, plenty of clearance on headers.
More details for you. 66 Signet is still an a-body, not sure if upper console plate & related parts are the same as later years but this is what I went through.
AMD factory shifter bracket (I chopped off the upper 2/3rds of it). Rear console bracket on the left.
I mounted console into desired position with front & rear brackets attached to the floor, and the B&M sitting under it (upper console plate just sitting in place), then basically held the shifter off of the floor into position & marked/measured the required mounting height at its base. This was done with carpet removed, and used the same method to mark my carpet for cutouts & location of console brackets beforehand. PITA to do by yourself, an extra set of hands would've been very helpful.
I transformed the unused upper section of shifter bracket into horizontal mounting plates with studs (shown in my original post above).
Made small holes to mount brackets to floor with sheet metal screws while mocking it all up, before welding
brackets to trans tunnel, in case I had to make any adjustments.
Shifter sitting on my re-fabricated bracket. Red pointer is of no use & had to bend it downward for clearance anyway. 2 small drill dimples on the right edge of gate plate are locators I made - The indicator housing mounting studs of the upper console plate almost rest on it at these points.
Shift indicator housing - had to chop off the lamp housing section and part of the rear guide tab for the gate slider.
As well as scallop the center section for clearance to the shifter's ratchet mechanism. I did not modify the upper console plate at all, only the shift indicator & ashtray housings.
Shifter needs to be set up pretty close to bottom of bezel, or there won't be enough clearance in the gate opening for full fore/aft travel. The only visible mod from the topside is the slot I had to cut in the gate slider.
I also fabbed a sheet metal bracket that sits flush to the bottom of shift indicator (where I chopped the lamp housing) - to the top side of this bracket I attached an LED strip for the shift indicator.
Ashtray housing - had to cut off part of the gate slide guide tab for clearance (shown in above post). What I'm calling the "gate slide" is the black flexible plastic piece that shifter stem goes through & moves fore/aft with shifter.
All welded in
Some trimming at rear of shifter - mounting tab for the original B&M plastic "console". The rear of the plastic gate slider was hitting it.
Functional with cable attached - hole for cable is directly behind the front console bracket. I think it was a 4' cable & was the perfect length... Went around upper passenger side of bell housing, downward & across the bottom of bell housing to driver's side. Used heat shield sleeve & attached to dust shield bolt with a clamp style retainer, plenty of clearance on headers.
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Moparone
Well-Known Member
Do you have a template on where to put the brackets? I saw an old thread with some locations but not able to get good enough measurements. Looks like there used to be a good template available fe Redfish. I tried messaging but is full, maybe he’s not active any more. Any help would be appreciated
Jobbob
Active Member
Moparone
Well-Known Member
Thank you. How do you align left to right. Are there any reference marks for that ?
Jobbob
Active Member
I assembled the entire shifter and linkage to the shifter bracket and basically nestled the bracket into position. The challenge is locating the forward bracket left and right because that’s what locates the console, there’s no way to adjust left or right after the bracket is locked down. So, locate and lock down the shifter bracket first. Mock-up install the console. Then find the location for the forward and aft brackets
Moparone
Well-Known Member
Unfortunately there is no drivetrain in the car to hook anything up. I was trying to get all the welding done before the car is painted. I may just wait and do it when I can use the linkage as a guid to make sure everything works.
Jobbob
Active Member
The shifter bracket could be located by using the measurements from the photo and nesting in place while making sure that the top of the bracket is level. The rear bracket can then be located ( be careful not to put it too far back or the console will be too far back and the shifter won’t align correctly with the indicator)
The real challenge is locating the forward bracket properly left and right or the shifter will be crooked. Good luck. A layout template would be nice
The real challenge is locating the forward bracket properly left and right or the shifter will be crooked. Good luck. A layout template would be nice
KC69Cuda
Well-Known Member
And bolt your seats in place to aid in console/bracket alignment so it's centered between the seats. Note that the console is not centered on the tunnel - it sits a little left of center (see the last pic of my post above).
KC69Cuda
Well-Known Member
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