made my custom shift linkage....

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mopardude318

mopardude318

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came out okay...sorta works pretty good...but not perfect..lol...i designed it off the incorrect (non A body) gear select operating levers...that I THOUGHT were the correct A-body ones....turns out they are for an overdrive trans out of a truck...:banghead::banghead:

I'm using a new Hurst Competition Plus shifter mechanism.

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That's some fine work.....but one tip. If you reverse the two forward gear levers, you will be able to run perfectly STRAIGHT shift rods to the levers. See how the cross over each other In the thira pic? If you reverse them, that will solve all that. What did you use for the shifter linkage, btw? Did you get a kit?
 
Thanks Tony! I don't have any garage space, so my father allows me to use the front entrance room of the house to work on stuff, and store parts. lol . I don't live there though.

StrokerScamp, the operating levers I have on the trans now in the current pictures, are the correct A body ones, I just got them in the mail yesterday from Brewers Performance and bolted them in to see if my linkage works with them...Which it kinda does...but something isn't right...

Here's the ones I was using that are not correct A body pieces..They appear to be from an overdrive truck...

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This was the shifter and the shift linkage that I also thought was for an A-body, which was incorrect, because it didn't fit at all...lol I'd like to have the factory A-body shift linkage so I can be done with it..lol

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StrokerScamp said:
That's some fine work.....but one tip. If you reverse the two forward gear levers, you will be able to run perfectly STRAIGHT shift rods to the levers. See how the cross over each other In the thira pic? If you reverse them, that will solve all that. What did you use for the shifter linkage, btw? Did you get a kit?
Click to expand...

In reversing the 2 forward levers, do you mean by placing the 1-2 gear operating lever in the 3-4 levers place and vise-versa?

I made the linkage all from scratch. I got some stainless heim joints from Fastenal, some stainless tubing, and welded some SS nuts on the the ends of the tube where I used shoulder bolts that hooks it up to the operating levers. On the shifter side, I had my buddy machine 3 stainless steel fine thread bolts down to the inside diameter of the tubing, slid them in and welded them up...
 
mopardude318 said:
In reversing the 2 forward levers, do you mean by placing the 1-2 gear operating lever in the 3-4 levers place and vise-versa?

I made the linkage all from scratch. I got some stainless heim joints from Fastenal, some stainless tubing, and welded some SS nuts on the the ends of the tube where I used shoulder bolts that hooks it up to the operating levers. On the shifter side, I had my buddy machine 3 stainless steel fine thread bolts down to the inside diameter of the tubing, slid them in and welded them up...
Click to expand...

Yes. That's what I mean. That would allow you to straighten the shift rods completely up. Similar to the Hurst Super Shifter and Ram Rod linkage. Both their 1-2 and 3-4 rods were perfectly straight. That usually gives much more positive and smoother shifting. Also, that will "uncross" your 1-2 and 3-4 rods. That right there will probably help out a ton.
 
StrokerScamp said:
Yes. That's what I mean. That would allow you to straighten the shift rods completely up. Similar to the Hurst Super Shifter and Ram Rod linkage. Both their 1-2 and 3-4 rods were perfectly straight. That usually gives much more positive and smoother shifting. Also, that will "uncross" your 1-2 and 3-4 rods. That right there will probably help out a ton.
Click to expand...

Okay, I will switch them tomorrow and see how it works with the current linkage. then maybe I will remake the 2 forward rods straight...again...lol

thanks for the comments guys, and thanks for the tips strokerscamp. :)
more to come....
 
No problem. You have enlightened me. I might make my own cause the Hurst linkage is outta sight stupid high.........WHEN you can find it.
 
Can you give some specifics regarding the tubing size and wall thickness? Also the size rod ends? Thanks.
 
StrokerScamp said:
No problem. You have enlightened me. I might make my own cause the Hurst linkage is outta sight stupid high.........WHEN you can find it.
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are there any leads on where you could possibly find it? i am interested in pictures of it just to see what it looks like..if those are available..doesn't the stock A-body stuff work if you use those linkage swivel adapter bushings?
 
StrokerScamp said:
Can you give some specifics regarding the tubing size and wall thickness? Also the size rod ends? Thanks.
Click to expand...

yes, i will get that information for you in the evening tomorrow...i am now at my GF's house in another city...i'll be at my dads tomorrow, where all my tools and parts and such are...LOL
 
Looking at the first pics you posted, it looks like all you would need is to install the 1-2 shift rod on the transmission side of it's lever.
Using the shortest transmission shift arms available to you will give the tightest shift pattern with any given shifter frame.
Super Shifters use straight heat treated and sleeve reinforced rods for the forward gears and it looks like they'll work here too. If you build your own to work with the rod ends, after the shifter frame is bolted down solid where it's going to live and everything is neutral aligned, make sure they're long enough to cover all but a couple of threads on the rod ends and trunions.
 
twofosho said:
Looking at the first pics you posted, it looks like all you would need is to install the 1-2 shift rod on the transmission side of it's lever.
Using the shortest transmission shift arms available to you will give the tightest shift pattern with any given shifter frame.
Super Shifters use straight heat treated and sleeve reinforced rods for the forward gears and it looks like they'll work here too. If you build your own to work with the rod ends, after the shifter frame is bolted down solid where it's going to live and everything is neutral aligned, make sure they're long enough to cover all but a couple of threads on the rod ends and trunions.
Click to expand...

okay thank you. putting the 1-2 shift rod on the BACK side of the gear select lever makes sense too, i will try all ways to see what combo makes for the shortest and straightest linkage...any idea on where i could find the super shifter linkage setup?
 
mopardude318 said:
yes, i will get that information for you in the evening tomorrow...i am now at my GF's house in another city...i'll be at my dads tomorrow, where all my tools and parts and such are...LOL
Click to expand...

Thanks man. Looks like we're all gonna learn suffin from this thread. Good job.
 
twofosho said:
Looking at the first pics you posted, it looks like all you would need is to install the 1-2 shift rod on the transmission side of it's lever.
Using the shortest transmission shift arms available to you will give the tightest shift pattern with any given shifter frame.
Super Shifters use straight heat treated and sleeve reinforced rods for the forward gears and it looks like they'll work here too. If you build your own to work with the rod ends, after the shifter frame is bolted down solid where it's going to live and everything is neutral aligned, make sure they're long enough to cover all but a couple of threads on the rod ends and trunions.
Click to expand...


You summed up very nicely what I was trying to say with my convoluted ***. Thanks. lol
 
okay strokerscamp, I used 1/2" Outside Diameter stainless tubing, with a thickness of .050 thousandths, and an inside diameter of .400 thousandths.

for the shifter mechanism side, I machined 3 stainless steel bolts down to the inside diameter of the tubing, slid them in and welded them together. the bolts were a 3/8-24 fine thread, (same threads as the factory shifter linkage adjusting swivels).

for the gear select operating lever side on the transmission, I threaded the tubing with the same 3/8-24 fine thread tap, and used that thread to locate a 3/8-24 nut, and welded it to the end of the tubing, and simply used a stainless steel 3/8-24 male heim joint available at fastenal, along with a stainless 3/8-24 jam nut to tighten the heim joint down...that should cover the linkage...

Also, I switched the operating levers around like you suggested and it worked better than i had before, but i still wasnt satisfied....with a little more adjusting and using a mix match set of operating levers, i was able to make everything shift smoothly and work like butter!

next time when i build this i will use the correct A-body operating lever, to make things less complicated. lol
 
Nice linkage setup! Some nice work..and good info here. Lemme know if you need some pics, Im putting mine back together and its factory...
 
thanks buddy will do. I have it all sorted out now. works perfectly. I also have a factory linkage setup coming from brewers just in case, id like to try it out and see...here's the updated pics where the linkage rods no longer cross each other.
 

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Had to look at the "before" and "after" pics a few times....LOL kinda foggy right now...I see now where you swapped the linkages. Good work and info!
 
The 1-2 rod end on the shifter side is on the wrong side of the lever, they're probably bumping into eachother. The retaining clip side of the rod ends should between the 1-2 and 3-4 levers on the shifter. The reverse rod is also on the wrong side of the shifter lever. Also the 1-2 rod looks like its going to be a little cosy with the crossmember. They do look very nice though and the heim joints should tighten up the shifts.
 
daliant said:
The 1-2 rod end on the shifter side is on the wrong side of the lever, they're probably bumping into eachother. The retaining clip side of the rod ends should between the 1-2 and 3-4 levers on the shifter. The reverse rod is also on the wrong side of the shifter lever. Also the 1-2 rod looks like its going to be a little cosy with the crossmember. They do look very nice though and the heim joints should tighten up the shifts.
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Hi. I understand what your saying, and I tried to swap everything like you mentioned, and it totally will not work. LOL I made this linkage off of non-A-body gear select operating levers, (which I thought were the correct A-body units) But now after further adjustments, it works even better with one correct A-body operating lever, As shown in the revised pics I posted...The other 2 OL's are from a truck transmission (I think)... The adjusters on the shifter end, BARELY touch each other, if at all, It's REAL close, but nothing binds anywhere while I shift it through the gears. Everything works nice and smoothly. So I think I'm good there...

When I built these, I had nothing to work off of, I had incorrect everything LOL. So, if I were to make another set, I'd bolt on the correct A-body operating levers, (on the transmission side) and research the correct locations of the linkage adjusting swivels on the shifter side, and build from there. But as I have it, everything works good, so I'm gonna leave it for now. :) I do appreciate everyone's comments and suggestions.

-James
 
Well, I think they came out pretty damn good. Although I will make my forward rods straight, yours are real nice. Thanks for the parts recipie, too.
 
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