The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Anyone made their own shift lever?

I have a t5 transmission in my 1940 project and I would like to have a nice tall shift lever that looks more like what the original did.

The original lever doesn't really work because the location, even with the S-10 tailshaft, is too far back and the shifter will hit the seats. I have seen the shifter that comes with Patrick's saginaw conversion that looks real nice. It takes a nice forward jog before angling back toward the seats. Maybe he would sell just the shift lever?

Has anyone made their own shift lever? I am thinking of reversing the original and adding a bend to bring it back towards the seat. It should be pretty straight forward to weld a piece of flat stock on the bottom to attach it to the shifter.

Any ideas?

Back in the late sixties I drove an 18 wheeler with the old 4 speed transmixer with 4 speed axle, 2 shifters ,what a blast, now it's done with a flipper,I made extensions for both, looked like ape hangers. Had many coments from other drivers. With the 318 v8 Detroit she was a runner. Not to many trucks stayed with me. Man those were the days.

Heat the rod & bend it forward. get the shifter off a later model 4 speed & weld a nut on that will screw on the shifter. It looks like a factory 4 speed when you get through.

Wrenchbender Ret.,

Thanks. I have the shiftlever from the 1940 3-speed. I made a template sort of thing from an old wire hanger (man I had to search to find one). So I have an idea of the shape that would work.

Didn't 6cylindersovertexas just do this on his '37? Joe? Got your ears on?

I made my own shift lever for my 1932 'bolt many years ago. I used a 1/2 inch rod heated and bent to the shape I wanted, it worked like a charm and cost nothing, the rod was in my scrap pile. It was mounted on a Hurst type shifter on a Saginaw 4 speed trans.

Bill, I just made mine using a B & M short throw shifter. I reshaped it and made a stick for it. All stainless steel and nice.

Joe

For my 10 speed Roadranger in my 48 I am planning to forge a stainless shifter. Start with a larger rod and taper it like the original, probably start with 3/4" and taper to 3/8". Leaving it so it looks forged, but with no scale, and no paint.
Grigg

Just a suggestion....to bend the S10 shifter you have to remove it from the base plate that bolts to the transmission. (The plastic bushings will melt) So why not stop by your local junkyard and pick up the shifter from a Mustang!!! Why a Mustang you say? Well, you've got the S10 base apart....the Mustang base/shifter will cost you about $10....take it out of it's base (it's bigger than the S10), drop it into your S10 base, retack and drop it into your transmission. So why all this swapping stuff? Well, the Mustang shifter is straight up, has a built in VIBRATION COLLAR so you can BOLT on your old sm420 stick (or whatever you want to use), bent to your favorite position and it won't VIBRATE when you're cruising down the road.

If none of this makes any sense, check out the pics of my modification on the 3rd or 4th page of my webshots shoebox. That's my $.02 and I'm stickin to it!!!

Liked them roadranger's also drove a 13 in a transtar with a 350 come on down cummings...Breaker 19, anybody copy, comeback.

Hey thanks,

Here is a picture of my B & M short throw shifter that I am starting with:

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e211/schickling/DSCN1257.jpg

I can drill two holes in just about anything and attach it to the shifter. Looks like I need to bend up something.

I would love it to be tapered like the old one. I can't imagime that is very easy.

yes
and yes berry you are right.... joe did recently asked this same question.

I made my own. I took a 1/2'' steel rod. chucked it up on the lathe and filed down (the end so it makes a taper from about 10'' down to the end). the end was drilled to accept a 5/16''x24 bolt (your typical black plane shifter knob) thread, brazed in situ, simply screw the black knob on. the other end was cut to length and threaded 1/2'' course, bent to fit the truck. the T5 short end stock shifter arm was heated and bent to line up w/ the new shifter (see link). it too was threaded 1/2'' course and i used a coupler to connect the two together. this coupler is hidded inside the custom shift boot. a pal nut or other locking nut holds it in situ and the T5 end coupler is loctited blue. Remember when you shape the T5 stock shifter it has to clear the seat when in the forward position.
http://www.stovebolt.com/techtips/tranny/sandoval/h.jpg
this photo shows the stock shifter rod, I shortened the upright rod after i made it fairly straight (remove so the plastic does not melt~ as mentioned), it's about 1/2''dia. and threaded for the coupler.

it all looks very stock.

pictures after the truck is out of the paint shop.

Bill,

Somewhere on this site there are pictures that somebody took of a stock S 10 shifter they they reshaped. I know because I copied it for mine. Since the shifter is solid steel, it was easier for me to cut a wedge out of the front of it, pound it in order to bend, and then weld it. I'm sorry I can't find the pic right now but if you look, you'll find a link. The shifter clears the seat, but it is a bit short and the throw is very long. My permanent solution (some day) will be to buy a B&M T5 shifter #45049 which is supposed to be the correct application for an AD.

tlorber -

I think you are talking about John Sandoval's (Steppenwood) Tech Tip on the installation of his T-5 in his 42 pick up and his T-5 S-10 shift stick on this site:

http://www.stovebolt.com/techtips/tranny/sandoval/h.jpg

Joe

I had a machinist to make me an stainless extension that just screwed on to the s-10..and curved back a little.. looks good and works well for me.

I think nm51 made his own.

I extended one for my 1951 . It started out a b&m shifter for the s-10 application.It was way to short for my truck.So i used part of a 1966 chevy stick and welded them together.Here is a link to it.

1966 married to b&m

modified shifter

I tried the Mustang shifter, wouldn't work, the ball end, in the trans is shorter than the S-10 making the shift throw much longer. So, I cut off the top portion of the Mustang and welded it to the bottom end of the S-10 and bolted on my old Hurst lever. All this just to use the Hurst, but it came out nice.