The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline 3 spd floor shift

I have asked this before but when I did it was for the borg R10 overdrive. Then I got to thinking that the OD shouldn't matter, so does anyone have any experience with converting the 3 on the tree to a 3 on the floor? I REALLY want to put my shifter on the floor and make it look like a traditional 4 spd. Thanks!

What year truck are we talking about?? John

Try these guys out for the shifter.

http://www.nationalchevyassoc.com/documents/NCA_125_lowres.pdf

1950 3100

Why not replace the transmission with a top shift type. They should be readily available from all the guys that have installed V8s with newer trannsmaissiona.

Richard

I have an email into the National Association, but they are into cars and it looks from the picture that its a car size (height) stick. I am hoping for a solution that I can use a 4 speed floor cover and make it look just like a stock 4 speed complete with the proper stick.

There are no Chev top loader 3 speeds the right length for your 50.
The last top shift 3 speed trans was 1947 and it is to short, unless you find a 1947 second series torque tube to go with it.

I don't have any interest in changing the transmission. Its a 3 speed with the R10 Overdrive (6 speeds) and its a really nifty way to get highway speeds married to the right rear end. I just like the feel of one hand on the wheel, the other on the knob. More nostalgic since when I was in my early 20's my 1954 3100 had the 4 speed. Hopefully there are others who would love to convert their tree system to the floor.

Trouble with most of the floor shift conversions for 3 speeds is they mount on the tail shaft of the transmission and sit to far rearward, which makes them so close to the seat....

John

You could always get a stick from a late model truck and adapt it to the National Chevy kit. Tain't nothing a welder can't fix.

Most shifters on the market are not made for the OD. The shifter has to allow for the shift solenoid on the BW unit. I use BW overdrives in all of my Y blocks and I think the mounting idea could be used with the Chev setup. I have a T86 BW transmission with a shifter on it out of a vehicle and can photograph it. I am in Holland at the moment, but I can photograph it when I return week after next. I buy Hurst Mystery shifters on eBay and adapt them. From the pictures I have seen of your shop, I'm sure you can do it. Do you have the SM319 Od or the later Saginaw. The Saginaw is very similar to the Ford OD and adapts easily.

Check with Cosmo here on the forum. I think he modified a floor shifter to use on his 3 speed OD.

Its the Borg R10 OD. I really like the setup, but it would be cooler on the floor rather than on the tree. All of the documentation for it is on my site. Thanks Steve.. I have a PM to Cosmo in.

I checked with the national chevy assoc on the phone and they said their kit doesn't work on trucks, let alone an overdrive. You hear rumors about some people doing it successfully, but when it comes to actual information, its nowhere to be found. The trouble with being ME, someone who documents every step of every procedure carefully so others can benefit from this journey is that there are some people who feel superior if they have information other people don't, OR, they just don't care to share. If I were being stupid fair, maybe they just don't understand the necessity of sharing to the level of detail that MOST hobbyists need. If you look at my website carefully, I make a habit of putting my money where my mouth is.. and share everything I learn in intricate detail. So, it may take me awhile, but I have a nice fabrication and restoration shop and when I get around to it, I will create a shifter system for these trucks and every darn shread of information YOU need to do this will be yours at the click of a button. Ridiculous.

overdrive doesn't affect the shifter, the 3 speeds are the same as any other trans, the OD is operated separate from the shifting, and the trans you have is the same as the one used in cars, the difference being, as others note, is the shape and length of the shifter re seat clearance, that's the only part you need to fab yourself

Bill

The solenoid gets in the way of most of the adapter plates and linkages need to be formed around it. The biggest thing is that most of these kits mount near the tail of the tranny which is unacceptable if you want the stem to come out in exactly the same place as the 4 speed. The center shift cover for the 4 speed is what I want to use.. I want it to look as if it IS a 4 speed, so the whole thing needs to be moved waaaay forward. I will figure it out. Maybe a double articulating setup, I will be ready for figuring this out once I have my frame completed. Lots to do and a long time to get there!

Mine does not come out the same place as the four speed, maybe six inches or so back but in the center of the floor. As a daily driver of an only vehicle I did not have the luxury of all the time in the world with careful documentation and a shopping list of ingredients. I had a column shifter that was harder to work with for what I had to accomplish, therefore I went to the floor. I built the shifter in my head and then literally threw it together in four or five hours.

As I stated to Deve in a private post this shifter has worked perfectly for over 12 years. Ugly, oh goodness yes. Effective and efficient, happy to say yes again. Over the years a few people have asked me how I had accomplished a floor shifter and I had shared the information. The challenge as I see it is having the shifter dogs in the up position to retain the standard H shift pattern for the 3 speed. My solution was to make my own short shifter dogs the benefit being a shortened throw of the shifter stick.

Tomorrow if there is interest I will post some old pictures to give people a better idea.

post script:
I have no idea if a shifter could be bought off the shelf for this application as all the originals were column shifters. In addition I had this shifter on a '62 Muncie with B/W overdrive, I happily learned that it now works perfectly on the newer generation '69 Saginaw with B/W overdrive (same bolt hole attachment points).

Regards,

Cosmo

I found the following for my 60's Saginaw 3 speed OD trans from Hurst:

HUU-3667271 shifter and HUU-3670010 installation kit. It is listed for a Chevelle but it will work with your transmission and the stick has a big bend for seat clearance.

HUU-5010002 is your second option. It is the Indy SSA shifter for the 3 speed and has a slightly bent stick for the seat.

I used the first option, no problem with solenoid. However, I could not get the shifter forward enough to clear the bench seat. Went with buckets from a 2006 Audi.

don

I used a Hurst shifter many years ago, but I had to bend the stick to clear the seat and of course it did not not look anything original. But in those days, I didn't care about originality. I think the way to make this thing work would to use the shifter from something like a Hurst and fabricate a mount that would bolt to the clutch housing because I think any shifter that mounts between the main box and the R10 OD will be too far to the left and too far back. I would mount the transmission to a clutch housing and then take measurements from a SM420 mounted to a clutch housing and see where the stick needs to be. A shifter from an auxiliary transmission might work or possibly a box like we used on the remotes on cab over trucks in the 70's and 80's could possibly be used. Its going to take some fabricating, but I think Devek is capable of doing. I have been toying around with the same idea for a 50 GMC. I have a SM319 and a Saginaw OD that I have been thinking of using and doing the same thing Devek is considering. I didn't like column shifters in the 50's and 60's and I still don't care for them.

Here you can see how I attached the shifter to the back of the transmission where the overdrive portion attaches to the mid plate. This is a picture of the home-made shifter dogs welded in the upright position. I bent the rods slightly to clear the solenoid. I am sure were I to do it again I could do a cleaner job but as I said, done in one afternoon by necessity and 12+ years later still performing flawlessly. Shown here the stick is in 1st gear.... and you can't tell from this picture but the shifter itself is in the middle of the floor...without the over-up that I created the stick would be right on your thigh.

Here's the funny part...I'm going back to the column!!!! Hope to accomplish that in the next couple months.

Regards,

Cosmo

To be clear, I have a lot more of the Kansas farmer mentality in me than it appears. I have done lots of things out of necessity and I have so many stories to tell in that regard, but these days, I can be crazy picky and I enjoy the challenge. I want to make this shifter look as if its a 4 speed and work perfectly in doing so. Remember, this isn't a mere 4 speed. Its a SIX speed due to the OD. It seems strange to me that someone else over 60 years hasn't made this happen to this extent, but in time, I will get this done. Thanks to ALL for this conversation because it helps formulate the solution. Thanks again all!

Deve, I'll talk this over with Grigg (machinist extraordinaire) this weekend, we have our big ODSS get-together and this conversation is ripe for beer and brainstorming.

Yeah, Grigg did a lot to make my riveting procedure happen, I'm sure he has some good advice on how to do this. Let me know what you guys come up with. Its a very worthwhile endeavor but something that can be rather complicated without sufficient beer!

If you guys are really looking for a challenge to figure out over a few cold ones, come up with a way to column shift a T-5 tranny. Having a 5 speed with overdrive and still shifting it from the column would be the ultimate in engineering coolness.

Let me know when you have a solution! :-)

they may need an awful lot of beer for that one.

I'm not going away guys! Anyone up for the challenge? I can take pictures of exactly where on the transmission the floor cover comes out. I am also willing to purchase whatever parts we need. I don't think the overdrive will end up having anything to do with it since the shifter would be over the main 3 spd. This would be a great how-to for a lot of people wanting to get rid of the tree.

I have a 49 3/4 and a floor shift conversion (Mr Gasket) won't work because the tailshaft is part of the transmission case and there are no bolt to bolt the shifter to.

I have a '55 GMC 3 speed with a floor shifter. I used a NOS Hurst shifter for 55/57 Chevrolet 3 speed transmission. The shifter stick is for a truck seat.
It bolted right up but the shifter was under my right leg and very uncomfortable to use.
I fabbed a 5/8 steel bar to bolt into the shifter hole and bent it to put the stick into the middle of the floorboard. The stick bolts to it and looks like it should be there.

I wonder how much clearance there would be between the 3 spd transmission top and the bottom of the 4 spd cover plate??

John