[Essex_29]

Using my hole cutting template thingy, I made a shifter assembly today.



I used a bearing with a spheric outer  race to provide the needed articulation.



The sheet metal part will be welded to the floor structure. In practice
this will be covered with sheetmetal and some kind of boot when it's
done, so not really visible.
The shifter is a simple thing to do, just what I need to get up to speed again.

I've been collecting brake parts. I wanted to upgrade the 9" Mustang II disc brakes, and have
11" Granada rotors, adapters for GM calipers, brake pads, wheel bearings, seals, brake shoes,
master cylinder, rear cylinders, hoses, brake cables...




Looks like a shelf at a speed shop.
It will be fun to assemble all the parts when the spindles are painted.

[EDNY]

WOW...we need to get you your own hot rod reality TV show.

[62131]

If I understand this correctly, you are using the 2 bolt flange bearing as your pivot point. Overtime the housing will wear and become loose. Even faster if using a manual transmission.

[Essex_29]

Ha-ha, EDNY, that would be funny. My own reality TV show.
When writing, I try to hide my accent, but in speach... *grinning*

62131, that's correct. and I gave it half a thought, but assumed it would hold up. We'll see, I'm
not really too excited about how it looks, so it would have to be covered by a boot. I might do
something more mechanical looking some  day. Thank you for the warning anyway.

I got the whole shifty thing tacked in yesterday, along with the transmission tunnel piece that has
been missing. I tried it out, and the thing works nicely.
 Today I cut a couple strips and welded in where the gaps were too big to weld shut. Then some
grinding later it's done.



The  shifter stalk is just a piece of 1/8" wall water pipe. It will be cut off right above its pivot
point, and in some way be connected to a very short 6" Hurst shifter and knob  that I have.
I wish I had a taller one. Gotta see if it fits into the budget someday...
Or I make my own. Time will tell.

[chopper526]

Looks pretty cool to me. Is that a grease fitting on the side?

[Essex_29]

chopper526 I guess it's a matter of taste. If I get a decent looking shifter lever in place
of that straight water tube it might look okay. And yes, it's a grease fitting. Maybe if it's lubed it
might hold up for a decent amount of time, we'll see.

I dug through my stash of nice things and found the stubby shifter. Turns out it's 7-¹/₂"
and not six inches as I said yesterday. Still too short though.



I think I might fab up an own shifter lever, it will probably look better than trying to rat rod-punk it by
lengthening the short one and making a joint half way up.
Me finding an used Hurst shifter with the exact height and bend that I want. Cheap. Not likely to happen.

Lengthened version to the left and home made new version to the right.



Now if I can get some nice thick plate somewhere...

[sammons]

Looking good Essex!  I swear i use to have a shifter in my bins that looked just like the left one you pictured. Have no idea what it would have fit.

I was at the metal yard one day looking around the used section. Lots of farm manufacturing around, the sell their left overs and cut off scraps there. Stumbled on to a decent size 3/8" stainless steel plate, i grabbed it just because. Yrars later i needed a special bend shifter, cut it out of that. Plas torch was struggling thru it😁 But i got it cut out, threads cut and polished up nice. Every once in a while you get lucky😆

[62131]

Essex_39. I have been selling bearings for a living for 38 years from agricultural to industrial. Just a little information where my knowledge of bearings came from. The grease fitting is there to lubricate the balls or rolling elements in other types of bearings. If you grease it, you will properly cause it more harm than good. The movement of the bearing in the housing is for shaft misalignment, I'm sure it will last for a while, but it will get easier to move overtime as it wears.

[EDNY]

Björn

This shifter has been collecting dust in my barn for years...you can have it for free if you can use it.

Ed

[Essex_29]

Björn

This shifter has been collecting dust in my barn for years...you can have it for free if you can use it.

Ed

Ed! That's absolutely fantastic, it has to be the closest you can get to what Im looking for!
Yes please, I can use it for sure.
Let me know how I can pay you for postage and all. You already have my address.
Thank you!

[EDNY]

Björn

This shifter has been collecting dust in my barn for years...you can have it for free if you can use it.

Ed

Ed! That's absolutely fantastic, it has to be the closest you can get to what Im looking for!
Yes please, I can use it for sure.
Let me know how I can pay you for postage and all. You already have my address.
Thank you!

Do you want the entire shifter with the linkage sliders or just the chrome handle?  Probably easier if I send the entire unit and let you take it apart.  I'll get it packaged up.  Need to determine the best shipper, US Post office, FEDEX or DHL etc?

[Essex_29]

Fedex works fine when ordering over the internet, so maybe that.
 Seems reasonable pricewise too.

[EDNY]

Fedex works fine when ordering over the internet, so maybe that.
 Seems reasonable pricewise too.

I need to do more research...so far I'm seeing estimates of $50-$60

[Essex_29]

Ouch, that's pretty steep, that's not an especially big or heavy thing either.

I got a much heavier box from R0CKAUT0 delivered for $41.99 a week ago. Funny how it works.

[Essex_29]

I got a nice little package today containing a bunch of stainless flanges for my headers.



They are a bit more than ³/₈" thick, so they should be nice to work with.
 I think I have all the materials needed for the headers now, except for the
 welding rod, so I hope to get started on fabricating this weekend. Now, I just have
to figure out how to make a jig for cutting the same angle on all twelve primary tubes...