Tall man problems in coupe; bend shift lever?

[Barry in St.Paul]

I'm 6'6" and my '30 coupe is still a tight fit, even though I cut off an inch from my package tray to compensate for the roll-down rear window I installed. The biggest issue is my right knee interfering with the gear-shift, which makes it tricky to do a quick change from accelerator to brake if I'm in 1st gear especially.
Was debating about pulling the gear shift and bending it several degrees to the right, but I had it nickel-plated at great expense, and don't want to ruin the finish. Has anyone successfully bent this, without heating and without cracking the finish? Seems like I might have to get a different gear shift, bend it, and have it plated (no use ruining this good one if I have to re-plate something anyway).
Thoughts?
thanks!
Barry

[Glenn C.]

I would go with the latter idea that you have. No use wrecking a nice re-chromed shifter.

[SteveM]

I'm only 5'10" and have the same problem (long legs).

You could consider putting your "good" shift lever aside and bending a second one for normal use. That way, if you have a show coming up, you can swap the good one back in.

Steve

[roundvalley]

I like Steve and Glenns ideas. But I would get a section of rod like the shifter and make some practice bends with different patterns before doing the backup shifter.

[Barry in St.Paul]

thanks. SteveM, have you tried doing this? (bending the lever...) If not, anything else you've done to get more room? Obviously I COULD pull the seat frame, strip the upholstery back (which just got put in!!! :-( disassemble the whole rear-rolldown-window assembly (ugh!) and wrangle that darn package tray out to trim off another inch or so, but it is an extremely unpleasant thought to me right now!

[Ned]

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A 28-29 shifter lever might help. They stay more to the right than the 30-31 but do go forward more in Rev and 2nd.

[Brentwood Bob]

You might run into a problem with the 28-9 if you have a temp gage mounted under the instrument panel. That will then require some creative rebending. If you run a mitchell you have to consider the location of the mitchell, but I think if you adjust it to be close to the seat it won't be an issue. Just finished rebuilding a shift tower and the old lever was real snakey(bent) I bent the new lever cold with a block of wood against the seat riser.

[Bruce]

At 6' 6", I've got bragging rights! We also have a Roadster Pickup. It fits like a glove!!
I did heat and bend the shifter so that it is over and out of the way. I heated it with a map gas torch. The bend is down close to the transmission and the rubber boot covers the evidence -- which I painted to keep away the rust.
Works great.
Our Roadster came from a friend who is also tall. He had cut the shifter off and then turned it down and rethreaded the stub. The shifter ball was below his knee. It was a long reach to 2nd, though. I pulled it out and replaced it with another "custom" bent one. No complaints from my navigator -- yet.

[SNBFamily]

I am contemplating the purchase of a 29 station wagon. Love the car but at 6'4" have the same issue. Do you have a picture of the bend you made ? Thx. Sb

[Barry in St.Paul]

Bruce, do you have a photo showing it in neutral position? Did you bend it while it was installed in the car, or remove it? Would sure be easier to judge 'final position' if you could do it while its in the transmission like that....

[Bruce]

I do not have a picture, but it wouldn't be that obvious if I did. I bent in in the truck -- the localizied heat made it lean right over, as if it had been designed that way. They I let it cool, sprayed some Rustoleum on it and wrapped it (the bend) with electrical tape. As I said, the boot covers the evidence.
When Jan and I are both in the car, you can tell that she has less room and I have more. Otherwise, the car show people sticking their heads in the window would never notice.

[Marco Tahtaras]

I would recommend starting with another '30-31 lever. I have successfully bent a restored lever ONCE. However I was increasing the fore/aft bend from the '28-29 angle for use on a '30-31. I don't believe it could be done sideways as the lever would likely spin in any fixture that wouldn't damage the plating.



With the time I've spent with original type interiors, I'm not fond of the modern boots sold by all the suppliers as an option. In fact every car that has come to me with boots, I've tossed them in the trash and later told the owner that if he insists on using them that he can order more when he gets his car home. :-)

[Barry in St.Paul]

thanks Marco. So, do you any type of boot for the E-brake and gear shift? Seems like there's a lot of daylight showing if nothing is used....??

[Marco Tahtaras]

Originally Posted by Barry in St.Paul

thanks Marco. So, do you any type of boot for the E-brake and gear shift? Seems like there's a lot of daylight showing if nothing is used....??

Unfortunately, I've never taken a good pic of my carpet to show the details. Based on what most folks are forced to work with this is a two part answer.



Originally the rubber mat OR carpet heel pad (as required) acted as the floor seal. The hole for the shifter actually fit the shift tower. The hole for the brake lever only blocked the hole with the brake in the released or off position as would be the case while driving.





The hole for the earlier brake lever was a little different but the results were similar.

Since most folks must rely on suppliers that loosely simulate the original equipment, most will encounter excessive air gaps as you describe. There are several options only limited one's own creativity. One option would be to make flat seal from thin sheet rubber (maybe 1/16" thick) that can be quickly slipped into place before installing the carpet or mat. If you choose to follow the original drawing above, you may find 1-9/16" - 1-5/8" will work better for the hole size as most folks have the body shimmed slightly higher than was originally done.

[firefirefire90]

How interesting. I am 6'5" with long legs and the only complaint I have is with my knees and the steering wheel. Good luck OP!

[Dennis L Oberer]

Trim that package tray down to nearly nothing and move the seat frame back 2-1/2 inches and you will not have any problems with the shift lever. I am 6'5" and thats what I did on our coupe.

Dennis L Oberer
Green Bay WI

[Marco Tahtaras]

Originally Posted by Dennis L Oberer

Trim that package tray down to nearly nothing and move the seat frame back 2-1/2 inches and you will not have any problems with the shift lever. I am 6'5" and thats what I did on our coupe.

Dennis L Oberer
Green Bay WI

Dennis, I'm thinking you have a '29 Coupe (???). If that's the case, they are even worse than '30-31 bodies for space so hopefully Barry doesn't have to take it as far. However if Barry has new seat springs they can "shrink" the front compartment quite a bit!

[Barry in St.Paul]

Dennis, seriously considered that, even pulled up my photos "pre-upholstery" to see where all the screws and bolts are that would need removal, and then went out this morning to look at the upholstery.... But my upholstery person just did too nice of a job, everything too nice and tight and perfect for me to start ripping it out to get at the package tray!
So, I found my original gear-shift (chromed 25 years ago, willing to sacrifice and re-plate with nickel) and will try bending it to the right before I consider gutting my back-window area. I think 2" or 3" on the gear-shift will get me 'safe' (ie: can quickly get to the brake!) again. Now, have to see if Tom W. will weld up the ball for me on this gear shift (it is square as a cube!) and in the meantime I'll do some practice bends on an old rusty gear-shift I have. Thanks for all the input gentlemen! What a great site and great group of guys (and gals!)

[jaguar6165]

Im pushing 6' 8" and had the same problem but fortunately i have a 28' four door so i did a couple of things. I first took the floor support/stand or what ever its call out and put the cushion directly on the floor i then made new side brackets and floor bracket that shifted the set back about 6-8 inches. Suprisingly i can sit in the rear set very comfortably so anyone else is fine back there. I also went to the local fabric store and bought 2" foam padding and made a new slim back cushion which got me another 4-6 more inches. Those spring backs are big and bulky and take up a lot of room. Since you dont have this room to work with the other i dea i was toying with was making a new shifter nob. My knee was hitting the nob not the shaft so i thought of either making an extension to raise the nob higher or a braket to shift the nob more to the passenger side. You could even try to buy a slimmer univerasl nob from autozone if you dont mind using non original parts.

[jaguar6165]

Yeah removing the spring cushion was a big improvment for me. Its definitely something to consider, they take up a lot of room. Ill try to post some pics of the seat i rigged up, later when i get off of work.