Go Back   The Ford Barn > General Discussion > Early V8 (1932-53)

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 03-04-2018, 01:33 PM   #1
1949mercury
Senior Member
 
1949mercury's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: Washington state
Posts: 119
Default Witch 3 speed floor shifter ?

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?m...2F202149240906

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?m...2F112306979605

Witch shifter would be the best one to use on a stock 3 speed with OD ? Has anyone used any of theses shifters ?
1949mercury is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-04-2018, 01:44 PM   #2
tubman
Senior Member
 
tubman's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: Minnesota, Florida Keys
Posts: 10,259
Default Re: Witch 3 speed floor shifter ?

Actually, neither will work as is. The big problem here is the OD transmission. The solenoid sits right where the shifter body wants to be. They used to make shifters especially for overdrive transmissions, but I don't think they do any more. I have a NOS Fenton shifter for an overdrive transmission. If you have a welder and some skill, you could modify one of the currently available shifters to work. The Fenton came with good instructions with pictures, and would be a great help in doing this. I have copies of the instructions and pictures of the Fenton unit on line that I could post if you would want. Also, because of having to clear the solenoid, the shifter assembly sits quite high and would probably require some sheet metal work to the transmission tunnel to clear. The Fenton instructions have information about this as well.
tubman is offline   Reply With Quote
Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)
Old 03-04-2018, 07:09 PM   #3
1949mercury
Senior Member
 
1949mercury's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: Washington state
Posts: 119
Default Re: Witch 3 speed floor shifter ?

If you could post some pictures that would be a big help. Maybe I could find a Fenton on eBay or modify a shifter to work.
1949mercury is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-04-2018, 07:46 PM   #4
tubman
Senior Member
 
tubman's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: Minnesota, Florida Keys
Posts: 10,259
Default Re: Witch 3 speed floor shifter ?

I don't think you want a Fenton. They were a "Price-Leader" in the sixties and were very inferior to a Hurst. To get what you really want, your'e probably going to want to try to find a early Hurst shifter made for the overdrive transmissions or you're going to have to modify a regular Hurst so it clears the OD solenoid. I don't know if Hurst even made a Syncro-Lock for the OD transmissions. Here are the pictures of the Fenton and the installation instructions for it. (Sorry, I only had the instructions as "pdf" files, so you're going to have to open them separately.) Between the two, you should be able to figure out what has to be done. And remember, you're probably going to have to modify the transmission tunnel quite a bit to get everything in. I'll bet that column shift is looking better everyday.
Attached Images
File Type: jpg IMG_0944.jpg (66.4 KB, 32 views)
File Type: jpg IMG_0945.jpg (49.7 KB, 29 views)
File Type: jpg IMG_0946.jpg (68.1 KB, 25 views)
File Type: jpg IMG_0948.jpg (70.5 KB, 25 views)
Attached Files
File Type: pdf Fenton01.pdf (849.0 KB, 23 views)
File Type: pdf Fenton02.pdf (755.4 KB, 12 views)
File Type: pdf Fenton03.pdf (621.7 KB, 13 views)
tubman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-04-2018, 07:47 PM   #5
Henry/Kokomo
Senior Member
 
Henry/Kokomo's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Kokomo, Indiana
Posts: 1,731
Default Re: Witch 3 speed floor shifter ?

Tubman X 2. In years past, I had far better luck with Hurst shifters than other brands. The Hurst units were much better built than some of the others. The OD will be an issue, I'm sure.
__________________
Henry
Henry/Kokomo is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-04-2018, 07:53 PM   #6
tubman
Senior Member
 
tubman's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: Minnesota, Florida Keys
Posts: 10,259
Default Re: Witch 3 speed floor shifter ?

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)
FYI, here is a link to a tpost i had on the H.A.M.B. a while ago showing the difference between the Fenton shifter and a Hurst. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/...#post-10654421.
tubman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-05-2018, 12:27 AM   #7
expavr
Senior Member
 
expavr's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Hansville, WA
Posts: 776
Default Re: Witch 3 speed floor shifter ?

PM me. I have a Hurst shifter that was made for the 49-53 Ford 3 speed transmission that I tried to use on a 49 Merc O/D trans that I put in my tonner. I was able to make it function with some modification, but the shift lever ended up being too close to the fuel tank which supports the seat in low and high gears plus wasn’t too pleased with the feel of the shift. I ended up going a different direction and I think that hardware is sitting on the shelf in my shop.
Les Williams
expavr is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 05:00 AM.