47-55.1 Column or floor shifter???

[CoachH]

Im finishing up my daughters 1954 Chevy pickup, we are doing an S10 swap. I have two buddies that are mechanics that are helping. They are polar opposites when it comes to deciding whether or not to do a column shift or floor shifter. One says I have to go floor shift because its a hot rod and the only way to go. The other says I have to do a column shift because a floor shifter wouldnt look right in a truck. What are peoples thoughts? What do most people do with a hot rod truck???

Any input to end the debate would be great!

btw... its an auto transmission.

[nvrdone]

is it an auto or manual trans? if its an auto, id go column shift. gives more room on the floor. if its a 3 spd, id also go a column shift. looks different and makes the truck harder to steal. most people cant drive a 3 spd column shift. if its a 4 spd, looks like your stuck with a floor shift. unless it has a Borgward (?) trans in it ….

[CoachH]

Originally Posted by nvrdone

is it an auto or manual trans? if its an auto, id go column shift. gives more room on the floor. if its a 3 spd, id also go a column shift. looks different and makes the truck harder to steal. most people cant drive a 3 spd column shift. if its a 4 spd, looks like your stuck with a floor shift. unless it has a Borgward (?) trans in it ….

Its an auto trans. With the '54 though it does seem a little tight to the wheel with the seat. Not much leg room. Do you think there would be any problems shifting?

[joedoh]

what does your daughter want?

I have done a bunch of these, mostly automatics, and only one floor shift. It was a nice 8 inch long shifter till the buyer asked me to change it for a 23" version, it wiggled like a marital aid. I reuse the donor column so its easy for me to stay column shifting, and the middle seat passengers seem to appreciate it. I dont put in indicators (a few trucks I put the cluster PRNDL in the gauges, most not) so the hardest part of training for either column or floor shift is teaching to count gears, one click for reverse, three for drive, watch the rpms in case you go into 3rd by mistake.


the space between the end of this sentence and the period is how much I care about what people (usually old hotrodders with their free advice) think about the trucks I build. do what you like, build what you like, and drive it.

[cmayna]

Now, if it was a manual gearbox, having a column shifter would for sure help prevent theft. Can you imagine how a modern theft would react? LOL

[nvrdone]

no one knows what a Borgward trans is ???

[mr48chev]

I'd say it comes down to what you daughter wants. If the truck has a bench seat I'd be inclined to put a column shift in it though as your daughter may be riding three up a good part of the time and it gets a bit dicey if she has to reach down in front of the one in the middle to shift.

Back in the late 40's 50's and early 60's the guys with column shifts that had the shift tube on top of the column like our stock 3 speeds do were known to flip the shift handle over to the left side of the column so they could drive down the road with their arm around their girlfriend and still shift gears. Ford guys in those days actually put a 40/48 box in their 39 or older Ford so they could swap to a column shift.

I don't get too wrapped up in the "it's a hot rod it has to have" thing. I do get into the it has to stay on theme and all parts on the rig have to meld into one cohesive build. As long as the pieces that you put on the truck such as wheels tires and bolt on accessories all flow together as a unit and nothing looks stuck on in or out life is good.

[Volfandt]

Funny, back in the day we'd swap those 3 on the tree shifters to floor mounts before we'd do any more mods. They had to be Hurst shifters too....

Now adays, I tend to think the original engr's were right to put the shifters on the columns and out of the way.

In any case, IMHO, bench seat I go with column mount, bucket seats with console, floor mount. If you do the opposite, why thats OK too, LOL.

[nthogdog]

I went with 69 chevelle bucket seats and the lock gate shifter on my 57 gmc. I like the room and it feels right plus it has the storage compartment. Looking for more cabin space then the bench seat is hard to beat. I would ask the daughter how many people are you going to be riding with? That's about half the equation.

[Von Zipper]

the real estate on the floor of a 54 is minimal, I would go with a column an keep the space for the passengers. 2 cents from a floor shift truck

[_Ogre]

Originally Posted by nvrdone

is it an auto or manual trans? if its an auto, id go column shift. gives more room on the floor. if its a 3 spd, id also go a column shift. looks different and makes the truck harder to steal. most people cant drive a 3 spd column shift. if its a 4 spd, looks like your stuck with a floor shift. unless it has a Borgward (?) trans in it ….

Originally Posted by Von Zipper

the real estate on the floor of a 54 is minimal, I would go with a column an keep the space for the passengers. 2 cents from a floor shift truck

agree with nvrdone, for the reason von zipper stated

[weim55]

I’m with the rest of those here that prefer to keep the floor clean of obstruction. It’s nice to have a room for three with nothing in the way of passengers legs or other light cargo you can put on the floor. The last truck I did I didn’t use a floor or column shift, I used a small underdash mount shifter that comes in 60 to 64 Corvair‘s .

Steve weim55 Colorado

[CoachH]

Thanks everyone for the input!! I talked with my daughter and she is going to go with a floor shifter. We only put 2 seatbelts in it anyway so 3 passengers isnt an option. She also has long term plans of pulling the bench out and putting bucket seats in with a center console. She's happy...so Im happy!

[mr48chev]

That will work.

[1project2many]

Well you have an answer so you're good. But I always liked the pushbutton shifter found in old Mopars.

[mr48chev]

Originally Posted by 1project2many

Well you have an answer so you're good. But I always liked the pushbutton shifter found in old Mopars.

They are great if you have an old Mopar pushbutton trans but won't work with anything else. They won't even work with a Torqueflite that isn't pushbutton.

On the seat belt thing, I think I would put a third belt in the truck even though she says she never plans to ride three up. Better to have it and never use it than give a ride to a third person and not have a belt for them.