3 Speed Floor Shifters

[earlthegoat2]

The Piece of Crap truck I just bought has a converted floor shift that flat out stinks.

I was thinking an upgrade to a Hurst would be in order. My first question is whether anyone has had experience with a crappy converted floor shifter such as the ones sold by Spectre as well as experience with a Hurst unit such as the Mastershift or the Indy.

I am really wondering whether there is a big difference. I have most of my experience with car Hurst shifters from 60s and 70s muscle cars as well as the factory SM 465 shifter. There is a night and day difference between these and the craptastic one that is in my truck.

Im assuming the Mastershift is better but at over 300 dollars for the shifter and installation kit I just dont know. I will buy it if it is worth it though. Or maybe the Indy is just fine. Any recommendations?

[bsteele]

I have the Indy Hurst in mine. I just got it running and only have went around the yard a few times. No problems with it. Shifts great. I went about a quarter mile down the road and tached it up and shifted hard with no problems. I actually got the shifter at pull a part for like 15 bucks and then a few months later picked up a 3 speed for a racing buddy that had one on it, didn't even get charged for the shifter.

[earlthegoat2]

Is it true that Hurst has discontinued the installation kit for the truck Mastershift shifter or can you just use the one for the cars?

[cstm68]

i had the hurst indy in mine before it went to a 4 speed. it was a great shifter, still have it and plan on puting it into another truck if i end up with a 3 speed truck someday

[earlthegoat2]

Yeah, it looks like the installation kit for the trucks has been discontinued. Kind of wierd.

I guess Im going to have to either try out the Indy shifter or just go with an automatic or find another SM465. Im not going to deal with a manual transmission that does not have a quality shifter. I dont really like what I am reading about the Indys in some of the threads on here either.

[sean1969c10]

I had a Hurst Indy in a 67 F100 and it was flawless. I have another Hurst in my 76 K10 and it works great too. This one replaced a really crappy off brand thing that I couldn't make work to save my soul. I had to drill a couple holes to mount it and use the off brand shift rods with the shifter because all I was given was the shifter, with no brackets or rods, and Hurst doesn't make a 3spd shifter for a 4x4 anyway. The Hurst stuff is nice and I think you will be happy.

[MikeyMan]

I installed a Hurst Indy several years ago when my column linkage got too sloppy.

No problems with it at all, it has performed very well. The installation was fairly easy and it looks fantastic. I hated to cut my floor on my stock original 71 C/10, but I needed reliability the "tree" no longer provided. I have the black rubber floor mat and with the small shifter boot it looks great. Black & Chrome!
Recommended.

[splehigh]

I replaced mine with a Hurst Indy right after I bought the truck. No problems so far. I just wish the handle was taller.

[daveo68]

If you can afford a higher priced Hurst do it. I installed a $50.00 universal shifter in my truck and after 2 hours of modifying and trying to adjust linkages, I gave up.Finally shelled out about $300 bucks to get a good Hurst and had it installed in 30 minutes. Was really worth the money.

[earlthegoat2]

After careful examination of the two pictures of the Mastershift installation kits it seems the only difference is the reverse interlock between the trucks (PN-3677143) and Chevy/Olds/Pont/Buick(PN-3670010) car kits.

Thinking about rolling the dice.....

As long as the mounting plate is the same I can fabricate it from there I think.

The truck kit fits El Caminos too. If I remember correctly, there is not much difference between an El Camino and a Chevelle mechanically. So it would stand to reason the car kits would work just fine with little or no modification. The shift lever height is the only thing that matters at that point.

I cant begin to understand why Hurst continues to sell the Truck shifter without the accommodating install kit. It is like selling a gun of which no ammo exists.

[long69]

consider the mr. gasket that maybe still available on @#$)$#y. before i bought mine it seemed to be a solid shifter by the accounts of what i read. BUT i have not installed mine because-- my on the tree is still ok and i have seen that the throw on them seems to be a mile also i have a hurst from a 66 le mans that maybe could work. i chose to go cheepo cuz 3 to 4 hundred clams is too much, my money would be better off putting it towards a 4 to 6 speed when ever that happens.

[earlthegoat2]

Thats the rub. It is an expensive upgrade for a measly 3 speed.

I look at it this way. There a few reasons people choose to ditch the three speed. One is that it is just not a fashionable tranny anymore. OK thats fine. Im not big into fashion.

Two is that the gear ratios are kind of bad even for a 3 speed. It is too bad it does not have the same ratios as 2-4 in the SM465. I always liked them.

Third (and this is the big one) is that there are no decent shifters for them. Be they on the column or on the floor. You have to shell out big bucks for one. Many four speeds seem to come with decent shifters or at least they are more attainable at a lower price. For me I have this beater and I dont want to do a trans swap that will cost more than the replacement shifter. Once this tranny has a decent shifter it will be a joy to drive it.

[fastwillie 696969]

i just swap to a 4 spd trans

[wilbilt]

I bought a '70 C-10 once that had a cheapo junk floor shifter in it. It would bend about every 10 shifts and get jammed.

I rebuilt the column linkage and put it back to 3 on the tree. I loved it.

[long69]

Originally Posted by earlthegoat2

. Once this tranny has a decent shifter it will be a joy to drive it.

exactly. my truck is fun to drive it's just it would be a blast to drive with a well matched 4 or 5 speed. its more money than i can spend though.

[Dano69c10]

Does anyone know if the longer shifter bar from the truck 3-speed shifter from Spectre (the cheaper brand), work on the Hurst Indy Shifter?
http://store.spectreperformance.com/...413/2231.0.1.1

[Pillow]

T-5 conversion. If you are thrifty, under 500 can get you 5 forward gears for not much more effort!

That being said, if you like the 3 on the tree the bushings are not that hard to replace either.

[earlthegoat2]

The problem is the PO of the truck replaced the column with an auto column so I would have to locate a TotT column first, then the linkage. I know it can be done but this truck is a beater.

A T-5 conversion though? Hmmmm.

There is an SM465 for sale locally for 300. Would I have to change the driveshaft?