3 speed to saginaw 4 speed question

[porter90]

Last summer I swapped a Saginaw 4 speed into my 64 stepper, since the trans is a lot longer than the 3 speed I obviously had to cut a hole much farther back and now I'm stuck running crabby bucket seats out of a minivan. I'm not very good with the search on here so I haven't been able to find anything but is there anyone on here running a Saginaw and a bench seat?

[LostMy65]

I have that tranny with a bench.
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[porter90]

Do you have a stock bench? And did you have to do anything different with your shifter? Got any pictures? lol when I put it in I had front seats from a Buick and they wouldn't work with the shifter so I guess that I assumed that there would have an issue with a bench.

[LostMy65]

I have a stock bench.
I'll get you a pic tomorrow.
I don't think it's anything special.
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[T Smith]

You'll need the correct shifter with correct mounting hardware and stick, sounds like you have a shifter for a car application.

[LostMy65]

Porter,

post some pics of what you have.
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[markeb01]

It may or may not help, but after 40+ years Hurst has finally released a bolt-on “C” shaped shifter handle. Previously the 55-57 Chevy bench seat shifter only came with the handle welded to the mechanism. This new handle will raise up further than the old welded version, but it may be the solution if the shifter happens to be in the right place.

http://www.jegs.com/i/Hurst/530/538-...oductId=749354

[porter90]

markeB01- I've actually been trying to find that exact shifter! It always pops up in pictures but I can never seem to locate one so thanks for that!

tsmith- it is definitely from a car, I think the transmission came out of a Firebird to be honest. I didn't know that there was a difference between truck and car shifters other than length of the stick?

Lost65-I'm planning on going out to where my truck is today so I'll try and grab some pictures. All I have is a camera phone an Im not sure how to put them up here so bear with me sorry in advance! lol

[porter90]

One thing I can say is that it's back far enough that I had to cut the hole in the front of the hump that is under where the seat is supposed to be

[MTBADBOB]

I was told to get the shifter for the 55-57 bench seat also, the Hurst Comp Plus 391-3780, which I did. It shares the same lever in the pic above. I'm taking my 3 on the tree out, & installing an M-20 behind a 409 in my '64, but haven't cut the hole or got that far yet. I'm still afraid to wack a hole in my perfect low-hump cab floor! Anyone have any suggestions on where to cut the hole in the floor??? I planned on just getting the motor-trans set-up in the chassis, then measure from ref. points on cab mounts.

[markeb01]

If the shifter has a bolt on handle, it's pretty simple. Bolt on a paint stick or something similar so it can be bumped up right against the floor and scribe around it. Remove the shifter and centerpunch the floor with one of those one handed spring loaded punches. If it's a welded on handle, I'm not really sure where the center of the boot is suppose to line up. If it's suppose to be after the first curve heading up, then you could use the same procedure, but move forward on the floor the distance between the center of the shift mechanism and the upright portion of the stick. Where it comes out in the car really depends on how far under the floor the shifter mechanism is mounted. If part of the mechanism is above the floor line, I'm not sure how the boot is suppose to me mounted.

[porter90]

MT that sounds KILLER that thing oughta crank with that 409!

[MTBADBOB]

Originally Posted by porter90

MT that sounds KILLER that thing oughta crank with that 409!

Yeah, it"ll be pretty sweet! I have a thread under the MT members section that I'm posting pics of the resto & will be adding more, especially after I get the engine fully assembled. I've painted all the tin wrinkle black w/red bowties on the valve covers to match the aftermarket air cleaner w/red Chevrolet & bowtie, sure you've seen them. Anyway, I went over the wrinkle on the a-cleaner to make it heavier to match my tin. I'm running an aluminum water pump & I Aluma-blasted(painted) my intake to look aluminum, then going Chevy Orange on the block. She should be real "puurrdy" all together. I've always thought the 409's were the coolest looking Chevy engine since I first layed eyes on one when I was a kid. It's hard pulling my refurbished, stock Alpine Green 283 out of it though! It's on a rolling stand & complete so it may go in my living room!

[MTBADBOB]

Thanks for the advice Mark! I'm a carpenter so I'll be relying heavily on my abilities to read a tape!

[Kurt L]

i have that hurst shifter that you need.bought for my 70 but sold truck now i have abrand new hurst comp shifter that i can't use. still in the box with all the linage and bushings if your interested.i have a saginaw also that i was going to use in my truck but don't need that either. pm me if your interested.it's for a bench seat also.

[porter90]

Originally Posted by MTBADBOB

Yeah, it"ll be pretty sweet! I have a thread under the MT members section that I'm posting pics of the resto & will be adding more, especially after I get the engine fully assembled. I've painted all the tin wrinkle black w/red bowties on the valve covers to match the aftermarket air cleaner w/red Chevrolet & bowtie, sure you've seen them. Anyway, I went over the wrinkle on the a-cleaner to make it heavier to match my tin. I'm running an aluminum water pump & I Aluma-blasted(painted) my intake to look aluminum, then going Chevy Orange on the block. She should be real "puurrdy" all together. I've always thought the 409's were the coolest looking Chevy engine since I first layed eyes on one when I was a kid. It's hard pulling my refurbished, stock Alpine Green 283 out of it though! It's on a rolling stand & complete so it may go in my living room!

haha there ya go! the 409 is pretty boss, im hoping to get a 400 pontiac in mine soon and i might have aline on a complete numbers matching tripower off of a 65 goat for it...I'm pretty excited!