Antique & Classic Cars Blog

This shifter was a freebie inclusion with a cool 4-speed transmission I scored in the fall at a Wisconsin junkyard. I don’t need it–a vintage Hurst will accompany the gearbox in my car–but it’s a super-rare part, so why leave it rough?

I brought it over to my friend Tom’s engine shop, knocked it apart, wire-wheeled and glass-beaded it, then painted it up to stave off rust.

Then it came home to await a few free minutes for reassembly. It was a cinch to put it together. Now no parts can get lost. Only minor trick was tapping the pins back in, but a brief trial fit made that easy too–they and the holes are tapered, so you need to put the right end of the pin into the correct side of the hole. I also had digital photos to refer to for the gearshift lever pin.

It’ll sit with the gearbox for now…might go up for sale later. I’ll wait until the Hurst shifter is installed on the gearbox, installed in the car, and working fine before I unleash it. As with any rare part, it means more to send it to someone who needs it than to turn a buck.

Somebody out there is going to be restoring a ‘62 or ‘63 Buick Special or Skylark (or converting an automatic) and looking for a 4-speed shifter. That’s where this one belongs.

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 8th, 2008 at 8:33 pm and is filed under Car parts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.