Customs 3 on the tree vs floor shifter

I kept the column shifter in my '50. One of my younger friends said "how the hell do you know where the gears are"

Anti theft indeed, you can leave the keys in it and aint no young punk gonna steal it.

 

First vehicle was 66 chev truck, 283/ 3 in the tree. Age and perspective tells me the trans was worn out but I didn’t know such then, Colomn shift worn as well, but I went and bought and installed a floor shift, hacked a big hole and even had to make it bigger cause I couldn’t measure for shit. Never did shift any better. Thing is unless everything isn’t in good condition neither column or floor shifter is going to work well, I currently have an f 100 with colomn shift, sure it’s worn but with some washers and bushings and some dicking around it works just fine, I’m not racing it so it is fine as is. Never could figure why people can’t get hang of it, same pattern just sideways.

 

You are asking a bunch of old men on a antique restoration site. Of course they are going to say keep it original.
I do agree but I would install a 5 speed . Leave the bench seat. No bucket seats look good in those cars.

 

I agree, nothing wrong with a column shifted car. If it is in good shape and adjusted correctly, they can be shifted pretty fast too. My 66 Nova was an L-79 327/350 hp and 3spd on the column. If you wanted, you could run the quarter in 2nd gear.

 

Actually, now days, column shift cars are considered "cool".
KEEP IT the way it is.

 

I vote for keeping it. Had a 71 Bronco with 302 and 3 speed column shift, also had a '60 F100 4x4 with 223 and 3 speed on the tree. Was fun driving them. The '60 I had when I was 16-17.

 

I drove a delivery van as a part time after school job for a couple of years in high school that had an inline 6 and 3 speed column shifted trans. I drove that p.o.s. all over the southland, LA, Orange Co, Inland Empire, even north San Diego Co. Stop and go traffic, highways, traffic jams on crowded freeways, I put thousands of miles on that old van. As a 17 - 18 y.0. I didn't baby it, I slipped the clutch often and banged shifts repeatedly, and wound that old 6 cyl up every time. You can shift a column shift trans just about as fast as floor mount, its just a longer throw is all. Today if I was building a hot rod, w/ OHV V8 I'd probably be going with a 4 or 5 speed trans and floor mounted shifter. If I was building a mild cruiser I'd stick with the column shift for the reasons mentioned by the guys above. It just depends on the end goal with the car.

 

Three on the tree, virtually theft proof.

 

Jeez, can that many guys forget the romance of a floor shifter? Your GF is sitting next to you, after shifting into high gear your right hand is within inches of her left leg, and well, you know.... LOLOL... and girls wore skirts in those days. If you were doing this in the '60s, it was probably a miniskirt...

And in those pre-internet/repo parts times, finding parts and info on repairing OEM column linkage wasn't as easy as it is today.

 

Well lets see 3 on the tree and 6 cylinder. Leave it, it is never gonna be a race car. Even with buckets I would leave it.

 

Definately pull the 6 cylinder and 3 speed and install a nailhead and 4 speed on the floor. Wait what was the question?

 

Keep the 3 on the tree that way if it starts jumping out of 3rd you can use a bungee cord to keep it in
gear. been there done that.

 

216 and a 3 speed... Leave it a column shift and save your money. Now when youre ready to throw a 327 and a 4 speed in there, then its time for a proper Hurst !

 

Buddy had a 63 c10 230/ three on the tree with a a worn out linkage. We frequently had to do the Chinese fire drill routine when “scooping the loop” to pop the hood and free up the linkage.

Rode to Cub Scouts in a 37 Ford pickup that had been upgraded to a hopped up flathead and a later three on the tree. Believe it or not, that seemed to be a common hot rodding upgrade immediately after WWII.

Had a blast driving 53 International, 64 F100, and 70 F100 pickups, all owned by my uncles. Local Conservation Officer, as they were called back then had a 65 Coronet 225/3 speed that was cool.

My dad’s 53 Ford, 57 Ranch wagon, and 58 Chevy and 62 Dodges, as well as the Neighbors 59 Biscayne wagon and 52 Ford were all three on the tree. Lots oh nostalgia for column shifters for me.

My own 55 Belair three speed had a Hurst shifter...the good one, not the “Mystery Shifter” or whatever the cheap one was.

Most floor shift conversions I recall were the cheap assed JCWhitney or Sparkomatic kits with butchered transmission tunnels. Always left a bad impression.

I would keep the bench seat and column shifter, unless you’re going with a four speed or five speed.

 

I had a 40 Ford with a column shift and now a 39 with a floor shift. The floor shift is more comfortable, I don’t know why but reaching forward for the shifter on the column had me bending forward. The floor shift allows me to stay reclined.

 

Bucket seats and floor shift.

 

I recently purchased a 65 Mercury with a 3 on the tree and love it,yes it can not be shifted very quickly but the column probably needs to come apart and be cleaned up and lubed which I plan on doing.

 

I think the thing you should consider is that highway speeds in the fifties were generally "in the fifties" . Today if you want to drive on the freeway you need to be able to cruise at an absolute minimum of 70 mph or your rearview mirror will constantly be full of tailgaters.

Since you are keeping the six, why not give it a little help with a lower first gear and a higher 5th gear to make cruising actually enjoyable? You can't keep the column shifter if you go with a five speed, and honestly if you want to enjoy driving it, you need to be able to keep up with traffic. Running one of those older engines at an elevated rpm to keep up with traffic will cause a lot of wear because the oiling systems were not the best. My suggestion is to get in your car and take a quick trip on your local xway of about 50 miles. Then decide what you want to do............

 

In the early 70s, a friend bought a very nice, original 1960 Impala/w 283 and three-on-the-tree. He moved the shifter to the floor but kept the bench seat. I didn't question it at the time, being young and foolish, but it makes no sense to me now. The only reason I would go from column to floor would be for the purpose of installing a 4/5-speed.

My 57 3100 had a 235/w three-on-the-tree, and I had no complaints, so did my stepfather's 63 C-10/w OD.

 

I used a 40 Ford column shift in a Model A and the guys at NSRA said I needed a shift pattern, I took a piece of masking tape and used a magic marker to draw the pattern, it worked! HRP

 

See Crazy Steve, Post 40, for a GOOD reason.

Ben

 

X-2 (and I despise column shifts normally)
6sally6

 

If I was going to leave it with the stock engine and trans, I'd probably leave the bench seat and column shifter too. But I'm not one to leave stuff alone, so I'd swap a V8 and 4 speed in it, and change to buckets at the same time. I just can't own a car that I don't tear up and swap to a V8.

 

???

 

Nothing like being young, hard-up/desperate.

 

All this talk about column shifters reminds me of a girl in my school who had a '61 Saab (O/T???) with a three cylinder, 2-cycle engine and a four speed column shifted manual transmission.

It was so quirky I had to marry her.

 

And you didn't even need a floor shifter.

 

First time I've ever heard the HAMB called a "restoration site"? always thought this was nothing close to a restoration site?

 

I heard it mentioned like that a few times,I think some are beginning to think that since alot tell the younger members not to go crazy and make a ton of changes at first.