Technical 1957 Chevy truck floor shift

I have a 1957 Chevy truck I am building. I got it as a roller and acquired a stock drivetrain. I am learning the hard way about putting a floor shifter in. I have the stock motor and muncie 318. Any information as to what parts I can get that makes the fit easier or even some tips. Blinding buying shifter parts will be expensive and my classic loving family member is no longer a resource for me.

 

Do you already have floor shift conversion or parts of one? If so pictures would help us to see what you are dealing with. The cold, hard truth is, if this is your first rodeo, you will be way ahead, both aggravation and money wise, buying a complete floor conversion kit for your trans. Look at Summit, Jegs, or Speedway online. They should have pictures to give you some idea of what you need and how to go about it. Also you can use the search function here to find previous threads on this.

 

Measure VERY carefully before cutting a hole in the floor, ask me how I know this measure once, cut three times

 

You have the flat transmission cover. Trace it out on cardboard, fine tune it. Once happy transfer to the cover and cut it out.

 

We used the old Hurst Mystery or Indy shifters in those trucks. The saving grace with those is the floor panel that comes off.

 

Didn’t Hurst acquire Indy? I seem to recall “Hurst-Indy” in the late ‘70’s. Could have just been folks meaning use one or the other.

 

They sell multiple shifters that fit the truck but the installation kits are for the cars and not the trucks. From what was explained is the car installation kit puts the shifter into the bench seat

 

I may still have a shifter mounting bracket for a '55-'59 Chevy truck. I'll take a look tonight.

 

My 1957 Chevy pickup has a later 3 speed OD (1st gear synchro) trans. I enquired with Hurst as to my options, this is their response (I wanted a Hurts shifter):

"Hurst has two options for you;
HUU-3667271 shifter and HUU-3670010 installation kit. It is listed for a Chevelle but it will work with your transmission and the stick has a big bend for seat clearance.
HUU-5010002 is your second option. It is the Indy SSA shifter for the 3 speed and has a slightly bent stick for the seat"

I think I used the HUU-3667271 shifter and HUU-3670010 installation kit. I did end up modifying the bend in the shifter by cutting, bending and welding to put a bigger bend in it. Because the OD trans shift mechanism the located in the back, I also got bucket seats to replace the bench seat. Works fine. See attached (seats are black now)
don

 

Here's the bracket.

 

I saw some real crappy floor shifters in the day. Ones like Spark-O-Matic and some JC Penney sold in their "speed shop" years.

 

what about a shifter for a '55 to '57 Chevy car with a bench seat? - the shifter handle has a sharp forward bend, near the boot, then curves up around the front of the bench seat. These were taller than the one shown in the red truck above. I've seen bench seats 'notched' & then recovered when using the 'wrong' shifter handle

 

I have a '57 Chevy truck with stock 3 speed and an Indy floor shifter I got back around 1980. I don't believe it was the truck version tho as to work with a bench seat and adjusting it to do so, I have to reach almost to the floor for reverse and 2nd. The hole I cut out goes into both the transmission cover and floor pan. Also have a Hurst super shifter boot for the long throw. I do believe they had a truck version, with a longer handle and short throw to allow the longer handle to work. Future plans include an S10 5 speed which will not need the shifter but I am thinking of utilizing the stick and T handle for old times sake.

 

Look up Summit shifters. They had a kit that was 1/2 the price of Hurst, (They also had their own automatic linkage for 350 TH.)
I got one for my F100. Yeah, it's a Ford...

 

Well, I used to have a Mustang shifter in my ‘57 Chevy PU, so there!

 

It's not rocket surgery but it does take ol' fashion planning. Once you know where the shifter mounts below the deck, mark it and punch or drill a small hole up from underneath. Or a pair of small holes to sort of straddle the front/back on the centerline. Then make an opening in the floorboard that is probably going to be on the too-small side. Then keep test-fitting the shifter to determine where and how much to enlarge until you get a 'just right' opening.

 

I had a Powerglide shifter from a '66 Impala! Try and find 2nd. I dare yuh...

 

Dammit. You win!!

 

The shifter on the right has a stick similar to what l was talking about for bench seat clearance