To all the folks out there looking for S10 tailhousings and top covers and for those where the S10 isn't forward enough, you've often heard me say I'm going to build my own remote shifter one of these days when I get around to it. Well, someone has beaten me to the punch. I remember seeing this product, or a similar one, several years ago when folks first started putting T5 into early Mustangs. They use it to move the shifter back a few inches, but it could be easily reversed to move the shifter forward. Regardless, I forgot all about it and couldn't find it with a search, so figured it was just a flash in the pan kind of thing that didn't last. I was cleaning my computer out and found a picture of one and it had a name on it, so I decided to focus my google-fu a bit and found it. It's made by a company called Restomod who I think sold out to Mustangs Unlimited and they ain't cheap: http://www.mustangsunlimited.com/it...n&subCategory=Shifter+Handles&CatKey=EMUSTANG http://www.mustangsplus.com/tech/speedshifter/index.html http://www.mustangsplus.com/catalog/drivetrain_09.pdf BUT you can see how simple it is and how easy it would be to adapt. Now, I realize this won't work for everyone - this whole assembly sits on top of the transmission and many cars/trucks don't have extra space under the floorboards or want a little 'hump' on the front floorboards. But if this works for your application, it'd be very easy to replicate at home with hand tools. You can control the ratio so even a long-handled shifter could have a relatively short throw. A word to the wise: I would definitely make sure the shifter plate that actually has the stub shifter and moves the shift dog has adjustable stops as it'd be far too easy to 'over shift' with the remote handle and bend/break your shift forks...
i thought keisler engineering had a set up for three different shifter positions a little pricey though
You have to imagine the whole thing reversed with the shifter forward of the stub. Most hot rods with a T5 need the shifter moved forward - that's why they use the S10 T5 (most forward shifter position). It appears that base could bolt to anything and I assume, in the early Mustang, it bolts to the floor. To use it on a T5, it would be forward and you could drill/tap the top cover or, what I would do, is fabricate a steel plate that goes over the top cover and catches a couple top cover bolts on each side. This would put the shifter right about stock instead of the 7" or so rearward of the S10. Hard to describe w/o pics - just look at the original pic and imagine it flipped over...
Wouldn't you have to cut the floor hump out to clear that rod on top of the trans? It doesn't look like it would have cleared the floor on anything I've put a T-5 in.
It depends. And is why I mentioned it. It could all be run above the floor with a boot. Or leave it exposed for the racer look. Remember, this is marketed to the resto-mod Mustang guys, not early Ford traditional hot rodders. If you wanted it concealed with sheet metal, you're right - it would likely need the floor hump cut out and re-fabricated to clear it. There are some applications where it might fit under the floorboards. Alternatively, you could fabricate a boot to conceal it. Certainly not for everyone depending on how it worked out for your individual application.
The series of 'installation' images on the second link shows it pretty well. This one, in particular, should give you a good idea: Remember, it would be reversed for use in a hot rod.
There was a guy at Turlock selling a similar setup for old cars. Made of steel, went forward to the Ford location and looked period. Wish I had grabbed his card but I knew I was OK with the S10.
Yeah, that looks pretty easy... It would save me a lot of time to do it that way, and being able to get the throw just right would be a benifit too. But I dont think I'll have the room for it. So I'm stuck with the S10 conversion.
I dont mean to sound negative here but isnt that an odd way of correcting instead of simply having the correct tailshaft installed?
Acctually... With the push/pull bar mounted in single shear like that, and the shifter being able to rotate on its lower heim joint it will magnify any little bit of play there is. Done in double shear, maybe with a needle bearing on each side ( but still with the lower heim ), it would be a lot better.
X2..With just the bolts as pictured it is just cheapo to me but it would last a while I guess...Problem is that through from gear to gear is less but gate would end up being more and probably feel uncomfortable on the 2-3 and 4-5 up or down shifts..
What is the issue with finding S10 T5's? They are a dime a dozen, I bought mine for $125 and ran it, no issues. Are they a hard find in some parts of the country? Just curious.
The issue is that even with an S10, the shifter is 7" further aft than with a toploader-style trans. And yes, they are hard to find in some parts of the country. If yours are a dime a dozen, I think you got ripped off at $125!
I also paid $120 at the PicnPull, I'll know in a week or two how it works, it was the only S10 one they had. At the Turloc swap meet there were many S10 or not, most said around $300. Here's another linkage. Won't work on the S10 but at least it's double shear.
That's an interesting option Ernie. It might work for some of the guys and allow them to use the later car trans as is which makes changing it out if you break it a lot simpler and it should allow some of us to custom fit the shfter to the car we have rather than going with what we have available. I'd even bet that a couple of the HAMB engineering and fabricating wizards could take that basic design and improve on it to the point that some of the issues were eliminated or lessened. The price is still going to be right up there at that level or higher though.
That was Ernie's whole Idea, use that shifter conversion to move the shifter forward to where it would be on a stock three speed in most old cars or trucks. Rather than move it back for the First generation Mustangs like the adds show flip it over so the shift lever is in front of the stock shifter.
48 Chev,so you're saying these place the shifter location between the S-10 and the stock rear mount Camaro?
This is a solid idea …. road race cars of all types have used this style shifter for many years
No. This shifter was developed to put a Ford Mustang T5 into an early Ford. They need the shifter to be further back than the end of the tailshaft. If you put it on an S10 T5 as pictured, it would likely come out close to a Camaro or Mustang location. If you put it on an S10 T5 'backwards', it should put it roughly over the main case, or same location as the early Ford toploader. If you fabricated your own, you could set it up forwards/backwards in any length to put the shifter exactly in the best place to suit your application. This basic concept is what I've had in mind for many years - it's really a very simple design based on duplicating the movement.
There's an ancient Ford based custom around here that has the homemade version of this idea to relocate the shifter on a '39 trans.
Here is another thought... Using this same basic idea, a couple of bellcranks and a hand full of heim joints it would be possible to connect the T5 to the column shift lever of an old Ford. Would be kind of cool to have "5 on the tree"...
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