1952-59 Ford 54 Column shift conversion ... manual to automatic?

my 54 has something of a not so attractive floor shifter conversion from when a previous owner installed a 302 an C4, and i'd like to eliminate it while moving the shifter back up to the column.

does or has anyone used the stock manual trans shifter ***y to come up with some means of shifting an auto OR is there a column shift conversion available for this vehicle?

thanks for any input.

 

I tried that and after a lot of frustration and almost ending up in anger management I went the floor shift route,now if you were to put in a 52-55 Ford-O-Matic column in there you could make that work with the C4 pretty EZ.

 

mine has the factory auto column on a aod.

 

I used the stock fordomatic column shifter to a C6 auto. Some 1/4" rod and a few couplers with a few bends in the right place and it works great. I had to do some work on the shifter lever at the steering wheel to be able to get the 3 drive positions on the C6. Some not so fancy file work creates another position for low gear. The fordo only had two drive positions. When i had the steering wheel off, I noticed that the lock which is used in park, was just about worn thru. This was a result of many years of grabbing the shifter and dragging it down into drive, rather that pulling the lever back towards the driver before placing in drive.

 

I was able to dig out a photo of the shift rod that i built. It's kind of out of context but you get the general idea.

 

If you don't care about using a stock column, a column from a 1963 Galaxie is an easy swap. I also used the galaxie steering box (with pitman arm) and it was a bolt in. The colour coding on the wires for the signals was even the same as the 54 wiring. It is hooked to a C6

 

how would the columns work with a AOD since there is 3 positions for drive then N and R and P...I dont care what column I use as long as it looks good in the car and cheap

 

mine was done by p.o. they cut and rewelded the little arm on the bottom. i can take a pic. i realy dont know if it gose all the way to low. i just use drive and o.d. im not racing it.

 

So any one know if those galaxie cruise o matic columns would go into a 55-56 fairlane...since there is three positions...so would have OD - D- 1

how would mounting it look...would I need a custom delete plate at that point
and also to hook up everything else...****** and steering

 

If you look at a Mustang C4 shifter and a Mustang AOD shifter you won't see a difference,there is not an extra detent for Overdrive like on a GM Overdrive.

 

what you mean by detent?
cause the 90s aod mustang shifter has a OD spot and drive and 1st gear

 

To adapt from an automatic column to an AOD look up a Lokar part# ACA-1807 you might send Don (aka rustyfords) a pm I think He may have posted a link with pictures.

 

I would love to keep a column shift for the aod in my 55 instead of doing a floor shift