History What's the scoop on tall shifters?

It does kinda look that way when you see an xray of a hip replacement implant

 

Oldest long shifter I ever heard of was the story my Grandfather told me about when he was in High School. His friend had an Essex touring car that they used to pile into to go to school. For kicks one day, my Pops unthreaded the shifter knob and slid a 6' pipe over the shifter. He was standing up in the backseat shifting gears (on verbal command from the driver) with the pipe when they got pulled over by a cop who read them the riot act! Boys will be boys.

My Pops graduated in 1921, so that verifies "long shifters" as being around for nearly 100 years.

 

Yup! I do bench seats in all my cars and just soon as I started dating a woman she was trained to sit in the middle... As it should be! 'Course, after ten years of the incredible Miss Judy, buckets are starting to look like a good option these days...

 

How many of you have ever shifted a lasalle hooked up to a warmed up Ohv V8? The Lasalle shifter come out of the box on the R H side foreward on the case. It gives you more leg room in a roadster, less for the passenger. They had close ratio gears, just right for 4.11 gears. the synchro's were not as good as a packard, and the packard has a synchro on first gear and some packards had an overdrive.The lasalle starts out about 3/4 on an inch and taper down to about 1/4 at the knob. The distance you move the knob on a tall "salle" is about the same as the distance on a T 10 factory shifter, The height of the knob let you get your shoulder behind it for a fast shift. putting an extension on a stock shifter has you getting your knuckels in the windshield then on the seat back.

 

What can I say, there simply wasn't any where else to put the jack! And who wants a fake ass piston shifter knob.


Wonder what this sucker would have done to that red head's cheek?

 

I dunno the history of the tall shifter's beginnings, but I like em. I have tall shifters in all of my rods. 2 are automatics too. If you don't like tall shifters, not to worry; I'm not asking ya to drive mine.

 

Awater Mike is right on in mid. 50s I ran my 32 5-win. with a Buick and 39 box the first to 2nd. was almost impossible had to show the guy next to me I was going off in 2nd gear, changed to a Chev. box with Hurst inline shifter and never missed a shift no matter fast I tried.

 

Here is mine in my 55 ford

 

Ha ha, where is the "like" button.

Too much traffic nowadays, since I have an automatic, might as well make it tall for looks.

Now if you are talking 1966, and you are power shifting your 409 powered 61 chevy, that's a different story. You want that short Hurst shifter with horizontal gun grip handle. You miss a shift and there goes your motor.

 

It was a fad,.Roth didnt start it he followed it, I remember first seeing it way before he got on the bandwagon. first one I saw was a channeled T roadster that pulled into Rubys In Riverside, we all cracked up, it was an immediate hit. Everybody gathered around the roadster. I made one for my 31 A 2dr, it was kinda like the 'ape hanger' handle bars on the Harley choppers. A fad like the names painted on the rods n customs, my raked 50, Buick had 'Raunchy' [which was a song and kinda described my Buick] Basically it was the roadsterguy just had gotten his rod running with his Lasalle trans and wanted to cruise the drive in. Also we had an incident at Ruby,s similar to the 'cop car' scene in 'American Graffitti'. I saw a couple of guys pouring something in the driveway gutter. A little later I heard some squallin tires and this car haulin ass by, well the cops were just leaving out that way and they hit the gas and spunout amost across the street to the DeAnza theater. this was in the early 60,s

 

'Cause they look neat? That's why I got one, they mostly do to me.

 

I just like the way they fit the car.

 

I always had 'hot rods'. My '32 5 window got a 'cheap' '37 Lincoln Zephyr box, from my bud Don Knopp... (right hand side floor shifter...'wiggly' stick, real long...Cut it down and you looked like some pharisee chopping down a religious artifact!
My roadster had a '37 LaSalle...cutting that 42" tapered cane would have been heresy...
Oh, my '46 Tudor, '40 Ford Nail valve Coupe, AND my '61 Cad Coupe DeVille...all had '37 LaSalles, stock length sticks, black shift knob was visible in the shallow body of the Cad Coupe! ('Slim Jim' auto trans was out when I bought the car in '64, so I got it for $275. My pal Muff gave me a LaSalle, and I bought an adaptor and flywheel. Cheaper with the '56 Olds clutch pedal & linkage than an auto tranny rebuild!
Car got LONG eyeballs downtown, I'd take off from a stoplight, the gear whine was noisy...then I'd purposely grind reverse, going into second, just a 'scrape'... guys alongside and on the sidewalk: "HEY, That Caddy's got a FLOOR in it..."
NO cut down sticks, the REAL floorshifts deserved to be installed as was, long stick. They earned it.
To use a 'swan-style' aftermarket 1/2" tubular stick in something with no clutch pedal (or side shift with linkage) reeks of someone that :
1. has no tools;
2. lacks connections, conviction, or determination to install a real tranny;
3. has invested in too many Roth prints, thinks a tall tiller is tits...

The real COOL thing is a real Cad/LaSalle/ Buick Roadmaster/ Packard box in something it doesn't 'belong' in!
My '63-1/2 Galaxie has a fresh 406 backed by a T150 3-speed Ford heavy toploader with a REAL Jeep tower, and a 30" cane stick. (visible above the low dash...Only a 3 speed, but kinda 'gospel', 'real floor shift') Gears are wider than my LaSalles...
"Dude! How come you don't have a 4 speed???" ('If you don't know...')
Tall stick isn't some 'statement'. Ha! Yes, it is... but 'deserved'. (know how heavy that cast iron box is? Whew! I deserve it...)
There's an 'eliteness' here....or I don't know any better...

 

Fellas, They came in handy if your rod kept jumping out of gear, I don't know of any real purpose except it looked cool, and that is all that mattered back then.
I have a 1950 chevy truck jet black with red interior lowered in the front, big ass engine, flames and louvered hood using a tool that was designed in 1950 for cutting louvers with a hammer. I have a Lokar shifter with a 32 inch lever, it looks darn good and it's nothing but cool.
I'm 78 years old and that is my dream hot rod and I get positive remarks plus the many first place trophies (I dont enter contests anymore I just like to get with the fellas my age who lived hot rodding back when it was cool.) you don't have to have a reason to do something, this is hot rodding you do what you like and the hell with anyone who poo poo's what you do.

 

here’s mine; I’m not too concerned about who doesn’t like it. I do.

 

Form or function. I think that the basic hot rod is more function than form. I say this because most early hot rods owners spent their cash on going faster than the next guy.

 

The first tall shifter I saw in the early '50s was when our milkman was upgraded to a new truck, replacing the horse drawn wagon. The driver's seat bottom folded up so he could drive house to house and remain standing. More efficient and saved time I suppose. Could it be that guys were finding what shifters they could that would fit or were adaptable to their rides in the bone yards, just because they liked the look? Good question.

 

Hell in some cases it could have been the result of an injury. I tore my rotator cuff mounting and balancing some 44" Mickey Thompson mud grips 10 years ago for an overly entitled farmer. When it flares up reaching down is murder. Now if I hold my arm so my hand is eye level the pain goes away. Meaning on a big ol' honking shifter I could bang gears no issue while with a normal one it'd feel like a belt sander blew up in my shoulder lol

 

Depends on the application.

 

Perfect height for Marty's hot rod.

 

Joey Ukrop's shifter on the 2.0 roadster.

 

Sometimes "2" shifters are needed !

 

Hello,

Since my Flathead 40 Ford Sedan Delivery came with a LaSalle transmission, it had the normal floor shifter lever. It came up to the lower to middle of the dash. At the time, it looked standard. But, there were several old cars with shifter levers up over the top of the dash.

The problem with the extended levers as a custom lever is you just can’t bolt on a longer lever. One has to put the lever in gear two and reverse to see where it was going to clear the dash. A straight longer lever will hit and one has to gauge the curve of the lever to make sure the slamming into second does not make a dent in the dash. (or fingers)

So, unless one had access to a metal shop and auto shop in high school, it was hard to make one at home. We had a conversion stick shifter we made for a 51 Pontiac and the owner wanted a very long stick lever above the steering wheel. So, we made one long stick and bolted it in place. That was mistake #1. When it was at the top, the lever hit the dash and would not go into gear. The metal shop teacher laughed at us for the project idea.

Then we curved it back a few inches, when it was going to be in the forward position. It still needed to be bent back more. But the problem was if one bent it too far back, then, when it is in the lower position, it may hit the seats. Not good. So, a modified “S” curve solved the problem. Once the mock up was heated and bent into its shape, then heated again to get the other shape, it was worthless as strength is weakened. So, it was a mock up version.

Jnaki

The final version was a nice looking new bar bent in a modified “S” curve and did not hinder the dash or the seat. Of course, the lever had to be moved forward to the dash when on dates at the drive-in theater. YRMV.

If we wanted, we could have started a business of curved floor shift levers. Ours were painted black and the original one was painted a low cost "chrome," a fine silver spray paint. The surface had to be very smooth and polished, as it took the silver paint to its glossy end result. One quick look inside would assume the lever was chrome at first glance. Ha!

Yes, we tried a longer one in the Flathead sedan delivery, but during cruising or surf road trips, I grabbed the middle of the rod to shift. So, the longer lever was just for show. Not very comfortable to reach so high to grab the white ball.
Yes, we considered making a tall floor shifter for the 58 Impala for the original 3 speed stick. But, by the time we thought we were going to make one, we had the diagram in the beginning stages. Then our mom decided that if she were going to help with the gas money costs, she would like an automatic transmission car, similar to the shifting Buick sedans she has been riding for many years. A Dynaflow, smoothy?

So, with the automatic transmission in mind, a C&O Stick Hydro was selected and now, we had one fast to faster 58 Impala using the ever quick C&O Stick Hydro off of the starting lines. Our mom was happy, we solved our gas money crisis and now, the Impala was almost twice as fast as it was before, when it was a stick shift car.

White ball lever? Not from the floor, but what was it connected to when shifting?

 

Long shifter handles look cool, but for me, they serve no practical purpose. My Model A was built with one probably over two feet tall. The throw of the shift pattern is very long and tedious; very hard to shift fast. Also, the shift pattern takes up a lot of room in a very small cockpit. From an engineering standpoint, that is asinine. One day, I will replace that with one about eight inches long, and a short -throw kit.

 

Old post brought back! Lots of old familiar names.
Gotta add my 2 pennies.
Currently have a TH350 with a manual valve body. Gotta shift it, D doesn't do it. It's currently got a B&M ratchet shifter with reverse lockout, a feature which I want to keep. Would prefer not to go to the Lokar with the button. I did mount it on a chunk of wood to get it a bit higher, but it's still at close to hip level. Steering wheel is chest high. It falls to hand as in drop elbow down then forearm to level, but is not as readily 'at hand' as it would be with a tall shifter close to wheel height.
I do not want a big tall stand to move the shifter up 15 inches. Seems like ergonomics would dictate a long tall shifter then. All the guys saying it makes for long, slow shifts probably don't want a 2 inch long shifter above the floor either. Too little leverage! So somewhere in the middle, but hot rods aren't about moderation!
Old picture, Haven't installed dash and windshield is replaced now, but illustrates the steering and shifter relationship. Sure would be nice if it was one of those tall shifters!

 

What's the scoop on tall shifters?

What's really interesting is that after I read this whole thread, I just realized it's almost 12 years old!

But anyway, since I'm here, I'll throw in my 2 bucks. FORM ALWAYS FOLLOWS FUNCTION! If you've ever built a "Hot Rod Model-A", you'll soon find out that the stock transmission isn't up to snuff.

The answer was a '39 Ford transmission with stronger gears, better ratios, and syncros from 2nd to 3rd. Of course, the '39 shifter sets back a few more inches in a Model-A cab, and the lever is about 6" longer than necessary for swift and comfortable shifts.

Sometimes it's a little difficult for the "backyard hot-rodder" to cut it off and re-thread the tapering shift lever thinking, "It'll be alright, I'll fix it later." Well, like a lot of things in life, "later" never comes or is often forgotten.

Well, when Average Joe comes along and sees your Hot Rod Model-A with a tall shifter, he subconsciously associates it with being a "REAL" Hot Rod, never realizing why you have it in the first place. Kinda like thinking a big @$$ carburetor automatically makes my car really fast!

A few years later when Joe builds his Hot Rod, he automatically puts in a tall shifter, because he thinks, "That's what you do, if you want to be COOL!", and the "tradition" begins! Some like them tall and some like them short, it makes no difference to me.

And 75 years later, we're still here wondering "What's the scoop on tall shifters"?

 

Got my tall shifter!


it's a joke, people. Just a try to see how it would work and to post here.

 

Stick shift in the truest sense.