Projects Boy, am I gonna catch it for this...

So it's time I gave up on the four speed. This project started with the idea of a 454/ 4 speed roadster, but the deeper I get into this, I think it's time I seriously considered an automatic.
I have the drivetrain tacked in place, and I'm dealing with working with an ancient Ansen pedal set with the double-single m/c and a Hurst shifter that's in the wrong place and no where else to fab a bracket for it , and yadda yadda. And I was standing in the garage just now thinking, "if I put a 350 turbo in there my shifter problems go away, and I can use a T-bucket brake bracket, and have 20th century brakes, and fellas, I'm beginning to understand why so many rods are running autos.
What I have invested in a 0 miles rebuilt Saginaw with a Hurst shifter, and a new clutch ***embly will come close to covering the cost of a turbo350.
Add to that the fact that a gennie shifter is going to come out in the floor in the right place, and 75% of my fab issues are cured.
I'm tired of trying to reinvent the wheel, I could be driving! Thanks, Mike


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It is really hard to get a clutch pedal in a narrow frame. Hanging pedals and a juice linkage helps. It will probably be a better rig with the automatic.

 

Nothing wrong with an Auto, those that want to ***** can drive all the way to Mokan and take it up with Flamedabone.

 

nothings cooler than rowin' through the gears don't give up!

 

if there is one thing i've learned... its that no one is re-inventing the wheel on a hot rod today. if you can dream up a drive train combo that hasn't been done, THAT would be ground breaking.

ditch that early 60's dual master and get a remote fill dual brake master that's narrow enough to sit next to a single clutch master on your ansen setup. if you need a little more room, slice the pedal arms off the sleeves and move them out, away from each other. make new holes, fab a mount for the other side of the firewall, and you're DONE.

 

see Tmans post above. cause, one thing IS cooler than "rowin gears"... and thats WINNING.

as someone who has "rowed gears" for over two and a half million (yea, MILLION) miles, that **** gets old after the first 250 thousand or so

 

Stick with the stick.........................you know you want it.

 

What ever works for you. I have a TH350 in my car right now and it sure makes life easy where there are a lot of stop signs, but I do keep a Muncie around just in case I get the itch....

 

autos = grannies

 

If you want a stick I'd keep at it until you figure it out. My '32 2dr has a T-400 but the 5w will get a stick (Doug Nash 5spd) or it will never see the road under my ownership.

Frank

 

I had similar thoughts when having major clutch issues during my build. I even spoke the words "I now understand why guys put autos in hot rods" but I persisted. That's what hot rodding is...making it work. Either way it will be a killer car but if you want a 4 speed I say have a 4 speed. Make it work.

 

I've had both stick and auto rods.The decision to go with one or the another was not made as a compromise. It was what I wanted at the time of the build.If a 4 speed is what you really want then make it work. As stated above.....That's what hot rodding is...making it work.

 

After 38 years you of owning the 32 5W ... and it is not yet running ...
It would be a safe bet that the 5 speed Doug Nash will never get shifted by you ...

But the intial price of the 32 5W ... is one of the BEST INVESTMENTS
you could have made ...

CONGRATULATIONS !!

 

+1

Real rods have 3 pedals.

 

If the shifter location is the only prob, not to worry. I used a T & F Shifters linkage on my Saginaw 4 spd W/OD in my 390 Cad powered Deuce Roadster. Works great, as good as any Hurst Comp Plus linkage I have ever used. Here are a couple of pics, shows how it is located on top of the trans and comes out about a half inch back from where a stock 39 and earlier shift tower comes thru.
They are about $420 shipped. They are located in Lebanon Oregon. Give them a call, they have them for about all 4 spds. 541 451 1929.
Here are a couple of pics.

 

Stick wit the stick, man. I have autos for my daily drivers, but I can't imagine having anything but a 4-speed for my hot rod. My master cylinders are on the outside firewall & I altered the pedals on the Wilwood hangers. I notched the trans hump for my heel to operate the gas pedal. I found an offset shifter handle. It wasn't easy, but so well worth the thrill & feel of going through the gears. You've gone this far...sleep on it!

 

The auto will offer you a smoother transition and better launch. The four speed will take time to set up, but will be simple and abrupt in gear changes. Trans: Depends upon the type of driving you want and tend to do. Big block? in a car that has little weight out back? The auto won't disappoint. Some folks like to come around sideways in a powershift, which the stick will enable. And not just when you plan on it!

 

Before anyone lets the dogs out on me, I'm 3 pedals all the way, BUT>>>>>>>>>>>>> you can run a full manual valve body slush box, that's what I'm runnin now, fun with 2 pedals in a wierd kind of way , and if you get to the track like me, TOTAL CONSISTANCY EVERY ROUND

 

Yeah but its one thing to row a 4 speed in a hot rod, quote another to shift a 15 speed transmission in an eighteen wheeler. Done both and I still love the 4 speeds. Ronnie Sox might agree if he was still around.

 

Mike, real nice car by the way. I meant full manual ONLY too, no kick down, no modulator either. If you dont shift it, you smoke it. FULL MANUAL AUTO.

 

I vote for stuffing the auto in it and drive the SOB...a lot more fun in the seat, rather than under the damn thing

 

With a 454 in what will finish out at around 2,000 lbs., ANYTHING will be a handfull. I baloon foot everything I drive, I've torn up too much iron to be a **** on the street. It's just too crowded these days.
A car like this one is driven more with the throttle than anything else.

 

funny you should say that. When this dog was an altered, it had a 'glide/smallblock in it. A full manual glide. I remember getting all exited once 'cuz it wouldn't shift. Then I remembered. A full manual 350 just might be fun!

 

I think an auto would be fine. As much as I have loved my stick cars in the past I love my auto more now.

I had a 2004 SVT Cobra, and the 6 speed was fun but with a stiff clutch any slow crawling traffic was no fun at all.

Add that to the fact that I have a left hip which will likely need replacing later on, and you can see why I'm putting a C4 behind the 312 in my 26 RPU.

 

in the mid 70's we consider automatic to be girls car.
now I drive a late model truck and you could not give me one with a stick.
have 5 old drivers now all auto's,sticks are still fun in the right car
but maybe that's not the car

 

Yeah, I'm working on 63, and starting to wonder if a 2,800 lb. clutch is going to be much fun in the parade at goodguys...

 

Your avitar makes me cry! I owned a three window body once... Traded it away for a Les Paul...

 

yea... shifting in a big truck is WAY easier

 

Exactly! Call me a girl but you gotta catch me first!!!!! Coupe in my avitar has 454,th350 went 11.8 at this years drags and was the first 4 p***es on the car each one gaining at least a tenth every run!!!

 

You could be right. I've got two DN5spds. One is new and one has already got 20,000 miles on it in the last '57 Chevy I had. Also during those 38 years I've put together a couple dozen street and drag cars that have probably got at least 250,000+ miles combined so IF the 5w doesn't see action under my ownership I'll be content knowing the other 4 '32's I've had put a smile on my face every time I turned the key.

Frank