1951 oldsmobile selector trans shifter

The last picture looks like a Sparkomatic.

 

Interesting thread re: Floor shifts for Selector type transmissions

NONAME had posted about the mopar variant. I have a 40 Chrysler that has a very similar column shifter using a cable to activate the Selector. I can take pix if it would help.

Way back when I was in HS ('64 or there-abouts) I got an ugly hand-me-down 1950 Dodge. Of course it was a 4 door....and of course it was gray.

I'd try to think of ways to improve it; which incidentally, wasnt much of a challenge.

We had a donor Plymouth that gave up its engine for the benefit of the Dodge and so I got the transmission out of it and laid it on the bench trying to figure out how to make a floor shifter work.

It turned out to be easier than I thought. I made a "vertical" shifter.
It still had the correct "H" pattern; only now it's rotated 90deg up.

What made it really slick was that as you shifted from 1st to 2nd, the motion of the linkages actually helped the Selector lever "pop up" and made for some quick shifts....no hangups.

Here's a pic of the mechanism. Keep in mind the drawing is by memory only as the shifter is long gone.
Granted, the Dodge (and other mopar Selector type xmsns) are decidedly different than Oldsmobiles (GMs) as the pictures previously posted show the Selector towards the front and bottom of the case, but it may be a starting point for a vertical pattern shifter.

Also, there had to be some clearances in the parts to allow for the arc of the top lever.
This could be accomplished with a heim joint.

gatz

 

I picked up 4 nos ansen posi shift 3 speed shifters last week so i was doing a search and came upon this thread.

I also have one of the foxcraft shiter set ups pictured above, i posted about it long ago but everyone told me it was home made which i new was incorrect, it was too nice to be home made even tho its crude!

wile doing this search i also found a pic of another cool and good idea for the selector shaft shifter set up, see attatched pic

jeff

 

We had built one similar to an ansen, however I failed to get pictures of it. It was for a 50 olds with a inline 8 that threw a rod so we built an adapter plate out of a chunk of aluminum and put a 409 in front of it. Let's just say the selector lived a short life after that.

The shifter worked very well, except I would improve on a few things., you couldn't really feel the gears.....

 

Four!? All for selectors? Nice score, I just Need to have that luck with one for a cad-lasalle.
Also on that shifter that I posted and thoughts were it might be a spark-o-matic, I've come across one in the box and it said mr.shift. so whoever that is that's the name

 

A lot of the cheaper shifters were sold under multiple names As far as your Cad/LaSalle goes, find a Hurst shifter for a '55-'64 Chevy three speed. They're the easiest to adapt to your transmission.

 

I know I'm bringing up an old post, but...

Frank, just in case you never did identify that, that shifter is a Drag Fast unit. See my following posts...

 

A few more pictures and a bit more information for an older thread.

I have two shifters for the early Olds Selector Shift transmission. This one here is a Foxcraft unit, as buford26 posted pictures of on this thread. As is shown in buford's pictures, as well as mine, the Foxcraft unit was designed to take advantage of both the gate lever, as well as the shift lever.
Pushing the shift arm forward or back would switch between gears on one rail, while pulling the shift arm towards the driver (or pushing the shift arm away from the driver) would move to the other rail and allow shifts to be made.

The first picture shows the shifter from the drivers side as it would mount to the transmission. The upper rod (connecting to the lowest point on the shifter) controls the shift lever. The lower rod (which connects to the 'T' shaped bracket) moves from one gate lever to the other.

The second picture is taken from the drivers side, looking aft towards the tailshaft of the transmission.

The third picture is the shifter lying on its side. This would be a view from the passenger side looking at the shifter.

The fourth picture is from the passenger side looking down on an angle. Again, the upper rod controls the shift lever, the lower rod controls the gate lever.

The fifth picture is again from the passenger side, but better shows the the 'pusher bar' on the shifter, and the nylon bushing. The 'pusher bar' and nylon bushing work together to make the gate lever rod work smoothly.

The sixth picture is a close up of the 'pusher bar' and nylon bushing.

The seventh picture is a from the rear of the shifter looking forward towards the engine.

 

This shifter here is a Drag Fast unit. It is a selector type floor shift conversion for 1939-60 Buick's, 1939-50 Olds and 1939-55 Pontiac transmissions with "5" bolt top inspection covers. It is a model # 192 & 1292.

The Drag Fast unit mounts solely to the shift lever. Switching between gates is achieved by pulling or pushing sideways on the shift handle. A spring between the shift arm and the shift lever help to soften the shift between gates.
You will note that this shifter results in a backwards H shift patter. Up-driver is 3rd gear, down-driver is 2nd gear, up-passenger is 1st gear, down-passenger is Reverse.

The first picture shows the detailed Installation Instructions. It shows the full shift assembly used for both this transmission, as well as the later Olds and Pontiac transmissions (different mounting brackets are used between the two).

The second picture shows the Drag Fast packaging box.

The third picture shows the Drag Fast shifter for the above mentioned transmission years.

Frank, you will note that the transmission you posted early in the thread is a Drag Fast Model 193 & 1293, designed for the Heavy Duty Transmissions with "6" bolt top inspection covers.

 

Thanks Speedy.. That application chart helps figure out what trans was used in the BOP lines through the decades. That info is not easy to find.

 

I saw a picture once that someone had photocopied from an old 60's magazine article it showed an adaptation of a ford shift lever and cover to a sideshift trans seemed really slick and the fork looked hardly modified. So the really early transmissions buick,olds, pontiac will bolt straight up to a buick nailhead? what years? which flywheel, clutch etc.? are they open driveline?
-nailhead A-V8
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The Olds is open drive, as well as the Pontiac 57-8 in Speedy's list. Not sure if "all" the buicks were closed drive, but many are.

Some Buick input shafts differ in length to reach the pilot bushing & disc. The Olds ones I work with, are 1" longer than some of the Buicks.

The 6- bolt top cover type "trans face bolt patterns" I have run across, seem to be the same. Also, Buick closed drive trans can be switched to open, by using some Olds pieces, but I prefer to use an Olds trans to make sure it all works. That's because some pieces from random years, won't mesh with some other random gears.

 

You need to go back and read this thread, particularly post #'s 41, 51, and 52. Buick used a torque tube through 1960, so all Buick selector transmissions are closed drive (1936-1960 both 5- and 6-bolt). The 1961-1962 Buick fullsize open drive center section will bolt into a 1956-1960 housing, so you're out of luck on that one. Plus the axle shaft spline counts changed, see this post:

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showpost.php?p=8136369&postcount=2

If you are really interested in the interchange, get a Hollander interchange manual that covers 1964 and earlier (Olds used the selector trans through '64) and it will show you what gears, bellhousings, rear ends, etc. will interchange.

 

Following up to my earlier post (#99) regarding Drag Fast shifters for the Buick, Olds, and Pontiac Selector Shift transmissions...

This shifter here is another Drag Fast unit. It is a selector type floor shift conversion for 1939-60 Buick's, 1951-62 Olds and 1956-57 Pontiac transmissions with "6" bolt top inspection covers. It is a model # 193 & 1293.

The previous information that I posted regarding mounting, gear/shift gate selection, and shift pattern all remain relevant to this model.

The first picture shows the whole unit.

The second picture shows the lower assembly that is relevant to shifting. Note that the shaft on both models moves through a biscuit (or puck). This biscuit is greased and allows easy rotational movement for shifts, as well as shift gate selection.

The third picture is a close up of the assembly from a different angle.

The fourth picture is a different angle again, this time showing the biscuit.

 

Some very interesting information here! Thank you guys for keeping this thread alive!

 

I just picked up an older Buick top shift cover. The trans has a 2/3 syncro, so I'd guess it is no older that around 1932, and other features make me sure it is before 1937.

Unlike the 37 Buick shift cover which does not have forks mounted in the cover, this older one does. The forks are spaced apart the correct amount, it seems, but the the diameter of the forks "C" are bigger. Also the top cover is slightly too long and needs less at the front and the back, to keep the forks centered.


I don't have extra time right now, but I think it could be made to work on a 6 bolt, and the 6 bolt would only need the shift rods/forks taken out, which is easy.

 

Gatz, what a cool elegant solution.

 

Post some pictures when you get a chance.

 

ok heres that pic finally

 

what? the url of your image?whaaaat? ok maybe this time?

 

man there were some real Rube Goldberg contraptions out there to make things happen

I'd like to find one of the Drag Fast shifters

 

We can't really see much of the front fork, and none of the 1st/R fork.

It says modified forks, meaning both, so if they figured it out back then, it should be possible today.

 

aarrrgg! just found out its the dreaded 5 bolt top cover. i still need as much info as possible cuz i'm pretty much stuck with it. its going behind a 322 if i can clear up some of the mysteries

 

As others have suggested (F&J on the other thread you posted on), it might be best to start a new thread pertaining to the Buick transmission. That way, you could outline what you have, what you need help with, and you might catch the attention of those that know Buick transmissions.
I feel like most of them will not see this because this thread pertains to Olds transmissions... Just a thought.

 

Ha, Olds trans? Actually, I don't think there ever was an Olds trans

These are all Buick, or Buick based transmissions. Kinda like the 50 Olds is really a Cad trans, with a few mods done for the Olds division.

Once the top cover is off, the big Buick selector is identical inside, compared to the Olds, as far as building forks & top cover shifters.

I would like to find out about the different lengths of input shafts between Buick and Olds. I say that because on some of the ancient trans adapters, it may be handy to know which trans donors have a different shaft length...that's because you could "stack" two adapters together, to put a Buick trans up to whatever motor you have, even if there were no single adapter ever made, to do so. In some cases, when using multiple adapters, perhaps a different shaft length would make a swap happen easier.

 

My advice is to build a simple external shifter. Either the backwards pattern one like Dragfast above that Speedy put up...or make a normal pattern one like I copied from an old hamb thread. I think it was ColdWar who had the pics, and it was a 5 bolt trans. I just used the basic plan, and it works pretty good, because the 5 and 6 bolts shift the same way.

 

Well then I retract my previous comment. I didn't mean it to his as a 'go away'. Just thought there might be more input from a dedicated thread.

Either way, it's good to know that they share so much between them. Any idea if the Pontiac transmissions are sister-similar as well?

 

A couple of years only? around 57 or so? The tail housing is different, and I think the input shaft is same length as Olds. Was it you, who put up the old installation scans that showed what the shifter fit? That's where I got the "couple of years" from.

Randy Bianci (sp?) had a real cool 37 Buick cased/topshifted Pontiac trans. He had it at a swap a year ago. I never saw one like that, with the unusual tail housing. Might have been a little bit longer than Olds...something looked different.

 

Yes, I posted up the Drag Fast scans that showed the years that were similar. However, having never seen a Pontiac transmission of that vintage, I wasn't sure if it was just the main case area that was similar, or if the whole package was similar.

I'll have to keep my eye out, just for reference's sake if nothing else.

 

Im half way thru mounting a 39 toploader top cover to fit my 55 olds selector shift.

ive been taking pictures as i go. ill post the photos if it works