Hot Rods Aftermarket Floor Shift Options for a Turbo 400

Believe me, I'm looking, but swap meets around here are diminishing, there's only so many garage sales, and I ain't paying $1500 for one (currently on Ebay). That's nuts.

 

I don't recall what I got but it was nowhere near that.

 

The Lokar shifter has a flat netral lockout, but under abuse, it can wear the corner off, making it easier to jump over. Also, I would not recommend their floor mount line (their FMSnnnn) shifters if you're going to "bang" on them because your floor sheetmetal isn't up to such abuse. Instead, you should consider their transmission mount (ATSnnnn) line, which bolts directly to the transmission.

But, as others have said... you aren't really "bang" shifting an automatic anyway.

My "credentials" on Lokars is that I've installed a dozen or so of them over the years, and I have them for sale in the Classifieds from time to time.

/2 cents

 

the shifter in the car in the video I posted...I made that shifter....here's a closer look at it.



everyone has to make at least one shifter in their life!

 

Always heard of "banging gears" as a general reference to driving with an attitude. Never as a stand alone to a manual or automatic. " Hey, wanna go banging gears tonight?"

 

Believe it or not, look at '81-91 Jaguar XJS cars. Jag was using the TH400 behind their V12 during this time and had a well-made cable-operated shifter, that while not as 'positive' as a race-type ratchet shifter, has 'detents' to allow owners to manually shift with reasonable accuracy. Downsides are it's a floor mount and the handle is rather short, but the handle is a flat bar type and could be cut off and a longer handle bolted to it. IMO, worth a look at least...

 

Now THAT'S a reverse lockout!

 

Although they are not very "traditional" looking, the B&M Quicksilver shifter is pretty good for the money. I have one in my Austin and I bought one for $20 at a local swap meet and put it in our '64 El Camino - a good low buck solution to your problem. I've got a Lokar in both my roadster and my F100 but they work fine but are just for "selecting" a gear and leaving it there.
Jim's homemade shifter is cool, like an early B&M HydroStick shifter. And he's right, building your own shifter is fun. Whether from scratch or from old shifter pieces from the swap meets, making arms, rods and detents and making it all play together is fun.

 

It's not traditional, but I run a B&M Pro Ratchet shifter, and you certainly can "BANG" shifts with it all day long, to your hearts content. There are a ton of them on the bay for 2 - 3 bills.

 

Good shifting TH400 will shift harder and faster than 98 per cent of humans...except Herb McCandless.

 

No argument there...

 

found a motor home in the junk yard that had a th400
the shifter was mounted in the dash
removed the shifter and cut off all the cable stuff
made a mount for the tailshaft and welded the shifter mechanism to it
2 hiem joints and a piece of all thread
used an old trans mounted E-brake handle
push the E-brake release button to select gear
poor mans Lokar for about $25

 

I don't care for too many of the fancy shifters out there, it seems the basic ones like the quick stick etc work the best for power shifting. Out of most I've used I prefer the old muscle car style dual gates.

Thought about using one of the old under dash e brake handles for a shifter.

I don't think it would be hard to convert and most would just see the handle under the dash and assume it's still a old 50`s truck style e brake.

 

I run a Hurst His/hurst shifter in the 442, TCI T-400/stage 2 shift kit/2500 stall. I race it a bit, and to tell the truth I'm faster in drive than I am "banging the gears". Looks cool though. line-loc button in the shifter knob connected with guitar bale and plug. 68's don't come with Hurst shifters but a little "engine-uity" and it looks like it grew there.

 

It is a tough crowd for sure. I have manual shifted and automatic shifted cars and there is good and bad with each I suppose. Here is the shifter I run in my avatar car with a T400-it is a Hurst V-Matic. It is gated and in performance mode or whatever you want to call it is ratcheted. As automatic shifters go I like it. I was not a fan of the box it sits on so I made a bracket for it and buried it in the tunnel so only the flat plate and boot sits above the carpet. If I had another 400 I would go the same route.

 

I run Hurst shifters, quarter sticks in 2 and promatic in another, you can definitely bang/ram them in gear without fear of going past the intended gear. The promatic is a little weird in the fact of when ratcheting back into first gear, it doesn't stop ratcheting once in first. You could sit there ratcheting for 5 minutes if you wanted, always left a little question mark if you were really in 1st while pre-staging though. You could always fab your own housing to make it look older if want, I used a quick change cover for that effect.

 

The best for all around use:


I beat the shit outta 2 of these and they never failed. Easy to use in a daily, never binds up, as fast as you are, worth the search.

 

Had a promatic that was a pos. I use a Quicksilver now but with a smaller console than what came with the shifter. With a shift kit transmission I don't row the gears that much. But every once in a while I do feel the need to do my own shifting.

 

Never did care for those ratchet contraptions. I'm kinda funny, but I like to look down at the shifter and be able to tell what gear I'm in.
Get a Turbo Action shifter and be done with it. You can shift it with a sledge hammer if you want to.

 

The His and Hers, Hurst Dual Gates, are still available new; just go on that auction site we all know and love; I don't know if they're made by Hurst or some other "licensed" vendor. I currently have FOUR Hurst Auto Stick 1's; only one has a TH400 mount, so I have to keep that mount for my own project. Only one of the four has a welded on stick, the other three are bolt on. The TH350 mount can be modified to fit a TH400; the top bolt position is the same; you'd have to shorten/re-weld for the lower bolt (only two bolts hold these onto the extension housing). I also have three different shifter sticks to pick from. If you're seriously interested in one of these, send me a PM, and I won't gouge you on the price, honest (this offer is for the OP of this thread only); you'd have to do some cleaning and servicing, but all the parts are there (except for the boot). The shifter "the HIGHLANDER" posted is another good one, that's also no longer in production; it's what I would look for if I did't already have the Auto Stick 1's. What I like about the Auto Stick 1's is, they look like a manual transmission floor shifter. There you go. I am Butch/56sedandelivery.

The old B & M Series 60 shifters are simple, but effective; however, the stick itself is weak. I had an old partner who bent one over shifting from low to high with a Powerglide. I second the opinion about staying away from the "street rod" shifters.
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Kilduff machine. Badass stuff. Made here.

Sent from my SM-G955U using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Funny! I did that as well and cut my hand. I won, so it was worth it.
I am using a B&M starshifter for my TH400. The tranny has a very old Transgo competition shift kit, which I still like. The shifters are still available on epay for between $100 and $200.
Bob

 

I put a Starshifter in my truck in 1979, soon after installing the TH400 (had a really crappy modified oem floor shifter before that). It worked great! almost 40 years later, it needs a bit of work. I did finally put a new cable in it, but I need to tinker with the shifter itself to get things back to how they should be.

I had lots of fun driving it...I even got pulled over once by a motorcycle cop, and accused of "speed shifting" or something. he didn't believe me when I told him it's an automatic trans! no ticket...just a warning not to have fun on his turf.

 

I like that too. B&M Pro Ratchet has a position indicator. That's something that seems to be missing with the Lokar shifters and with some of the modified housings that some are posting here.

 

How about finding a late model GM steering wheel with paddle shift? You could wire up the airbag just in case you have a mishap banging gears...


I know, I shouldn't have, that was bad... but I had to do it. Lol

 

Hard to find but I like an early Vega shifter. Nice stick with positive detentes and neutral safety switch. I've used them in several cars. If you can get the shifter, rod and trans arm.