I bought a 4 speed saginaw at a swap meet. The guy gave me all kinds of stuff with it including a shifter and linkages. It was supposed to be the right shifter but I have serious doubts now. From the research I have done I think it is a model 456 or torque tube tail shaft model. Most identification charts say it was in the 81-82 firebirds I think. Anyways the point is I'm not 100% sure it is a model 456, but it sure doesn't look like the pictures of the 441's. The biggest problem is I need a shifter for this thing! Hurst only shows one shifter and they are out of stock! Anyone who has any kind of shifter for this trans or can shed some light on the subject it would be greatly appreciated! I will try to get some pics of what I got soon. Thanks
Monza is the other torque tube saginaw app. Does the shifter include an oval sheetmetal plate that looks like it should bolt into a floor, instead of the typical direct-mount shifter?
No, the shifter is a hurst indy but i think it is for a 441 model not the TT or torque tube. The tail shaft also has three tapped holes for a shifter bracket and it had a piece of a bracket on it when i got it. I have read the monza model didn't have holes for a bracket.
I noticed the pic titles were "junk" and featured an indy shifter, certainly appropriate! Welcome to the catch 22 of cheap saginaw 4 speeds. Even if you have a car with the appropriate weight/power to use a saginaw you gotta find a way around $300 worth of competition shifter and saginaw install kit. good luck
Pic #1 looks like a mounting bracket for a Hurst Super Shifter. It mounted the shifter much higher on the transmission than the Competition Plus bracket does, in order to accomodate the straight shift rods. You're not going to have much luck using that bracked with a Comp. Plus shifter.
the saginaw 4 speed was only available in the 82 firebird /camaro with the rear trans support mount, i believe 83 up were all 5 speeds and 81 was last year for 2nd generation model that didn't have rear mount for support bar, it is rare trans if you can find someone who needs it or wants to convert a later car from a 5 speed to a 4 speed if that is what you have, not sure of id #s
82 camaro "torque arm" saginaw 4 speed. Has only two shifter holes on driver side, has 3 funky holes on other side. Plus the counterweight holes at the bottom, this was a 4 cyl car
Jim just pointed out in his subtle way that you are referring to a torque arm, torque tube refers to a closed driveshaft. Any shifter can be made to work, but you must be able to determine which arms to shift at what times and in which direction, then figure out how to use/modify the shift rods you have so that this all happens at the right time. Figure out a way to make a stand of some sort and mount the shifter on the tailhousing, then mount the arms, but bear in mind they can point up or down, the wrong way will put the gear pattern upside down. I think they go up for the forward gears, not sure about reverse. Anyway, play with the shifter and figure which plate operates first/second and which operates third/fourth, then look at the trans, the forward most arm is third/fourth, next is first/second. Clear as mud?
Ha, I just noticed the torque tube/arm thing too. I even repeated it! Anyway, as to what the hell shifter you need, it's just like any other GM 4 speed. You can actually use the indy shifter that came with it, but they're famous for jamming with performance use. If you want a better shifter, then you need any old hurst or whatever brand of 4 speed shifter is desired. Avoid OEM installed hursts as they're prone to differences, what you're looking for is something like the good ole aftermarket competition plus. You can often get a good deal on a used shifter. But the shifter is just the shifter, you still need the arms and rods and mounting bracket. Those are contained in an installation kit that needs to be purchased. And a saginaw install kit is different than a muncie kit. And different than a T-10 kit. You can often find muncie and T10 kits hanging off a shifter and get a complete used package at a great price. Saginaw kits are much, much harder to find used. good luck
Hi... Did you ever find a shifter for you tranny? This is the exact Saginaw 4 speed that I have. I'm using a Hurst 2223 adapter plate and a Hurst 3915401 shifter. The 2223 plate is an older part and they have a newer one available. Hope this helps. Jon...
The shifter "tower" will work with most any 4-speed trans, as long as you use the correct mount, rods, and levers. Do you have a speed shop where you live? If so, they will usually have a box of misc. shifter parts; at least this is what I've found. For instance, the Borg Warner Super T-10 4-speed going in my delivery, was originally a Plymouth Cuda Pistol Grip Shifter. I only used the tower, got the correct mount, rods that fit, and levers that worked; I gave the Pistol Grip shifter lever/handle to a MOPAR friend, and I used a bolt on Hurst stick. I had to drill holes as the Pistol Grip was the push in type. If you don't have some place that would have loose parts, then you're stuck with swap meets or E-Bay. I'm looking for a particular Saginaw mount myself right now, it's the one that gets bolted to/sandwiched between the trans, and the trans mount, and has a U-bolt affair that wraps around the end of the extension housing. Butch/56sedandelivery.
Hey Midwest Rat, What did you end up doing with the Saginaw transmission shifter issue you originally posted about a while back? Was it in fact a 456 or was it a 441? I also bought one at a swapmeet that looked identical to pictures in this post but hours of research led me to believe it was a 441.
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