Has anyone ran a powerflite trans in their hotrod? I got a 354 hemi with a powerflite on it and I wanna put that into a 32 ford project but don’t know if they make any floor shifts for it, has anyone ever made a custom floor shift for those trans? If so how did you do it. I know they were push ****on shifts originally. Any info is greatly appreciated
I doubt that anyone makes a floor shifter. However, the whole push****on thing just pulls or pushes a cable to select the ranges. Any cable type shifter should be able to be modified to work. I'm not sure if the Powerflite has a park position, at least the one I had didn't. You had to use the driveline park brake when parking.
I have seen one in a hotrod and they used a Jag XJ6 shifter. As above, any shifter should be able to be modified to work.
I would make a custom housing to mount the push****on controls. Either on the dash or on a stalk from the floor like a floor shifter. You would have the only one at the show.
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/floor-shifter-for-powerflite.1290132/ http://www.forwardlook.net/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=76905 http://www.forwardlook.net/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=70947
Back in 1968 I put a 413 and Torqueflite into my '40 Chev coupe and I used the push ****on shift to operate it. But I wanted to be able to manually shift it, and a dash mount wasn't an option. I bought a factory 45 degree bend on lightweight EMT tubing, and made up a mounting plate to bolt it to the floor in the usual floorshift location, and another plate to fit the factory push ****on shifter to the top of the 45 degree EMT. It worked great and made the shifting easy to do, and looked pretty good too I thought.
I had a 56Ford pickup with a 392 and a push ****on trans. I trimmed the push ****on housing to fit the dash , it looked factory and worked great.
I think the 55 models had Powerflites, but with lever shift. Dodges at least, as the lever was in the dash and moved vertically. If one could locate a valve body from that year it should be easy to fab a shifter. Otherwise, I'd bet that one of the aftermarket cable shifters could be made to work by crimping the correct ends onto the cable and making a custom detent plate. Just have to be sure that the cable movement starts and stops in perfect alignment with the valve body's internal stops. That said, I also once had a Ford pickup with a hemi and push****on shift in the dash. Not hard to do. I was only 22/23 then and if I could do it , anyone can.
^ IIRC, all 1955 Chrysler products had the dash mounted lever shifter. At about 17 yrs old, I had a 57 Dodge Coronet with the push-****on 3-sp TorqueFlite. The mechanism used a push-pull cable and the gear selection was in sequence; so it was fairly easy to route the cable top end down to a clevis on a homemade shifter on the side of the transmission. It’s important to keep connections close-fit. You could still feel the notches for each gear. Turned out nice. But to be on the safe side, some type of detent would be beneficial as @KenC alluded to. However, it would have to match the ones in the transmission. And of course, there isn't any Park to be concerned about. IDK if there are any aftermarket shifters to fit the push-****on TorqueFlites or PowereFlites.
I just remembered another option. In '65 only the trans was still cable shifted but from a lever in a more normal fashion. Parts from one of that year would be a place to start, but hard to find.
A slotted shift arm on the transmission end will allow you to adjust the travel to match detents in any floor shifter. Should be able to cut and fabricate the existing shift arm on the trans to convert it to a slotted hole instead of just a single round hole. Then adjust the bolt on connection to get the amount of travel to match a modern shifter.
Problem is that with the exception of the 55 models, Powerflites have a push/pull cable that connects inside the trans with no external lever.
My 1940 Oz Dodge has had a 318 Poly & cast iron 1962 Torqueflite since 1973.......which was originally push ****on operated.....I installed a late 60's Oz Valiant console & shifter as shown in the pics and as the cast iron torqueflite is cable operated I measured the "throw" required inside the trans with the pan removed...........the Valiant shifter was lever/rod operated originally and I measured where exactly on the "throw" of the shifter where the same movement occured..........I fabricated a bracket to hold the outer cable and installed a pin on the shifter and made a ratchet to suit the Valiant push ****on and.........DAH!...DAH! ..........a floor mounted shifted cast iron torqueflite gearbox with a ratchet located shifter.........by careful measurement the shifter works as original and the neutral safety switch lockout also works as original.........at the time I made do with the extra long original cable but found a place that made cables to length and had one specially made to suit the length needed..........the only real issue is that I have never bothered to replace the original Valiant gear indicator beside the shifter so it still shows that a "P" lives within...........which it doesn't.......the cast iron T/F driveshaft parking brake is still used and is very effective.........the attached pic is the only only ones I have at present........regards from Oztralia............andyd
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