Starting to put my ride back together and Im looking for a totally uncluttered interior.Im hiding all my switches,wipers,lights etc,behind a blanking panel on the dash.Im looking for ideas on hiding the auto shifter.I know Mopar do a push button in dash sort of deal,which I have looked at but looks like it will require 2 cables and a few headaches to make work on the BW35. Anyone run an under dash/in dash or hidden set up??
There is a company out there that does a push button shifter. They use a linear actuater on the tranny. I remember it is kind of spendy but it is pretty trick i think it is retrotek supply or speed or something. anyway google retrotek and look it over.
You can mount a cable shifter about anywhere it will fit. I've seen 'em sadh mounted no reason it couldn't be mounted behind the dash. or in a console with a closed top. Maybe mount it in a pit in the floor board and put a lid on it?
Windsor Fabrications makes hidden under dash cable shifters. What kind of transmission is it? Never heard of a "BW35" http://www.sachserodshop.com/pdf/99.pdf
Remember the old dash mounted shifter in the Corvairs? A friend of mine uses a Model T column and uses the spark control for his shifter. Freaks people out when they don't see a shifter.
Its a Borg Warner 35....3 speed auto commonly found in early Fords....also in A body Mopars as an option behind the slants
the BW35 is common enough and found in lots of what we'd call "foreign" cars here... not many US fords with them. good tranny, easy to get parts for and fix. how about a ratcheting motorcycle type shifter you could tap with your toe? of course, you'd have to be able to identify the gear you're in.... Dodge vans had a dash mounted cable shifter in the '60's. you could fake up a Wilson PreSelector type shifter, a fixed shaft off the column with a small lever at the end which rotated to select the next gear you wanted, and shifted automatically when you depressed the clutch. if you intend to use only R-N-D positions, a rotary selector could be made like a shift off a 40' MWB (motor whale boat). looks like a shovel handle in bronze.
I don't know if they still sell it, but Moon was selling a push button shifter for a while. They had a write up about it in CK Deluxe once. Actuator mounted on the tranny....and you could hide the pushbutton panel anywhere, it was pretty small. I don't know if they made it, but they were selling it. It was around $1500 though. It won a couple of SEMA awards I think.
How about an old alarm unit to actuate solenoids for gear position, and use the key fob as the shifter? Don't know how safe it would be, but it's TOTALLY hidden...
I read once or twice about how Roth used his E-Brake handle under the dash as his shifter... Just an idea I thought was neat!! -COS
Thanks for the replies...and a couple of good ideas there too....I did consider the lever under the dash thing,but legally I need to have a display as to which gear is selected...Im thinking an actuator on the side of the box couldnt be too hard,just adjust the length of the arm to get the lever to move the correct distance between each gear... An aftermarket cable run up under the dash and operated by pulling a knob out from (under/in) the dash might be ok too I did find a kit,or some info on one on the net,but as mentioned,Im keen but not THAT keen to part with 1500...
A guy on Pirate4x4 made a push button shifter for a transfer case. Not sure that it would work in your case but maybe you could get a few ideas. If the link doesn't work search "Pirate4x4 + Air-shifted twin-sticked NP205".