QUOTE: For $30 then, you could get a floorshift conversion. As much dickin' around that'd be to do what they did, you couldn't pay me to WATCH someone else make it! hahaha Hmm, seems like this was a "shot" at those of us who fabricate parts instead of using a MasterCard to buy things. Some rodders don't really fabricate anything. They just bolt together bits and pieces they buy. (smiling) East coast...west coast.....who cares? I know that there are amazing rod builders on both coasts and everywhere in between. Lotsa talented people everywhere. Some, not so much, but they try.
Hey, necessity is the mother of invention. I traded for a 4 spd back in the 60's, couldnt aford to buy a shifter for it, so I mounted my universal speedomatic 3 spd shifter on the 4 speed and bolted a separate reverse shift lever on to it. Had to make damned sure I took it out of reverse before shifting into first!
A buddy back in the 60's wore out his 3 on tree and couldn't afford a floor shifter. He put vice grips on the trans shafts and reached down to shift. LOL
Am I the only one that once stumbled into an old thread gets a chill as soon as C9s' Avatar rolls up. Then after reading a couple of posts and his selfless approach to sharing knowledge really miss him all over again. No one has come close to mentoring as many as he did.
My friend in high school put one in his 52 chevy but i don't remember how it was made. It worked fine.
Great thread!! Old school rodding for sure!! C9's posts sure are good. what happened to him? please excuse my ignorance. PB
Jay Carnine passed in 2009. There are some bitter sweet posts from his daughter. RIP to a great HAMBer. Below is a small autobiography he wrote - sounds an interesting guy. I set it out in rememberance and respect. He lived in Kingman - been there many times over the past 30 years - one of the towns I'd like to live in if I ever moved to the US;
Jay passed away several years ago,,do yourself a favor and look up some of his old post especially the Red Roadster,,he wrote some great stories. He is greatly missed. HRP
thank you blackjack and HRP. And yeah i'll have a look for his threads, sure sounds like he had a full and rewarding life.
Good to see a good old post. It is as much about C9 as it is a neat way to build something. Several times I have started reading an old thread thinking that there is nothing special about it and then come across a post or two from C9. I never met the man but am impressed by all the people he impacted in some way. Neal
That home made shifter worked great,...A couple of friends made and used them; A great high school welding shop project. The other way to go was to buy the Corvette 3 speed shifter,..make a bracket and linkage rods, and it also worked great. $20, at the Chev dealer. 4TTRUK
Saw one in 1958. Them were the days when we used what we could get and adapted and improvised a lot. The fun days.
How in the hell did I ever miss that? It's so simple it's brilliant! Gotta love them old rodders who made what they couldn't buy!
Ok youngster, I paid $30 for my first car in 1966 it was a 1956 Chevy 2 door hardtop, 265, 3 speed. Next car 1968 was 1957 Corvette for $850. Money was harder to get back then.
Didn't your Plymouth column shift have a straight line shift if you laid your hand on the shift lever when it was in 1st and you went into 2nd? There was no H-pattern. If you used this unit to convert it to a floor shift, you would have a great shift. My early Hurst was a straight line shift like that. I would grab the shifter down at the floor and with a flick of the wrist I was in 2nd. Bob
The Jalopy Journal
