I was flipping through a 66-67 hot rod mag and there was an add advertising new aluminum hurst shift handles, but i've Never seen one in person, am i just blind, or did they drop them pretty fast??
****gy, if it's their T handle, there are thousands of them running around. If you haven't seen one you had to had to have been living in a vacuum. You can more than likely find 2-4 any given day on the Bay. And are all over the swap meets.
Are you thinking of the lever itself? Those are still available too, albeit in much less of a selection than they used to have. Hurst calls them "sticks". Not all the shifters have bolt-on sticks, though. Most of their offerings are in steel, chrome plated, in various bends & lengths. They do still have one or two in aluminum.
their book lists 16 replacement sticks... all of them chrome steel. I flipped through it and didnt see any arms available separate in aluminum.
This thread should answer any questions on Hurst products.... http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=427115
Their web site doesn't even list any of the sticks, except for Mopar Pistol Grip pieces, but at least 5380196 is still current, unless it was just dropped...7 1/2" straight, black anodized. They seem to have dropped about 90% of the sticks...must not sell very many. Guess first of all ****gy needs to tell us if it's even the stick he's looking for.
I'm pretty sure they were used in NASCAR, for weight savings and less stress on the shift forks. Sometime in the nineties(?).
Little Wing ... Dennis Kirban (dennis kirban) would beg to differ: NOTE: These 3 pics are from dennis kirban's Early hurst history - trivia thread (same one that SinisterCustom posted).
and it was avail. when?? or ?? 2 different handles there. Nice looking pieces my response based on ,,never seen them in a catalog or in teh flesh
Yep ... 2 different handles/arms ... dunno when or if they were ever available. Glad you clarified your "no such animal" statement ... 'cuz then you're most likely correct (Dennis stated that he didn't know if the aluminum units were ever put into production).
I had an aluminum handle on my R series Hydro shifter that I think was Hurst,, might have been B&M on second thought,,,been years ago and I have slept since then.
and if I am wrong and they were ,,I gotta find me one Also ,,Hurst had a few things that have gone missing over the years ,,Gonna go look way back and see
I can guarantee that Hurst has made, and per my comment above, possibly still does make, aluminum handles. Like that old SNL skit said, s****ing Ross Perot, "I've seen, touched, smelled, and p***ed one through my lower intestine." I used to have a couple that I got dirt cheap in the '80s...possibly still do have them stored at my parents' house somewhere. I got them from a local circle track guy. I don't know how well they would hold up to street use or drag shifting, but for his purposes they were fine. Now, whether they made those particular styles shown above, I dunno. Mine were similar to the third pic, but I don't recall them having a recessed area. One was drilled along the length with lightening holes, but I don't know whether that was a Hurst deal. It was well done. I * think * (as opposed to knowing) that I remember seeing some drilled pieces listed in a Hurst catalog from the '80s as well. I'll look over there this weekend & see if I still have one lying around.
Here's another pic of the one I posted earlier...it's from the Hurst thread... It is an aluminum stick....
You sure?? was always of the belief they were were the same as the later Mystery shifter rods.. Also none of the adds mentions them as being Aluminum..though I suppose they could be After checking ,,seems there is,, Limited production heat treated aluminum.. always room to learn
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