I am working on more info on the Hurst History threads, been very busy. I have info to report on three speed shifters, four speed units, and some automatic units. Remember my first meeting with Hurst was 1958-59. Worked there 1967-76. Just wanted to give all, an update.
It got deleted for several reasons and this has already been gone over several times. 1. This is a hot rod site, not a girlie site. 2. After multiple warnings people could not keep their tacky sexist comments to themselves. 3. Thousands of pictures of Linda with an eighties Olds Cutlass can't possibly be considered on topic here. 4. After I deleted it Ryan received an email from Linda's family thanking him for taking that down
HURST 3 SPD SHIFTER HISTORY The original first shifter was developed around 1959,1960 time frame. when Geo formed an alliance with Ed Almquist, and created the sub name of Anco Industries. Later the partnership split. About that time is when Geo Hurst made his cross country trip in a bronze 56 chev conv. w/Buick nail head eng, 3 spd transmission w/ prototype shifter. He made many stops along the way at speed shops, and related car parts stores. His mission was to show off new floor shifter, and motor mounts. The shifter was a long curved stick to clear the bench seat. The shifter featured the twin pattern, one stop bolt for second gear, not sure whether or not it had a yo-yo handle knob. His trip stirred up a lot of interest and sales. Orders started to come in for shifters, and mounts. The early shifter kits had mounting brackets w /multiple holes for shifter locations. the chrome sticks came in a couple diff. lengths. Later the 3 spd was called Dual Pattern, the two piece yo-yo handle was incorporated. As time progressed, many upgrades were implemented; a second stop bolt for third gear, the syncro /loc feature, which was a steel lever with a torsion spring type activation. Like a spring latch arrangement, then a round knob was used. the S /L feature was a big hit, some racers would use automatic trans fluid in their 3 spd to cut down on the gear drag. As you know the 1-2 slider gear inertia would be stopped by with this feature. I believe Bill Jenkins used a modified S / L shifter on his early four speeds. The parts that made up the basic three speed unit ; the stick was 3/8" thick HRS steel (heavy chrome plate), the rods were cold headed hardened steel, the arms (on trans) were heat treated, as well as the levers (in shifter hsg). We used a spl molybdenum grease inside the shifter hsg. All parts were made in-house, sent out for plating and heat treat, etc. The sticks were burned out on a acetylene burn table, later we nested the sticks laying flat for more parts per sq. ft. they were hand ground, stamped, and threaded. Then to o/s chrome plate. The sticks were designed to fit the automotive application, and to whether it was bench, or bucket seats which came later. The arms had to match the trans; GM, Saginaw, Ford T&C, etc. Also, console, and non-console application were a consideration. We had to create a separate kit / shifter designation; ie, CS-4-65, CV-4-65, FN-4-63, and so on. Later (1972) we applied a part number to these early designations. Around 1967, we had difficulty designing parts on some vehicle installations I believe Camaro was one. It was very difficult to weld stick, to the stick bottom in the shifter on 3 spd, & 4 spd. At that time we started the change over to a bolt-on stick configuration. When we did this we could use a common stick on various applications. In 1972, both the sycro /loc, and Mystery shifter were being replaced by the Master Shift product line.
I was lucky enough to be a draftsman at Hurst in the 1979-1980 time frame. I worked in the Airheart Brakes group with Ron Watson. It was a great place for a motorhead kid in college to learn a LOT about designing and manufacturing. I went to many races where I met several of my racing heroes. The people I worked with were great and wish I could have stayed there forever. Unfortunately, Hurst was on the verge of being bought out by Mr. Gasket and Pennsylvania was chasing companies and the jobs out of the state with ridiculous taxation so I left for California. I worked with Don Lane on a 3 stick shifter for 4 and 5 speed manual transmissions but we could not overcome the friction of the mechanism. Hurst actually made (Manny Cambria designed?) a 3 stick shifter for automatics that was featured in the later Hurst Olds cars. I saw many drawings by a guy named C. Bey (Charles?). Those were the most beautiful drawings I have ever seen; I used those as my gold standard for what I should strive to achieve. Their Prototype Machinist, Marty Danko, had made a small shifter for his own altered using odd parts from other shifters and his own shifting gate for his racing turboglide. Manny Cambria saw what Marty was making and was intrigued. Hurst Performance made a deal with Marty to take the design to manufacturing and the QuarterStick was born. Hurst had the integrity to work with Mary to make his own little shifter into a production shifter. I was already gone but I think Marty got a driving spot in one of the Prostock prepped Oldsmobiles, although not competing in Prostock. Maybe someone knows Marty and can fill in the history? I wish I could remember the name of the "Shifty Doctor" at that time. I liked working with him at the races. Met Linda Vaughn on a few occasions and was absolutely floored by her extensive knowledge of cars and racing to the extent that she was comfortable discussing the set up of a car for circle track or the launch of a drag car. She is an absolute class act who could handle even rude men with aplomb while never losing her cool.
I still remember the day back in the early '80s when my uncle stopped by the house to show me the Hurst vertical gate shifter he bought for his '69 Z/28. I was never quite stout enough to run through the gears with it like he could, but I am still impressed with it!
Genebob- Thanks for the great feedback, yes I worked with Don Lane, Marty, Ron, Manny. when I was at Hurst Marty was an excellent welder in production dept. As you may know Don Lane was poss. the first employee with George Hurst, back in the day. I still keep in touch with Don. On my next thread, I will expand on the Mystery Shifter, then info on the 4 spds. which I was very much involved.
I can only speak for myself....................no, I'm pretty sure that like me, most of this bunch eats this Hurst history up, so yes, you have a captive audience here. There have been numerous magazine articles over the years about Hurst but not the "behind the scenes" discussion like you guys are providing. I've been a lifelong "cult like" follower of both 4 speeds (Chevy) and the brand. The only time I strayed was in the mid/late 70's when I used a B&M series 60 shifter for the turbo 400 in my race car. My first introduction to the Hurst brand was when I put a used Syncro-Loc shifter in my first car, a 61 Impala, it was actually my first hands on car modification at 15 years old.
Mr. Glover, if you would, please say hello to Don for me. I wonder if he is still building lead sled Mercury's? Realize the era that I worked there; I asked Don why he went for those big old tug boat cars and he replied - He liked cars that no one else was interested in; that made it easier to find parts for them. His (and Ron's) encouragement of my budding design interests helped me to get serious about finishing college. Marty had a lot of patience with me in the prototype machine shop and I learned a lot about machining parts from him that still serves me well to this day. I had a really wonderful start on my way to becoming a Mechanical Engineer with some of the very best folks I would ever work with.
Just to give the thread a little nudge here is the Hurst magazine advertisement that to me was the most definitive one of the era as I bought a new Hurst four speed shifter for the T-10 in my 57 Chevy BelAir 2 dr. ht. just like this one around 1970. Yes, I know its a repeat but I just love this ad.
This is the shortest big letter Hurst , I have ever found. Original application was for T10 in a C1 Vette. I used Muncie arms on it, for my M20 use. It is at least an inch shorter than the C2 style shifters. The T handle shown on it is a prototype magnesium one, that I got from a former Hurst employee back in the mid 80’s.
Maybe someone can answer a question for me about the Hurst "dual pattern" shifter on my store display It shows here that there are pins to convert from std to strait line shifting here are the pics of the shifter, it is clearly marked dual pattern but there are no pins???
Wow that display stand jogged a good memory, at Clarks Auto Accessories in Manitowoc Wisconsin I was fondling on of them Hurst shifters on a display when I was about 16 years old. Little did I know that about 30 years later I would buy the drag car he was running at the time, got it 20 years now. It was called the Clipper City Chevrolet
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