Technical Offy Manifold Interfering With 3 on the Tree

Installed Tom Langdon's dual carb kit and my 261 started right up today but just found a issue...... I cannot get my truck into 3 gears because it is hitting the new manifold....
DOH!! [emoji15]

I'm sure some of my fellow hammers have ran into this issue, what are my options?

Thanks in advance, this site has been a great help!



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Drop back 10 and "Punt"

 

Shorten the levers.
Install floor shifter.
Move the motor to the right.
Install an automatic.
Could be more options but that is what came to mind. [emoji16]

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Well I hope there's something a little easier than all those options...

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No one said building a hot rod was easy. [emoji39]

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Shorten that lever by just drilling a hole, and grinding off the interference........The shift rod will be fine. Don't be worried/overthink.

 

Now that's what I like to hear... So if I just add another hole, grind off the end and move that Rod over about a inch to the right it should still work okay?

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Well- Heck yes..... (was gonna use another term).. And, for P's & Q's, you could also add a heim end to the shift rod going to your newly altered arm for piece of mind. That would be a 'just in case'.......

 

I would look at the tranny before lopping anything off, Engineers didn't put that offset in there for the hell of it. make sure rods don't interfere with each other when in alignment with each other.

 

Bend the down rod to the trans a tad (if you have to)..............
and I agree, shorten the swing lever, but the least amount as possible, just enough to clear, because you don't want to shorten the travel of the "tree" lever up top.

It's "traditional" in the rodding world to have to fabricate lots of new pieces so you can shoot around corners.

 

Is the flat plate with the hole in it what you are calling the "tree lever"?

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I hate to say it but it might be time for a floor shifter. If you shorten the rod it may not engage in those gears, a fix for that may be to lengthen that trans arm. I think you will be chasing your tail when all is said and done. Hope it works out for you.

Pat

 

Can you bend the top arm closer to the firewall so it will move behind the valve cover?

 

IME those offy manifolds are often thick enough to take a little off of when this sort of thing occurs.I believe I would bend the offending shift lever back toward the firewall about 1\4 " and see if I could take the rest off the manifold.While you are at it you could rebush your shift levers and the truck will shift much better.

 

I like how you're thinking, is there a kit for that?

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I assume you mean for the bushings? I am sure you could buy plastic ones but I usually make that sort of thing up out of brass.The plastic will work but it doesnt last very well.

 

If you shorten the lever and drill a new hole you need to shorten the trans lever an equal amount, not lengthen it. Also could bend the arm towards the firewall and use a different type of connector that is narrower like a clevis. Would have to shorten and thread the shift rod.

 

This is getting more complicated than I anticipated. ;(.

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My bad. I was trying to be too cute by referring to the "three on the tree" shift lever up by the steering wheel.

But basically, I wanted to point out that shortening the flat plate lever on the lower steering column may mean that the shift lever by the steering wheel will have to move in a larger arc than normal..... or, worse case, if there are some type of stops involved to limit the shift lever, the link down to the trans may not move enough by being shortened to change gears. My gut feeling is it will be okay, though. Please understand that I'm not an expert and I tend to overthink occasionally.

 

I would think people have had to run into this a thousand times and hoping somebody can tell me the fix that worked for them before I tare into this.

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And shortening the arc, will have to lengthen the rod a tad... hense a heim, which is two fold. One- it is adjustable= longer/shorter. And it will accept the arc that has been removed with repositioning....... let's not overthink this, or make Matt's head spin more than it is.........

 

The shorter you make the top arm the longer the shift knob will have to travel to get from first to second gear.

 

The angle of the photo shows a lot of contact...may not be as much as the photo shows. I'd start by grinding as much as possible from the end of the shift lever and then do some grinding on the intake manifold. I might also try some spacers on the left motor mount to buy a little room. If none of this is enough, I'd probably grind out the intake and have a welder heli-arc an aluminum tube in place.

 

So here is a better picture. The arm that goes down to the trany has plenty of play.

Drilling a hole to the right of the current hole would create that much havic on how this shifts?? Really, I think we might be talking about a quarter inch difference.



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How much room is between the shift lever and the firewall? Bend it as far as you can, then grind the manifold if it gets you enough clearence. If not, THEN see if you can re drill the shift arm.

 

It's hard to tell from a picture, not that my depth perception is that good anyway. It looks like the "connection" is pretty thick front to back. Maybe just bend the arm towards the firewall and use a thin heim joint or a clevis fitting. Might just shrink it enough to get a fit before it hits the firewall.

 

I don't think bending the arm towards the firewall will work.

Thanks for all the suggestions though.

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Why not just drill another hole and see how it works.

 

bend the arm at a 45 a ways back from the end then use a 55-57 shift rod connector which is much shorter overall

 

Have your tried calling the manufacturer? I can't imagine you'd be the first one to call and ask.