3 spd floor conversion install? (1 Viewer)

[Budd]

i bought a 3spd floor conversion stick shifter at a yard sale for $20 for my 63 FJ40. it looks just like the one on SOR. but i'm have no idea how to install the thing. i just got the shifter, no gaskets, boots, or instructions. has anyone installed on of these? i did a search but couldn't find anything. what do i do?

 

[CruisinGA]

You need the whole top plate for the tranny. It is what holds the shifter.
Once you get that too, you just pop the tranny hump out of the body, and you have easy access to the top of the transmission.

 

[Budd]

ok, this is what i have with the shift stick and stuff atached to it

 

[zetasig]

Thats all you need provided you have the stick, which you said you did, Cut a hole in the trans cover. Put the trans in Neutral. Un bolt the old cover. Save the bolts for the floor shifter. use some permatex as a gasket. and set the new floor shifter in. it should work fine. provided the trans is in Neutral. Bolt it down and go.

hardest part is cutting a proper hole the first time in the trans cover.. Measure twice cut once. Also you will need to remove the whole trans cover to give your self enough room.

 

[65swb45]

Measure 3 times! The mark of a pro is to cut the smallest possible hole. The stock boot is something like 3" diameter. You should spend a few bucks and buy one to use as a template. If you overshoot, then you can always go for a generic coverup. I managed to get the 3 speed boot around my 4 speed tower; it was a lot of work, but it looks way better.

 

[jim45r]

Before you cut any holes in the sheet metal, or anything else permanant, pull your tranny top cover off and make sure it looks the same underneath as the floor shift plate you have. I think that pre-64 three speeds were different, maybe the shift forks are on the cover instead of in the case? Cant remember. But if at some time in it's long life your truck got a tranny transplant with a later one, you'll be fine. If you have the early tranny, you should be able to find a later 3-speed cheep.

Good deal on the floor shifter. One of those was my first ebay purchase - I had just bought my truck, but not even picked it up yet, and I had seen the 3 speed floor shift kits for $250 at SOR. I saw one come up on ebay and bid up to $72 - and won it. Since then I've seen them go for as little as $15 :whoops: - so you did good.

 

[Budd]

somethings not jiving right with this thing. the shifter and shift plate and stuff is already put together but it won't line up with my tranny. its like everything on the shifter plate is on the oposite side than my tranny. if i could rotate the shift plate 180 degrees it looks like it would line up, but i can't because of the angle on the shift stick and i can't remove the shift stick from the shifter plate. mine doesn't have screws like the one in the pic, its got pins that i have no idea how remove. am i making any sense at all? its had to explain

 

[jim45r]

Check www.sor.com
Page 060 -- 3 Speed Transmission 1958-1963
It's seriously different from the 64-on, which is probably what your floor shift is for. I think your one-banana job just turned to a three or four. A later three-speed won't be hard to find cheep, maybe free, but it's more than a Saturday morning job for most shady tree wrenchers to swap them. Good luck. If you're in No. Cal, I might be able to find a free 3-speed for you.

 

[65swb45]

Actually, sounds like it's much simpler than that. Some mo fo just stuck the shift lever in your tower backwards! You need to push down on the top retainer with two screwdrivers, one on each side of the lever. Then, when it's pushed down about 3/8" it should rotate, either right or left about an 1/8 of a turn. Then the whole thing lifts out. Mount the tower onto your tranny, then re-install the lever and have a

 

[Degnol]

As far as locating where to cut the hole....With the shifter not yet installed, but the top plate bolted up, I put a nice ring of axle grease on the shift lever retaining ring and caerfully repositioned the tranny hump. Left a nice little ring to mark where to begin drilling. After several off and on's and using a diegrinder and a rotary file, I got a near perfect fit.
GL
Ed

 

[Budd]

[quote author=65swb45 link=board=1;threadid=16054;start=msg154255#msg154255 date=1084257247]
Actually, sounds like it's much simpler than that. Some mo fo just stuck the shift lever in your tower backwards! You need to push down on the top retainer with two screwdrivers, one on each side of the lever. Then, when it's pushed down about 3/8" it should rotate, either right or left about an 1/8 of a turn. Then the whole thing lifts out. Mount the tower onto your tranny, then re-install the lever and have a
[/quote]

thank you! thats exactly what i was trying to say, and hopefully its just something that simple. thanks