3 on the tree versus 3 on floor

[riderjgs]

People still keep three speeds? I threw mine away..... terrible tranny with crappy gearing. BUT, I do see the beauty in keeping it stock and on the column has mega cool factor. Good luck!

Bought a '69 parts pig (later sold to landcruisnman) with a rough SBC conversion and what I thought was a 3 on the tree. Looked all stock, 3 pedals and all. Had sat for years in a field near here. Had all the paperwork from the original sale in Escondido to actor Efrem Zimbalist Jr. for his daughter Stephanie. Even faded gold "Zs" painted on the doors and a chrome horse on the hood. Never looked under it. Before hauling it out to CA to Pat I thought I ought to fire it up. Hooked up a battery, poured some gas in the carb, pushed in the clutch pedal and cranked it...and it moved. Turns out the stock column linkage had been hooked up to a GM automatic tranny which was in gear (no neutral or park only start). Thought the clutch felt a little light!

 

[PabloCruise]

Hey Fellas,

thanks for all the feed back. I'm thinking I'm going to stick with the three on tree for now...but we'll see.

Spencer

My Dad told me about column shifters. One time he was out playing around and speed shifting up - he ended up tearing the shifter off and ramming his fist into the windshield. Busted shifter and busted windshield.

 

[WarDamnEagle]

My Dad told me about column shifters. One time he was out playing around and speed shifting up - he ended up tearing the shifter off and ramming his fist into the windshield. Busted shifter and busted windshield.

Can't imagine "speed" shifting a column shifter but I guess you could. First car I ever drove was a 1970 Ford Ranchero 3 speed on the column. I was 12 and had been driving tractors for a year or two. Started downhill in second and drove all the way home without shifting (maybe 1 mile?).

 

[PabloCruise]

Can't imagine "speed" shifting a column shifter but I guess you could. First car I ever drove was a 1970 Ford Ranchero 3 speed on the column. I was 12 and had been driving tractors for a year or two. Started downhill in second and drove all the way home without shifting (maybe 1 mile?).

I think my Dad's "incident" happened in an early 60's Falcon...

 

[Gordobe]

I had both column and floor 3 speed. Currently column and love it. Fortunately the linkage is in decent condition. I will say that if your doing animal 4x then floor might be safer in difficult conditions ( micro seconds of reaction time). Truth is it’s all based on experience and preference.

“A three legged dog can be just as happy as a four legged dog grasshopper.”