65/66 QUESTION: i've heard that it's possible to graft an original shifter handle to a Hurst linkage.
has anyone done this? pros and cons (other than it's not factory)?
thanks,
alan
alan,
Yes, it is possible, and I have made two of them. I made this one for my 1966 Shelby and the other one was requested by a famous R-Model owner who installed and vintage raced his car with it.
I had gotten that idea myself back in the early 1980's when I had somehow talked myself into believing that the factory shifters were "inferior" and that a Hurst Competition Plus shifter must be better. I was already a big fan of the factory Hurst shifter in my 1970 Boss 302, and wanted to duplicate that solid, precise feeling of adjustable stops in my Shelby. And in a word - it was
AWESOME! Talk about the best of both worlds, this is it. No one could ever tell that it was installed because the angle/height/function was exact as factory. I even retained the spring for the reverse lock out handle so it even
felt perfectly authentic! I was so proud of it that I always pointed it out to people because they had no idea what was going on under the boot.
But truth be told, I "matured" (got older) and looked at the factory shifters in a new light. Like Jim Cowles told me, "They won 3 National Championships with those shifters in the R- Models. They're excellent." That, and I wanted the full "retro" experience with a factory shifter when I got my car out of long-term storage. So I removed the shifter shown in this photo and reinstalled a perfectly sorted factory piece that Jim & I rebuilt. And I love it, he was right.
Back then, I was a machinist and had access to some exceptional welders. I made a fixture with locating rods and adjusting screws to mount the two shifters right next to each other so that the height and angle of the handles could be aligned perfectly. Then I did my measuring, cutting, bevel grinding, mocking up, fixture checking, tacking and eventually welding. I sent my handle out for rechroming, but that might not even be necessary. If the heat discoloration stays below the boot, you may never see it. You just have to be willing to sacrifice a brand new Competition Plus and a stock shifter handle.
So this shifter is now sitting in a wax papered box and I will probably never use it. To me, it's a unique part of my cars history, but it's not doing anybody any good in there.
Thinking . . .
Kieth