1967 Galaxie 500 Project, aka Jules

[datsunfreak]

On 12/9/2022 at 8:35 PM, Lockleaf said:

Is that wrinkle paint? 

 

Yes sir. Pretty much everything isnide the car will be wrinkle black, carbon fiber, or suede. With some visible stainless attachment hardware in the mix.

 

 

On 12/9/2022 at 8:35 PM, Lockleaf said:

I've never thought of reusing/abusing an aftermarket short shifter like that.

 

Me neither! Until now. 😁

[datsunfreak]

On 12/9/2022 at 8:35 PM, Lockleaf said:

Is that wrinkle paint?  

 

And I thought this would disguise the welds best. 👌

[dimlight65]

7 hours ago, datsunfreak said:

 

And I thought this would disguise the welds best. 👌

I want to be offended... but, yeah.  That's fair.

[datsunfreak]

14 hours ago, dimlight65 said:

I want to be offended... but, yeah.  That's fair.

 

To be clear, I was not bad mouthing the welds at all. They came out good. I did this because I wanted it to look like it's one piece and not welded at all. 

[datsunfreak]

On 12/3/2022 at 6:45 PM, datsunfreak said:

Made a thing to attach the shifter end of the rod (still need to trim it a bit more)...

 

 

 

 

 

Made a new one of these to drop the attachment point of the rod down 1" to see how it shifted after that. By the time I got it in the car it was too dark for pics, so you'll see it on Saturday. 

 

It definitely shifts much better now. Effort decreased a bunch, with only a minimal increase in throw. I need to disassemble it and grease everything to be 100% sure this is where it stays, since I don't know how much of the "effort" is because everything is metal to metal. But it theory, the effort only gets lower from here.

[datsunfreak]

Shot of the new tab...

 

 

 

 

Whole set-up, after a liberal coating of lube on all the contact points...

 

 

 

 

If you follow my thread on Tim's van, you'll recognize the "miso soup" knob we used...

 

 

 

Shifts like butter now. Throws are a good distance, effort isn't too high, and I am all around satisfied with where it is now. At least enough to move forward and start on the next thing that needs doing...

 

Will probably get cracking on finishing the trans mount, and test fitting the driveshaft. Once that is done, it will probably go back on the ground so we can start running the wiring harness. 

[Duncan]

When I first got the wagon from Australia, it had a shifter that was cut down to about 3"-4" inches in length.  It was terrible to operate because it shifted so hard.

 

I put a stock one back in, and although it had a bit of a long throw to it, it was butta.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[datsunfreak]

2 hours ago, Duncan said:

When I first got the wagon from Australia, it had a shifter that was cut down to about 3"-4" inches in length. 

 

Yeah, Tim loves those short ones. I always prefer the stock one. Like you said, long throw but super nice to operate. 👍

 

This is definitely more effort than a regular Datsun shifter, but similar to a KA/SR, and fairly comparable to the stock Ford truck shifter.

 

The side-to-side gates are very short, though. That's going to take the most getting used to...

[EDM620]

Buddy had a late 60's early 70s Volvo sedan - talk about long throws! Shifts were like taking the cig lighter and putting it in the back seat, then putting it in the glove box, and finally throwing all the way into the back seat. Crazy!

[KELMO]

Got a F250 like that. Was a 3 on the tree and Dad changed it to 3 on the floor.

[datsunfreak]

20 minutes ago, KELMO said:

Dad changed it to 3 on the floor.

 

Those are the WORST. Only thing slower than shifting a three on the tree is shifting one converted to a floor shift.

 

I had a '78 Dodge pickup that the PO had converted. Had to keep a pry bar under the seat for the once a week I had to crawl under it and unstick the mechanism. 🙄

[KELMO]

1 hour ago, datsunfreak said:

 

Those are the WORST. Only thing slower than shifting a three on the tree is shifting one converted to a floor shift.

 

I had a '78 Dodge pickup that the PO had converted. Had to keep a pry bar under the seat for the once a week I had to crawl under it and unstick the mechanism. 🙄

^^^^This.

 

Also think my dad changed it over because of the one too many times shifting from 1st to 2nd and ending up with the shift lever in his hand and no longer attached to the column.

I learned how to drive in that truck when the shifter was still on the tree. That truck also had Armstrong Power Steering. Quite the workout for a kid that weighed about a buck ten soaking wet.

[EDM620]

No doubt the clutch pedal effort was heavy too!

[Duncan]

I have owned three of those early Ford vans. 2 of them were 3 on the tree.  Sometime in '63, the transmission factory temporarily shut down, and they actually put these really large 4 speeds in the vans.  And yes, it was a 4 speed column shift.  The first was not a granny gear, but it seemed like I was constantly shifting that thing. 

 

You just haven't lived until you have a 4 on the tree...

 

 

[datsunfreak]

1 hour ago, Duncan said:

You just haven't lived until you have a 4 on the tree...

 

I have only ever driven (or even seen) one "4 on the tree", and it was a '69 Bluebird 1300DX.  😄

[datzenmike]

F4W63 above uses shift rods that run lengthwise and are operated by the floor shift at the rear.

 

The R4W63 makes use of the two round projections in the above picture. (R is for remote shifter) One is directly below the fill bung. They are not used by any 4 speed sent here, but if a column shift, (4 in the tree) these would contain longitudinal shift rods with the shift levers on the right side to reflect the RHD use. It's possible and even likely that a LHD column shift was available and the shift levers moved to the left side.

 

The 620 (probably in Japan, maybe elsewhere in the world) did get the R4W63. They must have had very small engines as the ratios are insanely wide. Ours has a 3.657 first gear. Those with the R4W63 could be 4.243 or even 5.000!!!!! and 4.625 or 4.875 differential.  

[datsunfreak]

18 hours ago, datzenmike said:

if a column shift, (4 in the tree) these would contain longitudinal shift rods with the shift levers on the right side to reflect the RHD use. It's possible and even likely that a LHD column shift was available and the shift levers moved to the left side.

 

The one I drove was RHD, but I have heard from guys on the Realm that Canada got column shifted 3 speeds in '68. 

[Goemon]

1978 My buddy Mark's first car, we were 16.
Me on the ground

[datsunfreak]

6 hours ago, Goemon said:

1978 My buddy Mark's first car, we were 16.
Me on the ground

 

 

Looks like a 390 car too! That is cool. 😁👍

[datsunfreak]

Tim has had one of these billet Hurst pistol grip shifters kicking around forever, so I decided to try it on the car...

 

 

 

...and it is PERFECT.  😄

 

Not 100% sold on the look of it yet (will post a pic Saturday), but the ergonomics of it are flawless. I really just wanted to see what the shift feel was like with a taller shifter, but after rowing it through the gears like this, I kinda fell in love with it... 💗

 

 

Edited December 29, 2022 by datsunfreak

[datsunfreak]

On 12/29/2022 at 7:27 AM, datsunfreak said:

Not 100% sold on the look of it yet (will post a pic Saturday)

 

 

 

Got tired of the only thing in the whole car that was blue still being blue...

 

 

 

While it was apart, I tried a different knob on Tim's behest...

 

 

 

Also put some wrinkle on the base, and popped in the cup holder...

 

 

 

 

And how it all looks now...

 

 

 

May make one more change before it's "done". Been reconsidering if we should lengthen the push rod a bit so it can attach closer to the shifter base. We have some up and down movement in the push rod we would like to dial out, and moving that pivot is the only obvious solution. 

[67galaxie500]

Yes, the pushrod looks like it is not parallel to the trans (recognizing that the perspective may be skewed in the pic). If so, I can see how this would introduce some unneeded and potentially problematic movement.

 

I assume the Heim joints aren't allowing too much lateral movement.

 

I'm thinking of moving to a manual trans on my 67 Galaxie. Might have to gin up something like this.

[EDM620]

I kinda like the look of the Hurst knob better, but how it feels is important when you are grabbing gears

[datsunfreak]

1 hour ago, EDM620 said:

I kinda like the look of the Hurst knob better, but how it feels is important when you are grabbing gears

 

The Hurst knob actually feels a wee bit better, just not sure if I like the gestalt/vibe of it or not...

[datzenmike]

I had deluxe interior with carpeting

 

Had a Hurst T handle on my new '70 Dart. (everybody had them because hey, better grip right?) I tried and tried to work with it but when street racing it hurt the hand and the added mass slowed the shift. In the summer the sun would make it so frigging hot you couldn't touch it. I gave it away and went back to the plastic 'wooden' ball. The ball in the palm of your hand is like a heim joint or ball and socket and totally ergonomic.