# Shifter conversion



## justinmm85 (Jan 6, 2012)

So I am having another issue. My father in law and I are converting his 68 GTO from a column shift bench seat to a his/her console shift buckets seat car. We are got the brackets for the seats and the console. He purchased the shifter from ebay with the cable and the "Z" shaped bracket that mounts to the tranny.
The problem is when we hook the cable to the tranny bracket and go to put it in "P" it wont go all the way forward and when shifting to 1st(low) it wont actually go into the lowest gear. On the shifter itself it will look like it is but it is actually in the 2nd gear on the tranny. We are thinking the shifter he got from ebay is the wrong one because the top plate has 3 holes to screw the plate on and also the cable is 29 3/4 inches long. Now according to the OPGI parts catalog the 29 3/4 inch cable came on the 66-67 cars and the 66-72 came with 31 3/4 inch long cable. It doesn't seem like the cable length is the issue. Almost the shift point of the shifter itself. Also what was interesting is in his 1968 repair manual it shows the shifter he has as a "firebird" model. It has the 3 crews on top. here is the shifter.





































can anyone take a look at those and tell me if it looks right for a 1968 GTO and also is there something needed we are missing to complete the conversion? Oh and it is the TH400.


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## Rukee (Feb 8, 2007)

Could you maybe use a shorter lever on the tranny to make it go far enough?


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## justinmm85 (Jan 6, 2012)

That's kin of what we were wondering. Didn't know if they made a shorter one or if the longer 31 3/4 inch cable was what is needed.


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## BearGFR (Aug 25, 2008)

Rukee said:


> Could you maybe use a shorter lever on the tranny to make it go far enough?


:agree or maybe modify the one you have so that the cable attachment point is "closer" to the centerline of the tranny shaft. If you get really creative you could perhaps make the attachment point distance adjustable so you can fine tune it.

Changing just the length of the cable won't change anything.

Bear


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## pontiac (Mar 6, 2011)

the critical part is where you mount the shifter since the cable has no adjustment provision. Position the shifter to the floor where it will be in park. Then try the other gear selection then. Low is always an issue. Too bad, the bench shift car is a rarity.


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## justinmm85 (Jan 6, 2012)

Well the bracket on the tranny pan is what keeps the cable where it's at. The shifter itself should be able to mount upside down if we wanted and still function since the travel of the cable is determined by the outside plastic shaft of the cable. we are just wondering what a stock dual gate GTO is equipped with. We have everything the book says we need except longer cable. Just also do not know the actual length of bracket for a 68 GTO on the side of the tranny.


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## justinmm85 (Jan 6, 2012)

pontiac said:


> the critical part is where you mount the shifter since the cable has no adjustment provision. Position the shifter to the floor where it will be in park. Then try the other gear selection then. Low is always an issue. Too bad, the bench shift car is a rarity.


As far as the bench being a rarity I really don't know. Not sure if being a rarity is a good thing really in this case. We are however keeping all the original stuff just in case we want it original again one day. My father in law is in his 60's and has had the car for many many years and just simply wants to enjoy the poncho 400 a little more and also wanted the feel of a bucket seat and not slide around on a bench anymore. It's an original all number matching. AC still blows ice. Cool car. Wish my 78 Trans Am 400 4speed was in the same condition. 

Thanks for the info guys.


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## BearGFR (Aug 25, 2008)

What I got from your original post was that moving the shifter as far as it will go into P doesn't move the transmission range selector far enough to engage park, and likewise, moving the shifter as far as it will go back into L doesn't move the range selector far enough to engage low range on the transmission. - It's a "length of travel" problem, not an adjustment problem. If that's the case - then putting a cable on it long enough to loop around the whole car a couple of times, or mounting the shifter on the back bumper --- isn't going to change anything  

What you need is for the maximum range of motion on the shifter end to produce the needed range of motion on the transmission end to engage both park and low. You've got two options to fix it: 
1) Move the attachment point of the cable on the trans bracket "closer" to the centerline of the selector pivot point, either by using a bracket with a shorter arm or modifying the one you have. Moving the end of the cable closer to the pivot point will cause the cable movement you're getting to rotate the selector "more".
2) Move the attachment point of the cable on the shift lever "farther" away from the shift lever pivot point (or use a shifter lever that has a longer "tail" on it where the cable attaches). This will result in the shifter moving the end of the cable "more" when the lever is moved from P to L.

One or the other (or a combination of both) of those is what's going to be needed, if I'm understanding your problem correctly.

Bear


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## Rukee (Feb 8, 2007)

:agree, that's what I read into it too.
Does the shifter move far enough with the tranny disconnected?? If so, then a new cable will not fix it. If it doesn't, then possibly the longer cable allows more movement?(like the short cable has 2" of travel and the longer one has 2.5" or something?)


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## OrbitOrange (Jul 5, 2010)

Not to take away from the OP issue, only to add and maybe help each other.

I got the same problem with an aftermarket hurst dual gate shifter. I even called and ordered the correct cable and trans bracket from summit. Mine will go into park but not 1st. If I adjust to go into 1st then it will not go into park. I even tried putting it into N and then adjust the cable per the instructions on the pdf. file I found online.


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