That's cool seeing that big ol' Merc stompin down the track, but I think he is loosing 1/2 second or more on the shifts. I never tried speedshifting a column shifter, apparently Brian wasen't either. Can it be done?
It can be done if you don't have any other choices. If you have a 54 Plymouth sitting around, check out the column shifter. You pull the shifter into first gear, push the lever forward into the two-three lane then jam the lever straight up for second. You're not gonna be going very fast in a 54 Ply-mouth, but I'm sure other shifters can be made to do the same thing. I redid my 53 Chevy back when I was in h.s. and it was almost, just about, very nearly, like a Hurst shifter. :laugh:
Cost me a few transmissions, but finally got pretty good at it on my old 50's Fords.... they were cheap back then ($10 in most Philadelphia junkyards).. finally put a "Sparkomatic" floorshift conversion in it. That really did the trick (until it wore out). Reversed the levers at the trans which flipped the shift pattern over. (1st and 3rd were forward, R & 2 were back). Not sure it did any good, but was more fun to drive.
I hate to admit it, but I think the GM shift linkage may have been stiffer than the FoMoCo stuff. Shifting my '57 is like pushing spaghetti.
It's easier to do with a full syncro trans. I have had several of those. The old non syncro slider first reverse gear in the '58 makes it difficult. It's big heavy and on a helix main shaft spline. Higher the speed, the harder the shift as it throws the gear just past neutral and locks out second till the speed drops. Frank had said "get out of first early". If you watch the second round I shifted quicker, but at the 60' mark! :laugh: Trouble is that's at 3000 rpm when the shift should be at 5800. :laugh: Hmmm, 14.01, 3000 rpm 1-2 shift........a real shift at 5800 is gonna be neat.
