So this Duster project that I'm working on came with a Cheetah shifter with a 5 foot long cable that wraps around under the floor like a big snake. I pulled everything apart and it seems to me that I do not need that long cable. I can make a rod that connects the transmission to the shifter and just shift it that way. Or I could buy a short cable and run it in a straight line from the shifter to the trans.

Anyone do this before and have pictures? Seems to me that a nice straight connection is a much better design than having a big long cable coiled up in a circle laying on top of the transmission.

When I talked to the guy at Turbo Action, he said that all the shifters they sell come with the 5' cable. You can use whatever works for you. If you use a shorter cable you can re-use the bracket that was supplied with the shifter. The ratio can be the problem with using a rod. If the cable comes out of the front of the shifter it needs to go into the back of the trans. and vice versa. Know that TA uses a different thread and nut setup than most off the shelf morse cables.

With the seat moved back in the car the shifter will also be moved back. It looks to me that with where the shifter is located now I can run a solid rod from the shifter to the trans and make a much more direct connection than having a cable with a big loop in it.

The rod will need to have a slight S shape to it but that shouldn't be a big problem. It only takes a few pounds of force to move the shift lever on the trans so I think it will work. The factory shift rods ran all over the place and they seemed to work.

As long as u have positive detent, a rod will work fine.

a belcrank could be used to reverse direction if needed because of cable output on the shifter. it may take a little thought to engineer it, but nothing andy can't conquer.

The shifter already reverses the direction so no bellcrank is needed. On the shifter Park is full forward on the top which makes it all the way to the rear where the rod connects. On the transmission Park is all the way to the rear so it all lines up.

Looks to me like a solid rod will work just fine. I need to buy or make some rod ends and get them welded on a rod and give it a try.

andy, please take a couple of pics of your solution if possible.

One problem overlooked is engine-trans movement. Cable takes that completely out of the equation. The factory's system puts the trans rod level with the lever on the trans so when the engine "lifts or rotates" it still stays on plane. Now if you connected to an existing floor system and got the ratio right I'll be close but a whole lot of work. Just buy a longer morse cable from a boat shop, they can have them made to any length. They might have one in stock the size you need. You don't think these shifter company's made some special cable for their shifters do you? I like the old Winter type where the cable goes in back of trans to a bell crank that goes around to the trans lever
One other thing, the cable loops around on the floor then goes through the floor at the back to hook up to trans. Not on top of trans, the reason people have burned cables. A longer cable helps in that loop on the floor,less resistance. And the ends off the regular morse cables do fit the TA cables, I've done it, they have better ball ends.

My looped around cable worked flawlessly for 20 years.

I understand that point but I'm trying to do something different with the car. I'm using my own designs rather than existing parts where I can. I can't redesign everything so I have to pick my battles carefully. Using a shifter rod seems like a design trick that I can pull off.

I'm also toying with the idea of building my own shifter. I think I can use one handle from a Lenco and build my own gate mechanism. Then when somebody walks up to the car it will look like the car has a single speed Lenco in it.

I built my own, it was based off a cable but it wasn't that bad to build. My gate mechanism was similar to the winters design...a plate with notches. I only did it because a ton of the shifter designs kind of suck for downshifting...something I need to do a lot in my mud truck.

If I can cobble together something that works, you will be able to create a masterpiece.

Years ago I made a reverse mode shifter with my stock Duster column. Removed the detent and ground the slot level from drive to second. In reverse pattern this was 1-2, pull into low, feeling the detent on trans, laying my palm on the shifter lever, just push & down for 2 then pull & down for 3. Very easy to back to neutral. Simple and worked super, still have the column.

Here are a couple pictures of where I'm at. I used 1/2 inch thin wall tubing and bent an S curve in it to clear the transmission crossmember. I need to get the shifter mounted to the floor and then I can cut the rod to length and get it hooked up. Seems to me that it is going to work just fine and should be a very clean solution.

The Slapstick in the E-bodies were a great design.

I've been using the Hurst quarter stick with a cable after wrapping the cable with a heat resistant sleeve but would love rod shifted trans.

I've never taken a Slapstick apart but I might be able to look it up in a service manual. I think it was a similar design to what I'm building.

I think the rod design will work okay, just need to get the alignment in the ballpark. The factory used rods for throttle pressure as well as shifting on most everything. Lots of rods and bell cranks and other monkey motion in a column shifter!

that's what i thought you would end up with andy. as you said, a slapstick is very similar to what you are constructing. THANKS for the pics ! please do others when it comes time to attach to the shifter. i wonder how much geometry change you will need to line the detents up with each other ?

I'm sure it will work just fine Andy, will you have a motor plate? Reason I ask is my uncle would still have a mint 70rt challenger today......if he hadn't broken a stock motor mount in it with a slap stick, making a 1/4 pass, shifted itself into reverse at over 100. The result was a challenger half the length after going into the ditch backwards.

Take a file to some of the factory rods used here and there and you'll see they're hardened for strength. Just something to keep in mind. A replacement for the cable system on the Cheetah shifter might be a popular product. It might easily be adapted to other Brands, makes and models as well. They have the cable coming out the rear though, where it should be.

Yeah I might be able to sell a few "u fab it" kits for guys with Mopar race cars. Probably not many street guys want to do this since the shifter ends up on the floor behind the stock location. This works just fine for me since on the Duster I've moved the seat back so I wanted the shifter moved back also. We'll see once it is all done if it makes any sense to sell a kit. I can reproduce the bent tubing easy enough and the rod ends and all of that stuff is right off the shelf. The custom shifter mount is a little tricky to reproduce......