What a piece of #%^&^%^&& Hurst Pro Matic

Posted By: Hemi_Ram

What a piece of #%^&^%^&& Hurst Pro Matic - 05/30/13 03:47 AM

Took the 83 D150 for it's voyage run before I get the bodywork/paint done. It is a beast with the 512 I have in it; stays around 180 degrees on the road but builds up to 205 in traffic(may have to put a shroud or electric fan on it) My wife got scared when I nailed it from 55mph and it reached 95 in no time. The problem is the stupid promatic shifter (Mike already identified the problem with his truck) If you start out in 1st and shift through the gears it will reach 3rd but as you cruise it will go back in 2nd or feel like you have the brake on. I have adjusted it as per instructions but it appears that the arm on the tranny could be a little shorter. Has anyone had this problem and contacted Hurst for a resolution? If I had a column shift column I would go that route but I don't.

Posted By: old_goat

Re: What a piece of #%^&^%^&& Hurst Pro Matic - 05/30/13 04:00 AM

Are you sure your kickdown linkage or cable is adjusted properly?
Sounds like that could be the problem. If the shifter linkage is keeping thetrans in the proper position for drive, the kickdown is the problem.

Posted By: Hemi_Ram

Re: What a piece of #%^&^%^&& Hurst Pro Matic - 05/30/13 04:07 AM

Quote:

Are you sure your kickdown linkage or cable is adjusted properly?
Sounds like that could be the problem. If the shifter linkage is keeping thetrans in the proper position for drive, the kickdown is the problem.

Kickdown is good; I went underneath and when you put it in 3rd the lever is actually between 2nd and 3rd (when shifting from 1st to 3rd). but if you shift from park to 3rd it is ok. The geometry is off on the supplied arm. I am going to play with the adjustment of the cable a bit. Thanks for you input my friend.

Posted By: 340SHORTY

Re: What a piece of #%^&^%^&& Hurst Pro Matic - 05/30/13 08:56 AM

On my Mega shifter I had to have the trans in low and the shifter in the lowest 1st gear position to get the cable adjusted right..

Posted By: scratchnfotraction

Re: What a piece of #%^&^%^&& Hurst Pro Matic - 05/30/13 03:35 PM

Quote:

Took the 83 D150 for it's voyage run before I get the bodywork/paint done. It is a beast with the 512 I have in it; stays around 180 degrees on the road but builds up to 205 in traffic(may have to put a shroud or electric fan on it) My wife got scared when I nailed it from 55mph and it reached 95 in no time. The problem is the stupid promatic shifter (Mike already identified the problem with his truck) If you start out in 1st and shift through the gears it will reach 3rd but as you cruise it will go back in 2nd or feel like you have the brake on. I have adjusted it as per instructions but it appears that the arm on the tranny could be a little shorter. Has anyone had this problem and contacted Hurst for a resolution? If I had a column shift column I would go that route but I don't.

I had 3 others members tell me I was a dumb azz and it was me not adjusting it correctly.

I beg to differ.

I have the slop in my cable. and same thing with the lver only going 1/2 way into a gear.

I do have a couple dozen shft levers of all different lengths, I have not looked into that as a fix, I am tossing it in the trash and going back to the stock linkage like I have hotrodded with all my junk.

un do your cable while it is hooked to the trans lever, grab it and push pull on it but do not make it shft...does yours have that 1/4" or more play in the cable?

worst 200 bux I spent in a long while. I do not want to even try another shifter becuase of the hurst POS bad taste I have choking on it.

I have most of the stock shift linkage as a spare if you need something,I have all of mine ready as soon as I find a good colum.

all the mid 80 truck parts have vanished around my area.

went to the u-pull and none in there. every magnum engine/trans had been chop sawed right out of the trucks.

so no magnum stuff latly either...just when I need a set of mag heads.

Posted By: Hemi_Ram

Re: What a piece of #%^&^%^&& Hurst Pro Matic - 05/30/13 04:34 PM

Scratch, I wonder if there is a way to do away with the ratchet and the detents in this shifter and just have it shift directly using the tranny detents? After I get a few more bugs worked out I am going to tear into the shifter; who knows when it is all said and done it might be in the trash

Posted By: scratchnfotraction

Re: What a piece of #%^&^%^&& Hurst Pro Matic - 05/30/13 08:02 PM

mine has the cable un-hooked at the shifter with a pair of vise grips on the end of the cable.

I feel for the detents by hand and can do a fair job of shifting it..but I cant shift and fly the way I want too do to a junk shifter.

I remember the little ferd rustang II shifter I used in a doge one time..it sure worked better than what i got going right now,even with it shifting backwards.

Posted By: bboogieart

Re: What a piece of #%^&^%^&& Hurst Pro Matic - 05/30/13 09:07 PM

WoW
I am glad I read this. I was looking for an old Hurst Indymatic and can't seem to find one. Soooooooooooo, I was just looking at my old Mudslinger floor shifter and thinkin' Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

I wonder what the reach would be. It's a short little guy. Maybe I could use some kind of cable and mount buckets and a counsel. Sure would like to find an old Indy-Matic. I really like this bench seat too.
oh, I have a spare column in an 84 that I am about to get rid of. It's a column shift unit. I live in northern Wisc so shipping would be your consideration.

Posted By: stumpy

Re: What a piece of #%^&^%^&& Hurst Pro Matic - 05/30/13 09:45 PM

I've had three promatics and once they were adjusted correctly I never had any problems. I have one in my truck right now and it shifts perfectly.

Posted By: scratchnfotraction

Re: What a piece of #%^&^%^&& Hurst Pro Matic - 05/30/13 10:25 PM

well swing by and adjust mine up for me.

your truck still up for sell? bring it by and I will give you 3,999 cash and a hurst pro-matic shift slight cussed at.

Posted By: stumpy

Re: What a piece of #%^&^%^&& Hurst Pro Matic - 05/30/13 11:54 PM

Pay for the gas and I'll leave tommorrow.

Posted By: Hemi_Ram

Re: What a piece of #%^&^%^&& Hurst Pro Matic - 05/31/13 12:58 AM

Quote:

I've had three promatics and once they were adjusted correctly I never had any problems. I have one in my truck right now and it shifts perfectly.

stumpy, do you adjust yours as per instructions or differently. I adjusted mine as per instructions and it does not work properly. I am going to play with it before I change it out though.

Posted By: scratchnfotraction

Re: What a piece of #%^&^%^&& Hurst Pro Matic - 05/31/13 01:45 AM

looking at the multable arms and brackets that came with mine, it does have a shorter mopar arm,but it has a plastic bushing in it like the late modle mech linkage has, pops into the plastic bushing.

I assumed the little lug on the cable would not fit in it as it is a popit bushing and tthe older style used just the hole and rod.

I will dig it out and have another look at it.

i know the 1 I used had B&M stamped into it. and seems I have a lever on the stepside with mech linkage with the same B&M stamp.

I will dig out the stock levers and see how they compair to the hurst pieces.

yea stumpy..what lever did you use with yours? do you have slop in the cable?

Posted By: poorboy

Re: What a piece of #%^&^%^&& Hurst Pro Matic - 05/31/13 03:06 AM

That is the reason I make my own shifters and linkage. Might not look so pretty, but they work, usually after a lot of modifications.

Gene

Posted By: 340SHORTY

Re: What a piece of #%^&^%^&& Hurst Pro Matic - 05/31/13 03:24 AM

Quote:

That is the reason I make my own shifters and linkage. Might not look so pretty, but they work, usually after a lot of modifications. Gene

Pics are mandatory !!!

Posted By: stumpy

Re: What a piece of #%^&^%^&& Hurst Pro Matic - 05/31/13 03:41 AM

Cable has no slop. Are you sure you have the tang that anchors the cable housing to the shifter on the correct side of the floor bracket? It belongs on the inside of the bracket. I always adjust mine in neutral because park seems to have more movement and still works the NSS. I also use the mopar lever that comes with the shifter.

Posted By: Hemi_Ram

Re: What a piece of #%^&^%^&& Hurst Pro Matic - 05/31/13 08:44 PM

Quote:

Cable has no slop. Are you sure you have the tang that anchors the cable housing to the shifter on the correct side of the floor bracket? It belongs on the inside of the bracket. I always adjust mine in neutral because park seems to have more movement and still works the NSS. I also use the mopar lever that comes with the shifter.

stumpy, I went a head and adjusted mine in drive and checked it out in neutral too. It took 2 turns of adjustment to where it just slid in the lever. I am going to take the truck in for an alignment this afternoon so I will get back to this thread to report my results. Thanks all of you for your comments/suggestions

Posted By: Hemi_Ram

Re: What a piece of #%^&^%^&& Hurst Pro Matic - 06/01/13 12:46 AM

Quote:

Quote:

Cable has no slop. Are you sure you have the tang that anchors the cable housing to the shifter on the correct side of the floor bracket? It belongs on the inside of the bracket. I always adjust mine in neutral because park seems to have more movement and still works the NSS. I also use the mopar lever that comes with the shifter.

stumpy, I went a head and adjusted mine in drive and checked it out in neutral too. It took 2 turns of adjustment to where it just slid in the lever. I am going to take the truck in for an alignment this afternoon so I will get back to this thread to report my results. Thanks all of you for your comments/suggestions

Drove into town for the front end alignment and it is about the same story; unless you bang shift it, then it will go into 3rd. So thought I'd turn the adjustment 2 more turns but now it wont go into low all the way so I took one turn back out of it. In the garage if you shift with vigor all the gears are engaged fully. I still think the geometry of the supplied Hurst lever is wrong. If the pivot hole was a tad bit closer to the arm (shaft) center it would remedy this problem. I'll drive it a few more times to see if I can live with it or not.

Posted By: scratchnfotraction

Re: What a piece of #%^&^%^&& Hurst Pro Matic - 06/01/13 02:06 AM

mine came with a shorter arm that could fit on but it does not have the D-slot to aline it on the VB shaft.

maybe that could be clamped tight after the shifter cable is installed and both shifter and trans in N detent.

like I siad,i get to the point you are at. i can get it to either up shift correct and not down shift. or down shift correct but not up shift correctly.

if you seem to think a short arm moveing the cable end in closer to the trans case will work maybe I will swap the arm out on mine and try 1 more time.

Posted By: J_BODY

Re: What a piece of #%^&^%^&& Hurst Pro Matic - 06/01/13 02:55 AM

I had a Hurst Pro Matic II shifter in my Mirada for years. Worked great....so great we bought one for the Duster. That one was a nightmare. You could not get it adjusted correctly. Hurst sent us a new arm. Still didn't work. Compared the arm to the one in the Mirada....same. Problem was in the shifter mechanism somewhere. We ended up with a Turbo Action shifter which worked.

Posted By: Hemi_Ram

Re: What a piece of #%^&^%^&& Hurst Pro Matic - 06/01/13 03:11 AM

Quote:

mine came with a shorter arm that could fit on but it does not have the D-slot to aline it on the VB shaft.

maybe that could be clamped tight after the shifter cable is installed and both shifter and trans in N detent.

like I siad,i get to the point you are at. i can get it to either up shift correct and not down shift. or down shift correct but not up shift correctly.

if you seem to think a short arm moveing the cable end in closer to the trans case will work maybe I will swap the arm out on mine and try 1 more time.

Mike, it is quite frustrating to say the least; it should be a fool proof setup to perform as advertised, but not the case in our cases. I'll drive it tomorrow and see what happens; I am not looking for it to be OK on both ends.

Posted By: BulletBob

Re: What a piece of #%^&^%^&& Hurst Pro Matic - 06/01/13 04:02 AM

The shorter arm fits a Ford trans

Like Larry said on the adjustment is what I do on them & have for over 35 years now.
I have found this to be the only way to do an aftermarket shifter on anything.

Try flipping the lever over & adjusting this way sometimes the chinese hole is offset a little

Turbo Action is always perfect as is TCI
I've used in some of my rides Hurst Quarter Stick,B&M Pro-Ratchet & of course the Hurst stick like used in the SS A-Bodies

Posted By: stumpy

Re: What a piece of #%^&^%^&& Hurst Pro Matic - 06/01/13 04:29 AM

Promatics Mopar lever has the D shape. If the one you used doesn't then it's not the correct lever.

Posted By: Hemi_Ram

Re: What a piece of #%^&^%^&& Hurst Pro Matic - 06/01/13 05:48 PM

Quote:

Promatics Mopar lever has the D shape. If the one you used doesn't then it's not the correct lever.

stumpy, I have the "D" shaped hole lever and it is the supplied #27 dogleg lever. Here's a pix

Attached picture 7727330-DSC02854.JPG

Posted By: Hemi_Ram

Re: What a piece of #%^&^%^&& Hurst Pro Matic - 06/01/13 05:49 PM

another view

Attached picture 7727333-DSC02855.JPG

Posted By: stumpy

Re: What a piece of #%^&^%^&& Hurst Pro Matic - 06/01/13 10:29 PM

I was refering to Scratchns post. Sorrry for the confusion. But as I said earlier I always adjust mine for neutral.

Posted By: scratchnfotraction

Re: What a piece of #%^&^%^&& Hurst Pro Matic - 06/02/13 02:59 AM

Quote:

another view

I have mine droping down into the lever from the top,I see you have it sticking up thru the lever. but we both are getting the same results.

I am using the D-hole lever also,I mentioned the round hole lever thinking it could be clocked a little either way to make up for the slack.

it dod not work for me today,I put the D-hole lever back on and adjusted mine out in N again..same results

i can get it to shift one way but not the other, even slapping it rather hard against the shift gate/ratchet system.

yep,i am going back to mech linkage/colum shift. i have adjusted this crap shifter for the last time as of today. another hour I dont get back.

Posted By: Hemi_Ram

Re: What a piece of #%^&^%^&& Hurst Pro Matic - 06/02/13 04:42 AM

Mike, I'll let you know how the final adjustment works; I am not very positive on the results. Have a card with the shifter to the tech line and I am going to give them a call if this does not work.

Posted By: Hemi_Ram

Re: What a piece of #%^&^%^&& Hurst Pro Matic - 06/04/13 04:25 AM

Well, I went to get a bung welded in for a AFR probe today; the shifting is a bit better, but you have to bang shift it to ensure positive engagement. Not a positive feeling but I will live with it for a while until I find a better shifter or solution. On a positive note I visited my favorite muffler shop and Craig welded in a bung for my AFR probe and he mentioned that my 512 Stroker would be better suited for an A or B body car; I told him that the wow factor is a lot better when an old man like me is driving a POS truck and a Mustang is going to pass me and I get on the throttle and shut him down to the point he turns off and the next intersection. He agreed.