Howdy!

I have a B&M ratchet shifter to run the 727 in my ‘54 pickup. The whole firewall and floor are in the process of being re-created now due to rust issues and stuffing a 512 stroker 8” through the firewall, so it is a clean sheet of paper design situation.

I mocked up the stock bench seat and new column in the truck to see where the shifter wants to go and it is comfy and has room to shift without punching the dash with the plastic console box section almost butted up to the bench seat. Y’know- the part that normally gets an arch trimmed into it so it can sit on the tunnel in a musclecar?

So now I am trying to figure out how to mount it. I am torn between hanging it on a pedistal and letting the cable show on it’s way out to under the floor, or boxing in the whole area like a console that’s open on the bottom or possibly even has storage or a cupholder?

Who’s got ideas or pics or any helpful or even stupid snarky comments? I’m totally open to any suggestions.

Thanks!

I would mount it so it is easy to reach and shift with, the only person you need to make happy is yourself

Ok here goes.....I would bring that shifter to the next swap meet and off it to someone else. I Hate those things but that's me. anyway I might go with a column shift or a locar floor shift for you truck. im not a big fan of locar anything but I did do a swap in a coustomers early chev pup that had a v8 auto trans conversion whith a ratchet shifter. it sucked. the locar looked and worked MUCH better. or if your crafty how about a slap stick shifter on the dash?. Good luck with it whatever ever you do.

I had one of those in 1983, I couldn't stand it.

I'd look at a '65-'66 A-body floor shifter with the mini-console, or A-100/D100 dash shifter for the floor, or a steering column setup, unless you're gonna race it and need to shift manually.
I'd want to make the tunnel removable for easier floor-shift fabbing & also servicing.
Not much room in early truck cabs.

I myself would build a custom console that sweeps down off of the dash to the seat and mount the shifter into that.

Thanks for the replies.

I’m surprised there’s no love for the ratchet shifters on here? I sat scratching my head for awhile and realized that it wasn’t going to build itself and my time when I can make noise and sparks is limited each week so I just started going after it and letting the metal tell me what it wanted.

First I made a mounting plate out of 3/16” so it could be a stressed member and participate in the floor frame keeping my cab square. I had X braced the cab when I cut out the entire soggy floor months ago, then built a tube floor frame that tied into the rockers and A & B pillars. The body mounts are plates on that frame and when I chucked the motor and trans in there I chopped the floor frame out to make room so the body mounts were all that were keeping my cab square in the meantime.

I mocked up the bench and tacked on some 3rd and 4th hand brackets/stands so I could float the shifter plate above the trans and measure to make it a stressed member of the floor/tunnel frame crossmembers. Overkill I know. I re-connected the rear floor frame with a driveshaft loop and a mini tunnel over the middle bar.

Now I’m in the process of making a skeleton out of 1/4” round bar that will get plated out with facets of 16g- kind of a shortcut to making a complicated shape that won’t waste any legroom.

I’m surprised there isn’t more love for the ratchet shifters? I have a hurst promatic II in my swinger that is super fun to drive or easy to leave in D. This one is strictly a stoplight brawler- no ratchet downshifting just detent action or ratchet slapping up from 1. It was cheap though and I figured it would compliment my tf2 kit when I wanted to have a little fun. I didn’t feel like making a mechanical linkage from a dakota column shoved through a handmade firewall with 8” motor setback and the floor detent shifters seem dangerous with so much leverage and no lockout especially since I ride my kid to the park in the truck on sundays.

Here’s pics of the process and mockup so far.

And a first mock up of the go and whoah pedals- barefoot joe dirt pedal is just for laughs but might stay if I get lazy enough or if enough people hate it

One more shot of the office when I was mocking up the new dash but before the column was done getting shaved

Another view of the shifter location

Ok so why did you ask if you were going to use the rachet shifter anyway? and I think the bare foot gas peddle should absolutely stay.

Yella read his first post. He asked about mounting it not whether or not to use it.

I’ll give that ratchet shifter a big thumbs up! I love em. I put the Hurst Pro Matic 2 in my Superbee. It’s great. Your frame looks excellent! Keep those cables under sheet metal! I think the key to installing an aftermarket shifter is to put extra support under the mounting brackets to give it a nice, firm, level feel. Most guys just drill their tunnel and bolt it down. That base plate will work fantastic.

Is that a recovered factory seat, or something else?

I've got a 56 and that's been a hold up for me is finding a seat that fits and looks good. Those cabs are VERY small!

Jeff

if you think the 50's trucks are small inside, try on the 30's trucks for size. then chop, channel, & lower some. good thing i have a tilt/telescope column, removable wheel, and a cage to help my fat azz in and out.