E Body 4 speed shifter

Howdy,

I have a friend in town that is wanting to convert his originally equipped a230 3 speed 70 Challenger to a four speed. I have lots of A/B body Hurst shifter parts. Will the shifter mechanism swap over? I figured the mount, rods/levers and shift rods would be different.

Normally I would just order a complete setup however this fellow is retired and on a budget so I want to help him out using parts from the attic as much as possible.

I am a HUGE fan of the A-230, I would leave it alone & be happy with it myself.

The mechanism for the 4-speed has an extra arm for reverse, so it will not swap anyway.

Just a question, does the three-speed use the piston grip handle or the round ball?

Round ball.

It has a round stick with a black ball. I will have hime shoot me a pic to share.

Thanks! I didn't know the '70 three speeds used the Inland box. I learned something this morning.

None of the parts for the 3 speed will swap except the flywheel/clutch, Driveshaft and clutch linkage.
If the bellhousing has the dual bolt patterns then you can use it. My slant six housing did not, but I am pretty sure the V8 bellhousings are all dual pattern.

Shifter, shift linkage are different.

You can get a shifter from a later model truck and change the rods & Handle. Late model transmissions may not have the rear mount holes drilled in the extension housing of the transmission but the shifter will fit.

I think the plate that bolts between the shifter and the transmission extension will have to come from an E body or a 71 and later B body. The truck adapter will be too high I believe. Easy to fabricate from Thick aluminum plate.

As for the Piston grip on a 3 speed I did not try to make it work. The 3 speed has 3 vertical bolts holding the handle to the shifter. The 4 speed has 2 horizontal bolts. You may be able to make an adapter, cut and weld a plate to the bottom of the pistol grip or possibly combine parts of the 2 shifters to make it work. I just swapped a 4 speed into mine.

Brewers is a good place for the parts you may need or advice on what to get.

Wonder how hard it would be to convert a hurts 4 speed shifter mechanism to three speed use, so you can run a pistol grip. Probably have to remove the separate revers shift lever and make a spacer and/or blocker to keep the shift handle from wanting to go where R used to be when it was for a four speed.

a kid in high school did that on a chevy. [i can't recall the year or model]
just left off the reverse rod.
a blocker would be good to have, but i would have to study the mechanism to see if it could be feasible.
i can't say how a pistol grip 4spd shifter would bolt up, or work on, a 230 transmission.
there would more than likely need to be some trinkity work needed to make it mount and operate. i wouldn't think it wouldn't be anything major.
however, it might be a ton easier to just wack off a chunk of the pistol grip handle, then weld on a triangle shape with the appropriate sizes holes for the 3spd inland shifter, then just bolt it on and go.

You could use a 71-74 B body shifter and plate if you don't have an E body unit. I have used an earlier B shifter before on my E body extension but I made my own linkage from tubing and heim joints. It can be done on a budget and you probably have enough stuff in your stash to make it work.

Gus

Some BB bell housing have both patterns, some do not

All the stock OEM4 speed E bodies I've seen had the Hurst pistol grip shifters.
I remember a friend and fellow racer buying a Super Shifter 3 for his Challenger, I helped him install it, that was a pain and it didn't fit well : rant:

Years ago, I was looking at a Mustang II Cobra that someone did the opposite of, used a three speed shifter on a 4 speed, Just poked the reverse rod thru the shifter boot so you could engage it by hand, lol. I passed on that car.

You do have to enlarge the hole in the floor slightly but there is no better H-pattern shifter for the money than a Super Shifter 3. I have had a few of them and currently have one in my Savoy and it shifts like butter. I was at a 3 day bracket race about 25 years ago and went 31 passes without missing a single gear all with a Super Shifter

Gus

that was a "reverse lock out" shifter.

Is the 3 spd.in the Challenger behind a 383, if so it may have the large input shaft bearing like the HEMI 18 spline trans.

Interesting info. This car was a /6 3-speed and converted over to a 360 in the late 90's. It still wear the original fk5 paint job which is cool.

He said the bell has both patterns so we are good to go..I hope

The A and B body shifters are way different than the E body shifters which are mounted behind the trans crossmember, the shifter rods have to reach a lot longer forward than both the A and B body shifters do Those rods would bend and straighten up after hard shifting them for a while, a real pain to maintain
I'm sure they help Hurst come up with making the Ram Rod and Super Shifters

You have me thinking I should use the truck shifter with the appropriate adapter and build my rods like Gus mentuoned. That is probably the most economical way to make it happen.

Not sure if he will end up with a pistol grip shifter handle. They are stupid money and I don't know if there is budget for a $250+ shifter handle.