is there a better shifter ?

is there a better shifter than Hurst/B&M ?
or at least a affordable option with rear exit cable ?
driving to work this morning feels like cable has stretched or gone out of adjustment and wont pull into 3rd .Again . And yes the cable is shielded etc
is going back to stock column shift the answer ? I have a griner RMVB
thoughts ?

Tex

Tex, Winters Performance has a rear entry gate style shifter for about $220. Summit says the housing/boot is not included so that means additional $$. From there they go up, way up. Even my PPP still uses a B&M cable but it "should" last longer just being away from the heat.

PPP is the best stuff out there and can be made the way you wan it.

thanks guys
any thoughts on the TA Cheetah ?

Tex

The Cheetah cable exits the front of the shifter and loops around on the passenger side of the trans and back under the tail housing and attaches to the trans lever from the rear. It is not a ratchet shifter. It is gated and I have shifted 1-3 several times until I focused on what I was doing. Now, it shifts great and smooth. They have forward and reverse gates.

www.turboaction.com

DusterW2 ,
I see what you mean . a little awkward .
Just talked to Brad @ PPP , will see what pricing and shipping is . He suggested a push pattern to help with the trigger , made sense . Anyone try this ?

Tex

PPP is the best..........hands down

I never had cable issues with the Cheetah..... however on about the third hit on our W8 combo, of wondering what the L was going on, the shifter was making the 1-2 shift when I'd release the trans brake on it's own. Also had our fair share of going from 1 to 3. It actually improved greatly when I ordered a different gate for it when I went to my clean N valve body...... but I sold it last week as I've had a used PPP that Al made me buy.

Dixie shifter..anyone ever use one of these? they are very nice besides the handle.its electric and can shift each gear at different rpm when running a three speed.had mine 20 years never missed a shift..

I have a PPP and love it, with griner rmvb pull back to up shift.

x100

I LOVE my $200 B&M ProRatchet, first thing I do is sell the 5' cable and buy a 4' cable and a 3' section of heat sleeve, no problems on a big block A-body and it's impossible to miss a shift like you can easily do on the Cheetah and Winters type shifters.

I'd like a PPP shifter just for the rear cable exit but can't justify the price for my street cruiser.

Exactly what he said. Good shifter for the money but the standard plate for the reverse shifter can make you shoot streight to high gear. I guess they make a dummy proof plate for that but that would be too easy
My next shifter will be a PPP

VC360 ,
will you be at Mopar Sunday ? if so I will have a look at your setup .
the only worry I have with a PPP is room as I use a bench seat - have not seen 1 with this and not sure of how much room it needs


Tex

Tex, sorry I won't be there this year.
Looks tight with the bench but they are compact.
I will measure the length and width of the bracket and let you know.
Shifter is 240mm overall where the top bolts are. 190mm at the bottom. Overall height of the shifter without bracket is 250mm to top of handle with bracket is 310mm.
The cable extends out around 200mm before it bends 180degrees.
You could make extended height brackets for it easy enough.

thanks VC360,
that's great . how high off floor is the cable?
shame you will miss the day but oh well it happens
I do like how Willowbank is good to 10.50 for me woohoo

Tex

Around 100 off floor.
Yes went last year but did not have happy day. Water pump packed it in.
Long way for me for a single day. Usually there is a t&t on the sat night before which makes it good but not last year.

Thanks again VC360
I hear you on travel ,closer for me but still best part of 11 hrs drive . Yes there is a t&t the night before , plan on running it with a couple of mates
Hope all issues are done - broke t bar last month , front band strut yesterday , now dealing with shifter adjustment . Feel like i must have killed a chinaman .

Tex

like some others i've experianced 1-3rd shifts with my TA shifter, but it was my fault being too over excited in the heat of racing. i got over that when i did some training. now that i run a clean Neutral brake the shifter is almost imposible to stuff up. oh & before someone thinks there's something wrong with my set up, my Dart is Right Hand Drive & thats a trans line pressure guage youre looking at.

I too have shifted past 2nd with a Cheetah but it is because of our body's geometry and "hanging on" to it through the shifts. I simply scewed the shifter to the right a little to better work with the direction my arm naturally pulls makes the gates more of a V than an L. It solved the trouble completely

My T/A shifter must be close to 25 years old. Love it!

You can swing the cable to a rear entry by pulling a couple of bolts out and swing the assembly around.

I like that you can get a morse cable anywhere (usually a boat shop) in different lengths, if you need a replacement.

Love my B&M Pro Ratchet... wish I would have bought another
over the B&M Quicksilver... I wouldnt ever put a PPP in my car..
they look like crap... I could build that in my shop.... what
does it use to go from the shifter to the trans.... a cable

Of course they use a cable..........but so do most of the factory shifters and you wouldn't use that in a race car. A GOOD shifter is about the quality of the cable and how precise and repeatable the detents are in the mechanisms. Like the looks of the PPP or not, they are one of the most precisely machined shifters on the market. Couple that with a quality cable and correct adjustment and they are pretty much foolproof. Most shifters come with a very cheap cable that is prone to stretch.

Too many other shifters don't have positive detents and the shifter can be "in between". The detents on the PPP shifter is like a road map and has a positive stop at every location, it just doesn't slide in a gate and hit a stop. Very positive. Most ratchets can be caught "in between" as well when they get a little wear on the mechanism or if you don't pull it hard enough.

I tend to be a little more about function and weight, than "pretty", but have to admit I think the PPP is one of the best looking shifters out there as well as very light and well made.

I have NEVER.... repeat... NEVER missed a shift with the pro
ratchet... and like most other shifters it also uses a cable..
you can buy the skinny one or the heavy duty one... and I dont
even call the pro ratchet the prettiest either.. but it doesnt
fail... a slight touch of a finger or two and its done.. I'm
not a fan of a gate shifter.... but to each his own

I have a Winters/JVX in my Dart, the cable exits the shifter in the front and enters from the back of the trans. I have a reverse valve body but use a forward gate. I have to push the shifter over and back for the 2-3 shift, less chance of a 1-3 shift. Not the beast by any means but works for me.

Thanks for all input . I am fitting a proratchet this week for a customer , t400 , will try that Mrpeabody .
I will also try a mates 1/4 stick . I think a couple of guys i race against have ppp shifters will check them out

Tex

no....... you can't.

I run the B&M Pro rachet as well however twice I had it go from first to third. After the second time it cost me a round of racing I tig welded positve stop on it in the pull direction "trans brake RMVB" and it's been trouble free since, even after installing CO2 shifter. Just can't see the $$ for the PPP JMO.

That's the first I've ever heard of a ProRatchet missing a gear, I didn't think it was even possible unless something in their is broken. I run a cheetah rmvb.

PPP

Accept no substitutes

Cable exit can be front or rear

hust quarter stick here put it in the car in 1984 still works perfect probably have 20000 + shifts on it !!! LOL

T/A Cheetah here for close to thirty years still have the original cable, 0 problems

I'm sure a lot of people will laugh at this, but I use my factory ( I don't use no stinking cable ) solid linkage shifter. I fortunately have the room to do this in my car. . I upgraded the pivot bushings so it is very positive and repeatable every shift. Only drawback to it is you can go from 1 to 3 if you are over zealous ( I have done it a few times ). Even incorporated the gear selector panel ( lit for night racing ) in my aluminum box cover.

Never been a fan of gated shifters myself and love the simplicity and design of the Hurst Pro-Matic-2 shifter and have been runnin mine since the early 90`s and have replaced one cable and detent spring......

That's funny Thump. I had the same cheap azz shifter in the Mirada and it also worked great.... So good we bought another for the Duster and that thing was a miserable pos that we could never get properly adjusted.

I always liked the Cheetah but I always run the Forward VB style gate whether I'm running a FVB or RVB; When you use a reverse VB you can slap back on the 1-2 as hard as you want and then for the 2-3 it's just slightly toward you and back again. With a 3 speed the 1-2 is always the harder and more critical shift to execute, the 2-3 has never been an issue to hit quick. Never worried about missing a shift but I could see that the RVB gate could have that tendency if you get a little over-anxious so I like the hard stop (no-miss) detent pulling back on the 1-2 and never minded easing it over for the 2-3 for the peace of mind. and on a FVB the cheetah kicks it over for you for the 2-3. The only thing that ever vexes me is initially which car I'm in (I have a FVB and a RVB car...both with Cheetahs)


I guess I never liked in-line or ratchets because it just doesn't feel natural to me....I went straight from years and years of 4 speeds to a Cheetah, so it's all what you're used to I guess.

First I`ve heard of that but maybe they too use over-seas crap parts these dayz.........

My Vote goes to PPP. I put one in my car and love it..

http://precisionperformance.com/kwik1.htm

Made in US and good stuff. A coulpe of the street outlaw guys even have them.lol

Thumper ,
I run the Pro Matic II shifter,since 2007/8, and that is my biggest bugbear , inability to get good/correct adjustment and whenever I pull the pan the adjustment goes out
I do like the PPP but after mocking up off VC360's dimensions that will not fit with the bench seat . [censored]
Fitted a Hurst 1/4 stick in a friends Roadrunner , with buckets , about 15 years ago been fine never even melted a cable .
A mate has a 1/4 stick in his 65 Belvedere , mounted on a raised bracket , has bench seat , seems ok I have replaced 1 cable but with better shielding seems fine .
Just fitted a ProRatchet yesterday in a Holden ute with T400 - wow that is a sweet feeling shift .After I race this weekend , Mopar Sunday , I may have to look at 1 and just make a raised bracket to clear the bench seat .
I would like to keep my Hurst T handle with line lock button , so a ratchet seems the go.
thanks

Tex

Wize ,
thanks for the insight that makes a lot of sense .uess like many others I want to avoid that missed shift that the reverse gate may promote

Tex

Hurst Pistol Grip Quarter Stick here.

I Wrapped the cable with a heat resistant insulation and bent the trans bracket a little to clear the header and starter.

So far lots of street miles this Spring and it works perfectly!

It takes some getting used to as 1-2 is a normal shift and 2-3 requires you to pull the trigger. Release the trigger after 2-3 shift and it goes easily into neutral. It's almost impossible to miss a shift!

I have a TA Fwd pattern manual VB.

I have seen several ratchet type shifters miss a shift. About the first ones were the B&M "Quick Click" but they all still seem to be made about the same. The detents never seem to be just exactly right, no matter how long the lever, or how many holes you put in it. That tells me the detents are not consistent, because you SHOULD be able to find a ratio that works.

Love my PPP.

Tex

I believe you, all racing parts have their glitches, but I've installed new Pro-Ratchets in many cars over the years and they have all been flawless, easy to adjust and never work on them again. I've always raced with one and now I drive my street Duster every day and wouldn't want any other shifter in that car, I love the ratchet action, easing a gate plate isn't for me at all but as Streetwise said, it's all about what you're used to using.

One shifter I'd love to have just for looks is the TCI Outlaw, I think that thing looks awesome! But for the price they want, you may as well buy a PPP shifter.

Just an update . I bougjt and fitted a B&M proratchet . Wow what a difference over the promatic 2 .
I did look at the PPP but with a bench seat and mocking one up there did not look like there was going to be enough room .
Will be racing at the local nostalgia meet this weekend so i will see how it goes .
I did make a 2 1/2 " extension for the shifter arm to get up above the bench

Tex

Tex since I use a 1970 year 727 in my 63 I went with the B&M Pro Stick shifter as its not alot of money and works great for me as I really like it. Its simple to race and drive with and I have had this same shifter and cable in my 63 since 2006 when I put it on the road. And I have never had to readjust the shifter cable. Of course the push buttons are still in my car and will never come out but I dont use them right now. I hope I can get them to work with my 1970 year 727 one day. But I have no complaints using the B&M Pro Stick as I do like it. Ron

I knew you'd like it!

Been using the Pro Ratchet for 15yrs and its worked flawless. No going from 1st to 3rd with this shifter.

I'm a Pro Ratchet lover. I really don't think it could skip a gear if it was hit by a semi truck but....

Just fitted a PPP - love the way it works !

Ron,
you know I like your car and set up ! But with a bench seat you have to raise the shifter up , no problem , plus I use a Hurst T handle with lineloc button . That I think would be a problem . I have used the 1/4 stick style shifter in friends cars and was happy with it .

Tex