Inliners International Forums General Discussion Hi Performance Shifter for my 53 Chevy?

I have a 1953 Chevy 210 Sedan. It has the 235 c.i. and the stock 3 speed trans. Does anyone know of a floor shifter I can use? I have a Mr. Gasket / Daytona shifter (#7666).
It says it is a universal floor shift kit, but the Mr. Gasket web site says it is for 55-86 Chevy. I have not seen a big difference in the photos of the trans in my 53 and the one in a 55. Can anyone tell me if this will work right? If not can you tell me why it will not work and what shifter will? Many thanks!

As far as I know, the transmissions are the same except for the open or closed driveshaft part all the way up to 66 or 67 when they went to the saginaw trans. The shifter should work fine. Joe

National Chevy Association in St. Paul, mn. Used to have a floor shifter kit available. 651-778-9522 If not, ask for Paul Nimis (owner) or Scott (his son in law). I am a former employee and know that they had modified a floor shifter kit to fit the '53 /'54 chevy cars. Good huntin' to ya!

That shifter will work fine. Basically it's the only choice other that a Hurst Indy truck shifter (same thing). You may need to modify the bracket that mounts it to the tranny, but that should be the worst of it.

Tony, If you are willing to change to a Saginaw 4-speed,then Patrick's has a beautiful shift kit/tranny conversion for you! Call (520)836-1117 for a free catalog. If you would like to go faster, then you should find a 50-54 Powerglide car and steal the center section(torque-tube & pumpkin)from it, using your axles and housing they will slide right in and then you can cruise on the freeway. Using the Saginaw will lessen the drops in between the shifts and help utilize the engine's power band more efficiently. In other words, If you do both of these mods, you will think you have a "new" car,plus you will have the floor shifter you are seeking as well! Thanks, Phillip

I'm looking at Patrick's catalog right now; it says it's for the TRUCK transmission; is the back-end of the car trans the same?? If so, I'd like to adapt my Saginaw to fit my torque tube, it sure would save a lot of work (and $) over converting to an open driveline.

To anyone intrested, Just have to let you know what I learned. It was a while back I spoke to Patrick the owner of patricks. He told me that the swap for the saginaw will work great for a 53 or 54 chevy car. He also recomended that you change the rear end with a power glide for the 3:55 gears. He did say that there are more changes you have to do if it's eariler than 53. When I first got my 53 club coupe it had a fenton 3 speed shifter, it just bolted in. A real nice set up,if you can find one. I know they are out there but very rear.

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I sucessfully adapted a Hurst "Indy" shifter in my Javelin. Had to throw away the supplied mounting brackets and after a couple trips to Home Depot came up with right combo of black gas pipe nipples and grade five bolts to provide proper spacing. I assembled it with red Locktite and it has worked fine ever since. A word to the wise, however. these shifters will mount in either position (frontwards or backwards) easily. I speak from experience when I tell you that it sure is a b---h to have to turn the thing around and readjust the rods when you fire it up and find out the #~@! thing shifts backwards!