Inliners International Forums General Discussion Drive Train Shifter for an early Nova

Hello. I'm putting a T5 in my '64 Nova wagon with a 194 6. Does anyone have suggestions as to what Hurst shifter handle to use?

Martin

I have a 64 Nova wagon with a 194 too, but I'm going to be running a Saginaw 4 speed in it, at least for the moment. I'd like to stay in touch and find out how your 5 speed project goes. As far as Hurst shifters, you can find them at Summit Racing, web address www.summitracing.com. Besides Hurst, B&M and several other people make shifters for T-5's, and all of them seem to be pretty good from the tests I've read in car magazines. Hope this helps some.

Hi Zeke. The 5 speed is in the wagon now. I'm using a Hurst shifter for an '82-'92 Camaro. I went with the 8009 handle since it fits me better with the bench seat all the way back.
Unfortunately, the .73 overdrive gear is too steep for the 3:36 gearing and ends up eating the gas mileage. Options: If you go with lower gears like 3:55 or 3:73 you'll end up not using 1st at all. I'm considering a lower OD like .86 but unless you have one lying around or are good buddies with a tranny guy you're looking at spending lots of money. I have over $2000 invested in the tranny and installation. At this point I wished I'd just gone with a Saginaw.

Martin

Hi,

I have an 1983 Z-28 T-5 with the .72 overdrive and I have a 3:55 10 bolt and have no problems at any speed. Yes, 1st gear is short, but I do not understand why you wouldn't use it. If you are cruising on the highway, a 3:55 rear with the .72 OD is perfect. Perhaps you need to add a little HP to your motor to prevent the lugging in 5th gear. I do have the 292 in front of my T-5 and it has a bit more torque than your 195. I'd say keep the set up you have and add 2x1 intake.

RapRap
1940 ChoppedChevyCoupe

PS-Look for a 250 for a great swap for your wagon.

Hi Chopped 40.
What I meant was that going with a lower rear gear ratio would make 1st gear seem useless. What I think is happening is that my 3:36 gears are too tall for the OD at 65mph, not allowing my engine to reach it's powerband. I have to shift back into 4th at the slightest incline. I do plan to add a progressive 2bbl setup from Langdon's. This is a daily driver so I want to keep the mileage. I'd like to put a 250 in eventually but that's down the road. I'm a little tapped out so I need to stick with my 194 for a while.

Martin

Will any of the T-5 shifters interchange or come close, on S-10/Camaro/Mustang T-5s? I'm trying to find the type of shifter base with the two bolt holes to swap the lever, like the Camaro. Any clues would help. This stock S-10 unit is nice but limited to stock lever, have cut and bent the thing to fit my old truck.

Hi Jim.
From what the tranny guy I dealt with said, Camaro and S-10 shifters are interchangeable. Ford shifters won't fit the GM units. Look for a Hurst Competition Plus shifter for a T5 equipped Camaro on Ebay. That's what I have and it works great.

Martin

Hi, Martin,
Just a thought about your lack or torque. Are you using the stock exhaust manifold on your Nova? When I built my 194, I started out using the stock int. and ex. manifolds, and even with a hotter cam, it still wouldn't breathe worth a darn. I put a set of Clifford long tube headers on it, and that made a world of difference. I ran a complete dual exhaust system with glass packs for mufflers and 2" exhaust pipe diameter, and that really woke that 194 up! The good news is that if anything, it should increase your gas mileage, and certainly won't decrease it any, and with that setup, it sounded a whole lot like an Austin-Healey 3000, which would surprise the heck out of people at stoplights.

Hi Zeke.
I LOVE the sound of an Austin-Healey 3000. Probably the first car that ever caught my attention with just the exhaust note. Intake and exhaust are stock. Dual exhaust and different carburation is definitely in the works. What cam did you go with and did you upgrade the valvetrain?
I've been tweaking with the car a little and simple things like bumping the timing way up and adjusting the air/fuel mixture screw have made a noticeable difference. The car doesn't have to work as hard to keep up with traffic anymore and so far I've gained a day between tank fills.

Martin

Hi, Martin,
When I originally built my 194, the main purpose of the car was to be a daily driver, so I was looking more for torque and gas mileage then raw horsepower. With that in mind, I used a Sig Erson RV cam with a high lift and moderate duration. Specs were .480" valve lift, and 256 degrees advertised duration. They didn't use the .050" standard to measure cam duration then, so I don't know what that figure would be. As far as valvetrain modifacations/improvements, I used the heavier valvesprings that came with the cam (I bought it as a kit; cam, lifters, valvesprings, and retainers as a set), had screw in rocker studs installed at a machine shop, and used Isky steel retainers instead of the aluminum ones that came with the kit. The lifters were the anti pump up type, and were included with the cam. I also used a Clifford aluminum intake and a Holley 350 cfm 2-bbl carb along with the headers. After all that was installed, the difference in performance was INCREDIBLE, and the thing that really blew my mind was that the gas mileage before I changed to the bigger carb, Clifford manifold and headers was 19 mpg, and after everything was installed, it was still 19 mpg, with probably about 40% more horsepower than stock. And at that point, the engine was in a 64 Chevelle wagon body and running a 3 speed trans. In a Nova body with a similar setup for the motor and your 5-speed, I would think that your mileage should be at LEAST 25 mpg. I remember when I compared the stock cam with the Erson RV cam, the stock cam looked like a towel rack with pimples, and the Erson cam had LOBES. I'm not saying that you should go out and buy a new cam also, but anything that makes the engine breathe better will give you better torque and that means better drivability, more efficiency, and better fuel economy. That will hold true for cams up to about 270 degrees advertised duration. Much more than that and you get more power, but at higher rpm and fuel economy goes out the window. I was VERY happy with my cam for street use. It did exactly what I wanted from it. Of course, that cam isn't available any more, but there are others on the market that are similar and would give you the same basic results. One other thing that I would strongly recommend is to change the cam gear. Ditch the fiber gear and get an aluminum gear, even if you don't use an aftermarket cam. The aluminum gear will last practically forever, which the fiber gear won't. From your last post, it sounds like things are somewhat improved already. Keep up the good work.

Zeke. Do you have any pics of your Chevelle wagon's 194 you could email me?
Martin
strummin67@yahoo.com