Suggestions on new Shifter

[LePetiteMort]

Hello,

I have tried searching the forums first and not found much addressing this exact topic. Sorry if I missed it and it's been addressed. I have a '73 Fastback that has a 351c with a C6 transmission. The shifter is going in the car and I've been wanting to get another one anyways. But I want to swap the shifter out for something similar to the old Hurst Dual-Gate or "His and Her" shifters? Or I was even thinking of an old buddy's car from my youth that had a reverse manual ratcheting concept to it in that he would have to shift from Park, Reverse, Neutral, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc one at a time. But it would not just go from 1st to 2nd to 3rd on its own. He had to shift it himself but it didn't have a clutch. He shifted it just by slamming it backwards similar to the ratcheting race shifters. If anyone knows what kind of shifter this was I'd be very interested to learn about them as I've never seen one like it since.

But I am really just trying to find some suggestions of nice aftermarket shifters or conversion kits that I could use to put a new shifter on her. I plan to have her for street and track so that's why I'd love to have the ability to race shift and street if necessary. Thank you in advance.

 

[Hemikiller]

Factory shifter is an easy fix, they usually only need a set of bushings on the pivot shaft. Takes about an hour to replace at most.

https://www.npdlink.com/product/bus...bushing&top_parent=200001&year=1973&year=1973
I'm not a fan of aftermarket shifters in these cars, with a little practice and a tight shifter, you can knock off the gears without issue. You'll find that the "His n Hers" has entered collector status and they're quite pricey. If you want to get into a little fab work, many of the GM cars from the early 70's came with a slap stick type shifter. It looks identical to the normal console shifter, but you can tilt the selector toward the passenger side and it has a gate to prevent over-shooting the gear. The visual clue is the oval hole in the gate cover.

https://bangshift.com/bangshift1320...et-factory-ratchet-shifter-1970s-video-proof/
If I were to go the ratchet shifter route, I'd use a Hurst Quarter Stick. They're lower profile and friendlier than many of the ratchet type shifters. A reverse pattern shifter requires a reverse pattern valve body.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/huu-3160009
Just an FYI - all aftermarket shifters will require you to butcher the factory shift mechanism on the transmission. These setups are hard to find for floor shift cars, so you might want to consider replacing it with a mechanism from a column shift car, and cut that up instead. You'll most likely need shift shaft and kickdown seals anyway.

https://secure.cougarpartscatalog.c...1970-1971-Ford-Mustang.html?sessionthemeid=26