I need some help. I'm doing the C-6 to E4OD swap and need to work out the shifting mechanism. Hotrod magazine did an article on this and did the hard work, but they dont offer any detail. and the pics are so so. So I need to come up with a parts list based off these pics. The Heim joints are easy. I need to figure out the bushings and whats' used for the pivot points. I know a custom car shop here in town with a CNC machine that could do this, but I don't want to pay hundreds of dollars to get this shifter working. I was going to build this out of 1/4 plate. I see the plate that bolts to the tranny that hangs below the bottom bolt hole about an inch and a half I'm guessing and an L shaped piece that looks maybe 3" by 3" with the holes equal distance to translate the vertical movement into lateral movement. Here's the magazines pics. And maybe I need a disclaimer, these pics are from Hotrod Magazines website and the article. I guess I can link the article if that's needed for copyright or whatever.



Now, the next pics I have are from my truck.
I'm keeping the stock shifter on the trans and I'm not putting a floor mount shifter in.



So there ya have it. Please help me figure this out.

 

Whew! Looks like a lot going on in the mag pics. Maybe mock it up with some stiff cardboard and dowels, then check Jegs or Summit or a transmission site for the parts? Or machine them from some aluminum stock? (the levers anyway)

You might also try contacting Hot Rod magazine or the author of the article.

 

LOL.... I did try and contact the magazine. The only contact you can get is to the order line. I had hoped to get ahold of the editorial desk or something. Maybe someone with some CNC files on it, probably not, but I can dream.

 

Are you wanting to use the cable shifter you showed earlier? If so, maybe you could get it hooked up on the column side and see what you have left on the tranny side. Or vice versa. And formulate an extension from there.

 

I can draw it up in cad for you if you want...that’s easy.

The hard part is getting the measurements right. You will need to moc-up what I send you with cardboard to verify if the dimensions are correct.

Draw up a 2d sketch ‘side view’ of the two parts.
Pencil in what you think the correct measurements are for the plates and the holes.
PM me or post it back to this thread, and I will make you a quick cad drawing to prototype.

Once we have things close I can send you a file for you to take to a local fab shop. Have them laser cut or water jet it out of some mild steel. Cheap and easy.

 

Lokar makes a universal shift cable set up but I don’t know that it would be any easier to adapt. Part of the issue I’m running into is not knowing what bushings and bearing type joints are available to make this work. I went by Bohls bearings and the guy was useless. Told me they were industrial not automotive and if I didn’t already know what I wanted couldn’t help.

 

If I was doing this I would roll under a mid 80's F 150 with AOD and see what Ford did for linkage.