In this thread: http://www.chevelles.com/forums/showthread.php?t=289582 I learned that 65-67 Muncie shifters have sets of two holes for the shifter rods on the 1-2 and 3-4 arms. The upper hole is for the normal long throw shifter set up, how they were assembled at the factory. The lower holes were for setting the shifter for a shorter throw.
This new information sent me digging through my shop manuals and in the '65 Chassis Service Manual it clearly states that's why they are there. So tonight I crawled under the coupe and reset the rods into the lower holes. Once done, I didn't even need to readjust the shifter arm lengths, it was still adjusted just fine.
I rowed through the gears in the garage before I started and immediately after I was done and I can undeniably report that the shifter handle throw is greatly reduced. I'd guess it reduced the throw length by about 1/3 in all forward gears. I can't wait to take the car for a spin to see how it feels in real use. Maybe this will help me be a better and quicker shifter.
The only odd thing is that reverse still has a ridiculously long throw which feels odd after the shorter throws on 1 through 4. The additional effort required to shift with a shorter throw doesn't seem to be very much more at all. I'll report more after I go for a test drive with the "new" shifter.
Anyone else using the lower shifter arm holes for a shorter shifter throw? I think it's pretty cool that Chevy built this detail into the factory shifter. I'm surprised that none of the vintage magazine reviews of 65-67 Chevelles I've read ever mention this possibility, it seems just like the kind of tuning trick Popular Hot Rodding or similar magazines would do while running such a car through it's paces.
This new information sent me digging through my shop manuals and in the '65 Chassis Service Manual it clearly states that's why they are there. So tonight I crawled under the coupe and reset the rods into the lower holes. Once done, I didn't even need to readjust the shifter arm lengths, it was still adjusted just fine.
I rowed through the gears in the garage before I started and immediately after I was done and I can undeniably report that the shifter handle throw is greatly reduced. I'd guess it reduced the throw length by about 1/3 in all forward gears. I can't wait to take the car for a spin to see how it feels in real use. Maybe this will help me be a better and quicker shifter.
The only odd thing is that reverse still has a ridiculously long throw which feels odd after the shorter throws on 1 through 4. The additional effort required to shift with a shorter throw doesn't seem to be very much more at all. I'll report more after I go for a test drive with the "new" shifter.
Anyone else using the lower shifter arm holes for a shorter shifter throw? I think it's pretty cool that Chevy built this detail into the factory shifter. I'm surprised that none of the vintage magazine reviews of 65-67 Chevelles I've read ever mention this possibility, it seems just like the kind of tuning trick Popular Hot Rodding or similar magazines would do while running such a car through it's paces.
