1932 Shift Levers

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Will Kimble

Senior Member
I have read everything I could get my hands on and still have a lot of questions about shift levers in 1932. It appears there are 3-4 different versions but I don’t know if there is any chronology to when they appeared or if they were all made at the same time? Were certain ones used in trucks vs cars, etc? Also there appear to be different orientations of the pin slot so that some levers are square and some stick out to the left or right - anybody know anything about this?

Here is a picture of some ‘32-34 levers to get the discussion rolling:

84516002-2A79-4074-B27A-F9A63A5B9AF2.jpg

It is possible (likely) the chrome lever on the left has been modified. My understanding is the lever on the far right is ‘33-34. Looking for any other info.

Thanks,
Will Kimble
 
Will,

I am away from my car stuff until next week so I can't provide any dimensions until then. If you have a copy of the V8 Club's 1932 Ford Book, there are are photos of the two basic versions of B-7210 used in passenger cars and commercial vehicles on pages 1-3, 4-46, 5-2, 5-3, 5-8, 11-31, 11-47, 15-6, and 15-15.

There's ample evidence that both the straight version (with an abrupt 4" radius curve just above where it enters the shift lever housing) and the more-commonly-encountered curved version (a 15" radius gentle curve starting above the shift lever housing and gradually unwinding to almost the shift ball threads were both in use at Job #1. The abrupt-curve version is gradually encountered less and less as the model year progresses. While not documented, those two versions are likely from two different suppliers. The commercial vehicle shift lever (B-7211) also is straight with a single curve near the bottom, but slightly higher on the lever and less abrupt than that on the abrupt curve B-7210 lever.

Each of the above three levers have a RHD counterpart with part numbers of BF-7210 and BF-7211. When detached from their shift lever housings, the differences between the LHD and RHD levers is not readily apparent, but they are each slightly angled toward the driver in all cases. That makes a total of six passenger car and commercial vehicle shift levers that show up in the various '32 chassis parts catalogs, engineering drawings, and archives photos.

Judging from your photo, from the left, #1 and #5 appear to be altered (not at all uncommon), and #2 seems to be a '33-'34 lever given its shape and overall length.
 
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Will Kimble said:
I have read everything I could get my hands on and still have a lot of questions about shift levers in 1932. It appears there are 3-4 different versions but I don’t know if there is any chronology to when they appeared or if they were all made at the same time? Were certain ones used in trucks vs cars, etc? Also there appear to be different orientations of the pin slot so that some levers are square and some stick out to the left or right - anybody know anything about this?

Here is a picture of some ‘32-34 levers to get the discussion rolling:

View attachment 512562

It is possible (likely) the chrome lever on the left has been modified. My understanding is the lever on the far right is ‘33-34. Looking for any other info.

Thanks,
Will Kimble
Click to expand...
512562
 
I have 2 or 3 levers that are EXACTLY like the one on the far right so I am pretty sure it hasn’t been modified. Think it is ‘33-34
 
As it is longer than the '32s, then it could be a '33-'34, as you think. Still looks a bit extreme to me, but I'll check what I have next week.


If you are so certain, why are you asking?
 
Well I don’t know about the ‘32s. Some helpful info already. Not sure about ‘33-34, but sure the lever hasn’t been modified. I looked at both the ‘32 book and the ‘33-34 book and this seems to be the ‘33-34 lever. Doesn’t mean I can’t be wrong, still learning. There are some things I know, and some things I think, lol. Also thought it important to include ‘33-34 as they are similar.
 
I have cleaned a lot of these, can’t remember if they have part #s on the stub? Maybe some? I will check that next time I’m in the shop
 
I believe that the B-7211 lever is the shorter commercial lever and not the sharp bend passenger car lever, with respect to Vince, but absent all of my old car stuff, I cannot offer more than a belief based on memories of multiples of both.
 
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