Bend the gear shifter?

If you lift up on the entire gear shift lever, it can be disengaged from the pattern and "swung" out of the way.

Sometimes getting it back in place can be a challenge. Coasting to the side of the road is always an option.

There are reports that earlier cars have the gearshift lever "bent" more. The difference is like two inches where the ball is.

Joe K
 
I have bent hundreds of them in the car, cold.
I made up a small fixture that accepts a 2 ton bottle jack.
It clamps on the rod and you bend away.
It's at our other shop now so I can't get a pic of it.
 
I bent mine. Easy, just grab ahold of it and bend it to the position you want it. I was driving and my knee got caught between the shifter and steering wheel, almost caused me to have an accident, so I pulled over, grabbed the shifter and put it where I wanted it. End of story.
 
Pete, a pix would be great but I get the idea. My big question was whether anyone had bent them AND if they heated or not. You have answered both.
I've can not use 1st gear. My leg is in the way and other than hanging out the door I have found no way to use the clutch, throttle and brake with the car in 1st gear. (I have been using R, 2nd & 3rd)

Joe, I am familiar with the shifter disengage but that won't help with the 1st gear issue. On the road I will use my knee to push up on my hand to disengage. Mine snaps right back in when I swing it back. But......If I bent the shifter just right I may not even do that.
 
I wonder if some shifter rods are stiffer than others? I am 6' 4" and just did not have room either, even after moving the seat back nearly 3". Now it is completely comfortable to drive for hours. Have you tried to bend yours?
 
I just heated the shifter with a torch about 4 inches above the top of the transmission, bent it over about 2 inches, works great.
 
My repro shift lever almost hits the instrument panel. I hesitate to try cold bending for the same reasons that Tom gives in post # 7. Bending with heat is easy but would destroy the chrome plating.
 
Thank you Vince. As one ages backwards sometimes things get their order put.

Heh. I have no less than 5 gearshifts hanging around besides the one for the car - and I can't remember seeing one that is as 'bent' as the bended one.

Joe K
 
I removed the whole top part trans and shifter, and cold bent it in a press. Was not chrome but with a few cloth rags it didnt scratch the paint. Dont think or would say that i would expect the same results with a chrome finish.
 
I helped a man bend his shifter by using two pipe wrenches, one held square just above the shift tower to keep pressure off the lower part of the shaft and forks and the second a little higher up the shaft used to do the bending. Bent cold and took about two minutes start to finish.
 
I had my first A in high school 56 years ago and also felt the shifter was too high and in the way, especially with a third person in the coupe. I cut it off about half way down and rethreated it for a new knob. On longer trips with three in the front, we would just pull upward on the shaft and swing it to the side. If I remember correctly, with the cut off shifter, you can even pull it up and rotate it 180 degrees so it slants back under the dash. A little more difficult to reach for short guys but a nice convenience for the long armed big guys.........Glen
 
3 people in a coupe !!!!

I was out with a buddy in my 28 yesterday and he remarked how very small the cabin was on this ship.

Thank goodness we did not take the goat with us.
 
whirnot said:
I just heated the shifter with a torch about 4 inches above the top of the transmission, bent it over about 2 inches, works great.
Click to expand...
I heated mine above the transmission as Bill says and no problems, the chrome plate is a little discolored but not noticeable especially with the rubber boot installed.
 
I know of a couple that were modified 60+ years ago around here.The lever was heated about 2 inches above the tower,then bent 90 degrees to the right.It was then heated and bent upright another 2 inches from the first bend.That offset makes a big difference.I still have one that was also shortened,I was going to put it in a 28 RPU that I sold to a tall fellow,but after he drove the truck a couple of weeks he said he was fine once he figured out how to drive it.I know heating and bending something like that puts millions of small cracks in the metal,but it is a shift lever,not a spindle or an axle.
 
As a crazy college kid cruzin' in the desert we had 5 inside a coupe and 3 more in the rumble seat! It was real tight & hard to shift, then it quit running- seems one of the 5 inside had kicked the gas lever off. In the dark desert night with no flashlight it took us a while to find the problem.
 
The angle of the pin in the ball of the shifter is at a different angle in the 28/29 vs. 30/31 shifters. The 28/29 shifters sit more to the right and slightly forward. I believe all of the repros are 30/31 style.
 
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