Finally got my Hurst shifter in

[jonnymopar]

This just in from the why-the-hell-not department.

I've always loved Hurst shifters and how they look, pretty much in any car. Only problem with the 520/555 cars, other than the fact that Hurst never made one, is that pesky reverse lockout. So I experimented a little bit and this is my rough draft:




I like it a lot. The opening in the boot fit pretty well, plus the Hurst logo looks about perfect where it is (pardon the 6-speed H pattern - that knob is from my friend's CTS-V). It's a 30% reduction short throw and it does have a reverse lockout that seems to work pretty well.





That square rod in the front pivots on a small bearing and serves as a 1st/2nd gear crossover arm stop. The spring is preloaded enough to stop the shifter from accidentally going into reverse, but not so much that it takes an unreasonable amount of effort to overcome it. You just give it an extra shove to the left, and there's reverse! The long screw next to the spring is what you use to set your 1st gear position and spring preload. Once it's set, you can fine-tune it using the slotted openings at the end of the crossover cable.

First gear:



Reverse:



And for the hell of it, since that crossover pivot is taking a bit more force, I spread it out over a greater area:




I've only got a few days on it and I'm diggin it!!

[butchsuppe]

I like it.

[krut]

Do you have p/n listings for what you used?
When are you going to put a pistol grip in? (:

[jonnymopar]

The stalk is a Hurst 7201. I machined a stock rod so it could be welded. Other than that, it's basically all custom. Not quite sure what I'll end up doing for a knob permanently, but it looks cool the way it is.

I know it's blasphemy, but honestly I've never been a fan of the pistol grip or the T-handle shifters. I much prefer a basic ball knob.

[contraption22]

I know it's blasphemy, but honestly I've never been a fan of the pistol grip or the T-handle shifters. I much prefer a basic ball knob.

I agree. Never found anything in the looks or functionality of a pistol grip shifter. I like the way your shifter turned out. Nice work.

[jonnymopar]

The finishing touch has arrived:






When I called Hurst about getting a custom pattern, they referred me to these guys: www.speeddawg.com . Apparently they can create custom knobs that are officially licensed by Hurst. So, the shift knob above is a one-off custom knob, but it's an actual licensed Hurst piece. Speed Dawg submits the design to Hurst and Hurst grants permission to manufacture it if they approve. Kick azz! Plus, the guys at SpeedDawg were awesome to deal with. I highly recommend them if you're looking for something custom. Even their standard catalog has some crazy stuff.

As for my home-brewed reverse lockout mechanism, I haven't gone into reverse by accident yet! It's working absolutely perfectly. There's great feedback when you push to the left and feel it hit the 1st gear stop. Even shifting hard from 1st to 2nd, I haven't shoved past that spring tension. I wish I would have come up with this years ago since every car I've owned besides my Neon either had a 520 or a 555 in it.

[glhs875]

I like it! Great job!