Thread: I'm tired of my column shifter in my 68 Fairlane. Anyone know of a good floor shifter

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I can't think of a better place and group of folks to ask this question to. I was hoping someone out there can tell me if they know of a good floor shifter that I can use on my 68 Fairlane 500 Fastback. I was going to keep this car original with its bench seat and boring column shifter set up but I just can't deal with it anymore. I'm purchasing some bucket seats from Summit and want to order an automatic floor shifter that is compatible with this car and a C6 transmission. Any help with a brand and model number if needed would sure be appreciated. As always, many thanks in advance for taking the time to help me enjoy my car better..

I'd think any of the catalogs ( summit / Jegs etc.) would have a selection big enough to cause you to drool all over your computer.
It sounds like you want to do gear changes manually.. does the tranny have a manual valve body in it?

There are a lot of choices, perhaps spend some time and do some "window shopping", get a feel for whats out there.

A few years ago I had a 72Ford long bed that had a pos floor shifter after someone butchered the column. I put buckets in the truck and built a wooden console, in two pieces, from right under the dash to the end of the seats. I modified a 66 Mustang floor shifter and it worked fine. I fixed the hacked up collar on the truck with a spare one from the Mustang. Ford made a lot of things that are somewhat interchangeable with a little work.

In one car I have a lokar style shifter, more of a streetrod type shifter works fine but if you want to bang gears I prefer a ratchet style shifter (versus a gate style) you push forward and it goes up one gear at a time eliminating shifting into neutral, a very positive action which I have in another car. The one's I have used are B&M's mega shifter and B&M's hammer shifter, the mega had a recall years ago (20) but other than that they have been rock solid and they come with (or use to) enough adapters to fit most transmissions and hook with a morse style cable only (meaning only a hole needs drilled and 4 bolts through the floor board) as the lokar style hook with a linkage and large notch in the floor board has to be cut as the shifter actually has brackets that bolt to the tranny. Gate shifters go forward and then must be pulled or pushed slightly sideways before going to the next gear, such as B&M's old Z gate shifter, this style was what a lot of muscle cars had factory equipped. Your choice but that racthet mechanism is simply slap forward and a spring returns it and slap again. Another benifit with B&M style vs lokars are they all have neutral safeties and a indicator built in which save a bunch of $$ also. Have fun

I'd go to B&M. The choice of type is up to you and your intended use. If you want all-out performance, rachet. For hotter street use, gated. For just a stock replacement, something simple. Some shifters will do do both rachet and gated, depending upon your mood. You can see the list of the units that will fit your Fairlane HERE: You can download the instructions. The operating instructions at the end of the instruction sheet.

I tried the B&M hammer shifter, hated it. It took a lot of force to change gears. PITA.

I installed it in place of the B&M star shifter which turned out was much better.

That being said, if you like to slam a shifter, the hammer may be for you.

Love the 68 Fairlane and Torinos - especially the fastback. I think I be tempted to buy replacement console and all the bits and pieces to make it look like a stock console. Everything you need is available aftermarket/reproduction. I know it would be expensive - probably $5-700 bucks but it sure would look nice and right at home with your new buckets.

Just my 2 cents..
Glenn