Thread: Project Sebring GT Spyder

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I'll start the posts on my revised "Chassis to Paint" list with patching the old shifter and emergency brake handle holes. This isn't quite the order they happened, though, as you will see.

The 6 speed shifter doesn’t quite line up with the old 5 speed hole and I removed the original emergency brake handle because it was exactly where I wanted to rest my arm when driving. It was also located a little too far rearward for me, making it awkward to operate.



I went ahead and installed the Hurst shifter I picked up at a swap meet so I could locate the hole exactly. It was pretty nasty and looked like it had been stored outside and gotten wet, but I got it fairly cheap. I tore it apart and soaked the parts in mineral spirits for a few days. After a trip through a grinder mounted wire brush, everything went back together nice and clean.



The original shifter hole wasn’t very neatly done, but after a little time and a little work with the welder and grinder, it looked almost like it never happened. The large drilled holes are to leave rounded corners in the new hole.



I made the hole large enough to remove the shifter from the top. I hadn’t planned this, but found out that you just about have to drop the transmission to get the shifter on from the bottom of the car.



Here is the Hurst shifter installed on the transmission. It cleaned up pretty good. There are other shifters that are considered to be better that this one, but it is head and shoulders better than the stock part and it was cheap. The stock shifter felt pretty vague and sloppy. It even had a rubber mounted handle! Yuck! This one feels nice and crisp. I think it will do nicely, but it looks like it would be easy to modify it for a quicker shift pattern. That's a project for the future, though. It works well enough now and I have bigger fish to fry.



I made a cover plate that bolts on. The trans tunnel is an integral part of the chassis and having big unsupported holes in it was not going to help it’s stiffness. I probably did get a little carried away with the bolts, though. I’m planning some kind of decorative console, so all this will be covered up eventually.

This isn’t the stick that will be on it permanently. I have something else planned.