I have been kicking this idea around for a while now, but have a few humps I can't get over.

I have a 4" www.uslinear.com electric actuator out in the shop. These things are really cool. It works like a hydraulic ram with simply 12 volt power. When you reverse the current it goes in the opposite direction, and shuts down at the end of each run even when power remains applied.

The problem with the t-bucket is the shifter is right in the way no matter what you do, with such limited interior space.

My thought is to mount the actuator on the trans and wire it through a simple power window switch that I would then place in a neat location in the car (on the dash, column, side panel, etc.).

I have no doubt it would allow me to press it and move the car in and out of gear on the turbo 400. However, I don't know how to "know" what gear it is in as I have not figured out a way to make a gear indicator...or a way to lock it out to make sure it does not go into gear while you are going down the road.

Can you electric gear heads put on your thinking cap and help me brainstorm a simple, neat, clean way to make the switching go smooth and accurate without spending tons of $$$$?

BTW--the unit looks like this picture below. You can use these things to open doors, move seats, lift trunks..hoods, etc.