65burgvert

Ok I've had enough of the sloppy shifter in my car.
sometimes it shifts perfectly sometimes it doesn't
biggest problem is going from 2nd to 3rd.
Now even downshifting is becoming tedious.
Twice I've had to pull over to open the hood and reach down to the tranny to get it into neutral.
Once i burned my wrist on the $%^%ing headers.

I know that the shifters have a bad rep for doing that, so.....I'm asking have any of you experienced this and if there is anyone out there who has installed a hurst shifter conversion kit? or installed a repo shifter?

I've done my first and last car show so I'm not the least bit interested keeping it stock for judging purposes. I want safety and to be able to shift without worry

burgvert

Starfury

Sounds like you simply need to rebuild the shifter and readjust the linkages. This will get rid of the slop and fix any shifting issues. Any bad rep is from people who haven't bothered to service their shifter properly. A properly rebuilt shifter should feel smooth and solid. You can get a rebuild kit from many Mustang parts houses. I got mine from Glazier's and was happy with the end result. The linkage adjustment procedure is described in the Factory Shop Manual.

All that said, I got a Hurst shifter with the close-ratio 4sp I picked up. I had to clean it up, lube it, and adjust it, but I absolutely love it. It's much more 'fun' than a stock shifter. You get more of a notchy, positive shift engagement out of it, although you sacrifice the smoothness and vibration insulation that you get from a stock shifter. I don't think I'd go out of my way to buy a Hurst shifter if I already had a working factory shifter and linkage, especially considering the price tag that usually comes with them, but I wouldn't hesitate to put one on a transmission that had no shifter or linkage at all.

2+2GT

I agree, I swapped from a Hurst to a Ford shifter years ago, and I've never been sorry. A properly set-up Ford shifter is pretty crisp.

The #1 problem with your Ford shifter is the rubber mounting bushings. People tend to drive these for decades, until the rubber is gone. I'd recommend getting the 4-speed kit, if you have a 3-speed. The 4-speed kit uses spring-loaded steel trunnions, while the 3-speed has steel trunnions in rubber cups. Many suppliers have these kits, but only Glazier/Nolan can provide the special, very thick, hardened washers that go between the rubber bushings and the shoulder bolts. Using ordinary hardware store washers guarantees the shifter will be sloppy. Cleaning and lubricating the shifter assembly is critical. To keep dirt and water out of the shifter, Ford began using a lower shift boot, which had the added benefit of dramatically reducing the amount of heat and noise coming in the car. These can be installed directly on 64-65 cars, too. I can't emphasize this enough, though, unless the shifter is damaged in some way, your shifter can be made to work perfectly for under $30.