Muncie shifter change

[vtfb68]

Does anybody have a good idea when the shifter levers stamped "MUNCIE" were replaced with the non-stamped lever ?
  Victor

[68Zproject]

I think you are talking about usage.  The Muncie was printed on hipo cars, basically with Muncie transmissions.  The non-stamped shifters were used on low performance cars, basically ones with the Saginaw transmissions.

[vtfb68]

I am referring to a 1968 05C factory BB car. I believe sometime before the end of the 1968 production run the factory switched to a plain levered muncie shifter, possibly the warranty shifter that the dealers were already replacing the "MUNCIE" shifter with due to torque twist issues.
  Victor

[JoeC]

The 67-68 shifter 4 speed body is the same for the Muncie and the Saginaw. The Saginaw used a plain stick and different rods and other parts but the shifter body is the same.

[philip]

i confirm
my 67 L30M20 with a saginaw gear box have a MUNCIE shifter with the name engraved .

[JohnZ]

Shifters are covered here:

http://www.camaros.org/trans.shtml#Shifters

[JoeC]

The last item in the 1969 shifter section is incorrect. It states....

"Small-block and big-block cars used unique shifter mounting plates bolted to the tailhousing, versus the aftermarket bracket mounted with U-bolts around the tailhousing"

The 69 Hurst/Muncie aftermarket bracket bolted to the tailhousing similar to the factory 69 bracket but was the same for BB and SB.
Hurst did not make an installation kit for the 69 with Saginaw

The 67-68 Hurst aftermarket bracket mounted between the trans mount and trans and had one U-bolt around the tailhousing.
Same bracket was used for Muncie and Saginaw for 67-68

[vtfb68]

Does anybody have a 1968 Camaro with a M-21 (Four speed) built after O5C (MAY) with a factory original shifter stamped with "MUNCIE"?
  Victor

[rare396bronze]

Took out original shifter o6a 68 with m21 with  white knob when talked to first owner he asked if it had white knob on shifter. Has muncie on handle. Still have it @ car after 29 years.

[JoeC]

68-72 Impala, 68- 72 Chevelle and 68-72 Nova 4 speed used same basic shifter design and used similar chrome sticks.
Impala Chevelle was bolt on stick.
Nova was different shape but welded like 67-68 Camaro. The upper part of the stick and ball was same.

They also used Muncie stamped on Muncie trans and plain chrome stick on Saginaw.

I have reseached this and I think this was a general rule that Chevy used but its not 100 per cent as parts shortage or assembly mistake did happen. These shifters would get get replaced under warenteee sometimes and the replacement may or may not have
had the Muncie stamp.

From what I have seen with Impala/Chevelle/Nova/Camaro most were assembled with Munice getting Muncie stamp and Saginaw getting plain chrome.

I am not sure about 67 Camaro as mentioned in the CRG shifter report some say that only the Muncie stick was used even with Saginaw but this is still being researched. By 1968 Chevy was making  a lot of these shifters as they were used on so many cars.

[vtfb68]

Hi guys,
 Does anybody have a 68 with a M21 with a factory original shifter lever that is smooth blank chrome? I have read the CRG section but it is very general. Not many responses to the above question so i am going to termite this.
I am trying to determin if, and if so when the factory finely did give up on the 1st design. (no extra support bar - that did very little anyway) or trying take a mini poll for cars after 05C. Rare396Bronze did you yourself remove the shifter and could describe it? like color, part numbers, tags, ect.
 Thank's
  Victor

[JoeC]

I have had a lot of OEM Hurst and Muncie shifters. I started to buy them 30 years ago just to get the chrome stick to convert for use on the aftermarket Hurst shifter.

I'm rebuilding a 67 Camaro Muncie shifter now and it has the stabalizer rod. All the 67-68 Muncie and Saginaw shifters I have seen had the stabalizer rod. The Chevelle/Impala Muncie shifter used an additional 45 deg bracket but I have never seen it on Camaro/Nova Muncie shifters.

[GI JOE]

 
I suggest that you find several like Month coded cars like your Camaro 05C (if this is possible at this date in time) and collect data to show what they have (the more the better)... I further suggest you keep what you have unless you know with out a doubt it was changed somewhere by the previous owners...  if it was a dealer replacement you should still use it...as that is part of the cars originality... once parts are replaced, the car can never be 100% original... that's why a 100%-er is so rare...

yet these days everyone seems to have one... back in the day 40 years ago and well into the 80's these cars were sought mostly for one thing, Hot rod GO Fast mobiles... everyone was swapping out manifolds for headers and carbs for Holleys, shifters for hurst shifters (because they worked!), etc.. more of the these cars were altered than what we seemed to have today...so with this knowledge and that the factory was about production and the "Gett-er done" was to use any part that was available to keep things moving (i.e. within reason) you could have an original shifter. 

If it was switched out then you can use the collected data to consider which one to go with...  Good Luck and I'll keep a look out for info for you too.   

just my 2 cents.. you probably already knew all this... 

[vtfb68]

Hi Guys,
 Still hoping for more replies from 68 guys. Now a few more questions come to mind, If all the Camaro shifters were the same why did the factory replace so many under warranty? and replaced them with what? The factory will always take the cheapest way, so there should have been some kind of improvement. My car is 6,000 from the last 1968 L.A. Camaro and about 27,000 overall. Would the factory limit the amount of High-end cars produced towards the end of a model year? I would still like to read all thoughts on this subject.
  Victor

[JohnZ]

If a dealer needed to replace a shifter under warranty, he'd replace it with the service part listed for that application; warranty reimbursement didn't pay for aftermarket shifters.

No, the plants didn't limit the run of high-end cars near the end of the model year; they built what the customers ordered.