I have a 68 that I am building for my wife. Originally it had a Powerglide but when I got the car, it had a TH350 in it. She wants a stick so I bought a brand new Muncie M20 from Craig Wright of the Wright Connection. It has an Autogear case and it is the same length as an old Muncie that I have as near as I can tell. I bought a used bell housing and cut a hole for the shifter in the trans tunnel using one of the templates I found on this site. I put the block, bell housing and trans in the car to make sure that the shifter hole was in the right place. The problem is that the holes in the trans mount are about an inch short of the holes in the trans cross member and the shifter is hitting on the front of the hole I cut. I think if I could get that inch or maybe 2 back, I would be all set.
Is the trans crossmember for a TH350 the same as for a Muncie? Does the length of the different bell housing part numbers vary? Do you have any other ideas about what could be wrong? Thanks!
The cross member differences are big block, small block and TH400. Your cross member, if original, should be OK. More on cross members at this link.
https://www.camaros.org/trans.shtml#Crossmembers
Which bellhousing are you using?
Which tailhousing is on the Muncie?
Forgot to mention in the original post that it is a small block, the original block in fact.
The bell housing part number is 3840383.
Keeping in mind that this is a brand new transmission from end to end, the tail housing number is 18-066-901-E. Below that number is "AGE AA". I'm going out on a limb here to say that the AGE stands for Autogear!
I also took a bunch of measurements of the new trans (AG) vs. the old Muncie (M), which has never been in this car so it may not fit either. Disclaimer is that I was measuring the new trans while on a creeper under the car.
Front edge of trans to center of trans mount bolt on tail housing: 14 5/8" (AG) 14 1/4" (M)
Case length: 10 1/8" (AG) 9 7/8" (M)
Mid-plate thickness: 9/16" (AG) 1/2" (M)
Front edge of tail housing to center of trans mount bolt: 3 7/8" (AG) 3 3/4" (M)
Front edge of tail housing to front of shifter mount U-bolt: 10 1/2 (AG) 10" (M)
All of these numbers tell me that the mount and shifter should now be farther back than on an original Muncie but they are both short of where they should be so I'm baffled. I jacked up the trans and measured that the bolt holes in the rubber trans mount appear to be asymmetrical by 1/8-1/4" so I could gain a little on the mount by turning that around but I think that will only be enough to partially line up the holes with the crossmember. The only variable left that I see is the bell housing.
Thanks for your help!
One other note is that the shifter is a Hurst Competition Plus shifter in case that means that the hole I cut in the tunnel should be farther forward than what the template shows.
So you are not using an original shifter. Got it. Are you using the 67-68 style shifter mount for the Hurst shifter?
Pictures would help!
You might need a custom shifter mount.
I am using a new 67-68 style shifter mount that I bought from Camaro Central. Here is a picture. Let me know if there is something specific you want to see in a picture.
Does a Hurst shifter typically require a custom mount for a 68? Or does it depend on the the model of the shifter?
Thanks again for your help!
Do you have the crossmember 180 out?
I found a video about installing a Hurst Competition Plus shifter on an AGE transmission for a 1968 Camaro:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzCaX6TOwvE
According to the video, the shifter mount is included with the Hurst shifter, which is part number 3914339.
My friend had a 1968 Z28 Camaro which had a Hurst Competition Plus shifter and it was installed in the stock position without any modifications made.
I'm glad to hear that someone has a (nearly) matching combination that works. That means there is hope!
I checked the crossmember and the two holes are to the rear.
I also did some more measuring of the hole in the tunnel that I cut and I can cut out another 1/4" on the front edge to match the template. That may be enough to solve the shifter problem. That just leaves the trans mount issue.
The distance from the front to the rear of the bell housing is 6 5/16".
The shifter is a Hurst Competition Plus model 3914340 which was for 1st gen Camaros.
The shifter mounting kit that I bought was specific to the Hurst Competition Plus shifter-Muncie transmission combination. I had Craig rebuild the shifter and install it on the trans so it would be set up properly. He has been around for a while and has an excellent reputation so I feel confident that his work is good. But that doesn't mean I won't call him if I strike out with you guys who have the very specific experience that I'm looking for!
I'm have to travel to a funeral tomorrow so don't think that I've lost interest if I don't respond for a while.
Remember the 67-68 Comp Plus Hurst Shifter Body "IS" adjustable to a certain degree.
If I recall one of the mounting plates has a hole slotted in an arc so you can pivot the shifter fwd or aft. but I do not think you can 'get' 2 in of adjustment. Of course you have to re-adjust your Neutral gate positioning after adjusting.
An area of concern is the owner modification "Hole" placement.
My experience was with a factory Manual hole cutout/reinforcement.
The reason I am modifying the hole is because the car was an automatic and the only hole was a round one about 2" in diameter for the shifter cable. There are multiple templates for the shifter hole out on the web, but they don't all agree so it has been a struggle for this engineer to take cutter in hand with confidence. I started small and worked my way up to where, by taking measurements, I thought I had all of the clearances I needed. Turns out I was wrong when I actually put the critical pieces in the car. I have the reinforcing plate that I plan to weld in. The hole in it is smaller than the template hole but, after yet another measurement tonight, I think I have another 1/4" I can open it up in the front without exceeding the hole size in the plate.
I watched the video that posted in a previous reply and did notice the slotted hole in the mounting plate. I'm going to look into that and maybe I can tip the shifter back a skosh and get even more clearance.
Thanks for your help!
Hole might not be in the correct spot.
I converted a 1966 Mustang from an automatic to a 4-speed. I even changed the differential to a Ford 9 inch nodular unit as I found a complete assembly in a junkyard as there was a 1969 Mustang 428 Cobra Jet being salvaged (this was in the 1970s). Had to buy another Ford Toploader and rebuilt it myself, using the 1966 Ford manual. Even after building the transmission, it still wasn't easy to shift and I thought it must be the design of the Toploader. When I later bought a 1970 BOSS 302 that originally was used to drag race and still had its original transmission, it was so easy to shift. Unfortunately, the owner installed a Hurst Super Shifter and had to cut the tunnel to install it. The shifter is still on the Mustang and I've thought of replacing it with a Hurst Competition Plus, but the real problem is the 2600 pound McLeod 3-finger pressure plate, which is great if you are shifting at 7000 rpm, but no fun if you are driving slowing around the neighborhood. Keep us updated on your progress. - Mark