Messages

See "Vintage Hurst Shifters, A Complete Guide Volume 1" by Pete Serio. I think Pete also rebuilds them.

I sure hope I don't have to buy a whole book on the history of Hurst to get a few simple answers. Has anyone here read that book and gleaned any useful info on finishes?  I know it was discussed 10 years ago but a lot was left dangling.

I plan to disassemble the new shifter I got and have all the parts including the adapter clear zinc plated.  I'll have the handle and ball that came with the car re-chromed even though they look pretty good.  Forward shifter levers will be yellow zinc dichromate, reverse lever manganese (black) phosphate, rods zinc (gray) phosphate.  Then all I have is the hardware and I read that the upper hex bolt is clear zinc and the lower one manganese phosphate. All my adapter to trans bolts are original and they're manganese phosphate too.  All the above is based on what I've read on these forums.  All I really have to figure out is the rod hardware.

Do you know if the Hurst shifter rods for a Firebird are the same as for a Camaro?  Mine are exactly as shown in the CRG shifter report so I don't know if just the Firebird shifter was added to my car or the Firebird shifter AND the Firebird rods. As I mentioned my forward rods are zinc plated but if gray phosphate per Jerry M. is correct I'll have them done that way.

Jerry's post: "The Hurst shifter tower is silver cad, the mounting bracket on a SB car is silver cad, dark gray phosphate on the BB mounting bracket.  Shift levers for 1-2, 3-4 are yellow zinc, the reverse lever is dk gray phosphate.  Shift linkage rods are dk gray phosphate, bell crank is dk gray phosphate,"

No I'm not an experienced plater but I know how electroplating and phosphate coatings are done.  I'm more interested in what is correct for a '69 Z/28 shifter.  I have read everything in your link about shifters but nothing covers correct plating.  The one thread on shifter finishes here was helpful although it left a lot of questions. I'm pretty sure I need to plate the forward levers gold zinc dichromate and the reverse lever gray (zinc) phosphate.  One poster said all of the reverse levers he has seen were black (manganese) phosphate.  I have both phosphate solutions and will probably do my own phosphating but I can't do zinc electroplating.  It sounds like the plating varied throughout the year and was not consistent coming from Hurst.

I read all the posts I could find on this topic and one over 10 years ago suggested to start a new thread instead of replying.  Is that the proper way to revive an old topic here?

I recently acquired a '69 date-coded Hurst shifter that's closer to my car's build date and I want to rebuild it.  It's in pretty good shape but I plan to clean and re-plate everything. I have been trying to figure out what plating to use and I've read through every thread I could find and it's still confusing.

I know the shifter body and internal levers were originally silver cadmium plated and should be clear zinc plated now. I assume all parts of the shifter except the stainless cover on bottom and lever spacers and springs should be clear zinc.   

The levers and rods I have were on the '68 dated shifter I got with the car but I don't know if they are original to the car or not...I know the shifter body isn't since it's dated February '68.  The rods appear to be correct for a Z/28.  The 1-2 and 3-4 rods have no numbers and the reverse rod is 5771.  The column lockout rod is 5773.

In looking at the levers, it looks like my forward levers were originally silver zinc, but could have been gold zinc dichromate as I know the yellow fades over time.  They were definitely not phosphate. I have some pics of the levers.  It also looks like my forward shift rods were silver zinc.  Unfortunately, I didn't take any good pics of the rods before I put them in citric acid to clean off the zinc for re-plating.  However, there were bubbles on the rods as the citric acid stripped the zinc off the 1-2 and 3-4 rods so I believe they were zinc plated.  The reverse lever and rod looks to be zinc (gray) phosphate to me, as is the reverse lockout rod.  I want to plate everything how it SHOULD have come in mid 1969 and the info I read was somewhat inconclusive.  Maybe it varied?

Is there any followup to this effort anywhere?

It makes perfect sense why they should face dome up.
https://www.camaros.org/forum/index.php?action=search2

That link doesn't work for me. 

I know this is a very old thread but I'm trying to determine how to identify a real 69 Camaro tilt column so I've been reading the threads here and elsewhere.  It looks like one thing is to look at the column lock lever.  My standard '69 Camaro column has two 45 degree bends in the lever to move the rod forward.  I have seen some with an almost straight lever that are claimed to be for a 73 Monte Carlo. 

Does anyone have the .pdf from the Worldwide Camaro Club linked above that they can post or send to me?  The link above is broken.  Lnobi53@yahoo.com

Thanks!

This is a pic of the shifter that came with my car, and the new one I bought. Just trying out the pic posting.

Shifter rods for Firebird and Camaro are different. At least the GM part numbers are so I assume there are enough differences.

So that's what is still puzzling to me.  The shifter rods and mounting plate on this shifter are definitely '69 Camaro.  The bolts holding the mounting plate to the transmission are correct.  It looks to me like this is an intact shifter, but I don't know how to tell.  It has cotter pins and spring washers holding the rods on. 

I find it hard to believe that someone would have changed just the shifter body out but it's possible.  I wonder why they would have done that.  Is a '68 Firebird shifter ball the same as '69 Camaro? Are there any other identifying features/marks on a Firebird shifter that are different from a Camaro? 

My 1-2 and 3-4 shifter rods are zinc plated as are the levers.  The reverse rod and lever are both gray phosphate. I would post pictures but I can't figure out how to do that from my computer on this site.

Your shifter is from a Firebird.

I have several core 69 Camaro Hurst shifter bodies but I don't believe any would be date correct for your car. Mine are earlier in the model year. I can check with a buddy of mine if you want me to. He rebuilds shifters.

Thanks Byron, I think you're right, but I still wonder what it's doing in my numbers-matching car. Are all the rods the same for the Firebird as well?

Thanks for the offer.  I found one that I bought a couple days ago.  It has the shifter handle with 3/8" threads and the stamped code is 590721C which I understand is a May '69 datecode. I plan to re-plate and rebuild it. I will be using my existing rods, levers, handle and knob since they're original GM.  So I will be selling the Firebird one with the handle and without the linkage and knob.

I found a posting about Hurst shifters on another website:

https://www.camaros.net/threads/question-about-original-hurst-shifter.200444/

The posting details differences between Hurst shifters installed by GM and shifters that you could buy from Hurst.  With a date code from 1968, your Hurst shifter was probably bought from Hurst.  The factory installed Hurst shifters for the 1968 Firebird had 5/16" threads, according to the catalog I have from Classic Industries.  My friend's 1968 Z28 had a Hurst shifter when he bought the car from the original owner in 1970 and it had a Hurst T-Handle. 

My shifter does have 3/8" threads, but everything I've read says the '68 Camaro and '68 Firebird shifters had 5/16" threads. That's what's been throwing me off.  The shifters bought from Hurst had stops on them, mine doesn't. It's definitely a GM installed shifter. 

CRG information on shifters used on 1967-1969 Camaros, along with comments of the shifters used on similar year Firebirds:

https://www.camaros.org/shifters.shtml#parts

Yes I have read everything on that page and other forum posts but I'm still not sure if the shifter is from a Camaro or a Firebird.  I read in multiple places that the '68 Firebird used the same Hurst shifter but they had a 5/16" thread on the handle. Heartbeat City Camaro sells a chrome shifter knob that's threaded 5/16" for these applications. The CRG article says "1968 and 1969 Pontiac Firebirds used the same shifter as 69 Camaros".  It's not clear if the Firebirds used the same exact knob, shift rods and levers however.  I can't find much about the Firebird shifter anywhere.

This shifter seems to be intact and has all the correct part number stamps on the rods for a '69 Camaro.  The car has a lot of original parts, but this shifter seems to have a datecode that's way too early for my car. I find it hard to believe that the prior owner would have ditched the original shifter and put a Firebird one on it.

Basically I'm interested to know if there's any way to distinguish a '68 Firebird shifter from a '69 Camaro unit. I have found and bought a May'69 dated shifter to replace this one if it turns out to be a Firebird one.

My 69 Z/28 08C project came with a numbers-matching Muncie M20 and a Hurst shifter.  The shifter has a round handle with 3/8" threads and the chrome ball is 3.97 ounces.  The shifter body is stamped 3138  and has a datecode of 2 8B4 which is February 1968.  That seems too early of a datecode for even the earliest '69 Camaros, and way too early for an August '69 car.  I understand that Hurst shifters were not installed in '68 Camaros.  The 1-2 and 3-4 shifter rods don't have any numbers stamped on them but they have all the correct hardware including the correct '69 stampings on the shift levers. The reverse rod is stamped 5771 and the reverse lockout rod is 5773 which is correct for a 69 SBC shifter. The reverse lever is stamped 5769.

It's my understanding that '68 Firebirds used the same Hurst shifter body, but I read that they use a 5/16" threaded shifter ball which would take a different stick.  Is this true?  Did Firebirds use the same shifter rods and hardware as the Camaros?

Is this a '68 Firebird shifter or a very early '69 Camaro shifter?

Just saw this post after being pointed to it.  Don't know if this is still needed but here it is. I can't figure out how to post a pic from my computer....

69 Z/28 X33D80
Official NCRS build date August 19, 1969
Rear axle codes and casting numbers.
C BU 0815G1 E
3969341 NF  date code G 23 9  July 23, 1969