Original '69 Z/28 shifter finishes

[56Chevynut]

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?

[bcmiller]

Are you an experienced plater?

Unfortunately I don't have an exact answer for you. You can check the CRG report on shifters and that might help a little. https://www.camaros.org/shifters.shtml

Otherwise you could contact Eric Davidson. I will PM you his contact information.

[56Chevynut]

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.

[bcmiller]

OK, my suggestion still stands. The guy I gave you contact information for is a long time transmission builder and he has done shifters for me in the past. Having him do it is probably the easiest way.

I don't think plating was the same on Camaro and Pontiac shifters. The shifter bodies have a silver zinc plating and the 1/2 3/4 levers might have more of the yellow dichromate plating. But Chevy rods and the reverse level I *THINK* are black phosphate.

Again, for accurate results I suggest you have someone do the plating for you. Best wishes.

[56Chevynut]

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,"

[KurtS]

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

[56Chevynut]

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.