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Hurst saginaw 3 speed shifter

15K views 8 replies 5 participants last post by  tx71nova 
#1 ·
Since there has been a overwhelming demand for hurst 3 speed saginaw shifter info:rolleyes:, here it is.

I recently built a 355 SBC for my 71 and the 3 speed saginaw was whining bad so i decided to rebuild it. The rebuild was fairly straight forward. The mystery shifter that was in the car was in bad shape along with the linkage. so i decided to replace it with a Hurst mastershift 3 speed shifter

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/HUU-3667271/

and the linkage

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/HUU-3670010/

if you follow the instructions its an easy install (i did the install with the trans sitting on the work bench so i dont know how hard it would be to do with the tranny in the car


When i installed it in the car, i took the shifter handle off to make it a lot easier to install.

The shifter hole
When i bought the car the people that had the car before me moved the shifter from the column to the floor. and if you dont have a hole in your car here are the measurements for the shifter hole i have:

I measured from the face of the heater box to the front of the shifter hole and from the passenger side door shell to the passenger side of the shifter hole




The hole for the shifter i have is more then big enough




Bench seat clearance

in all the pics the shifter was in 1st


Here are some pics of the shifter with my beach seat moved all the way up:


as you can see the shifter just barely hits the seat, i have not driven the car with the seat all the up cause im to tall (5'11'') but i dont think the seat would push the shifter into neutral



and with the bench seat moved all the way back (the way i have it when i drive):





I hope this helps you guy out
 
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#2 ·





i'd like to add a couple comments which may further the assistance offered by this fantastic write up...


looking at these two images... if the shifter handle is left off of the transmission, go ahead and install the trans. the engine will be tilted back and the transmission hanging down in back...

jack it up so the shift handle "nub" is as close to the floor as possible. now, mark the 4 corners of the shifter, lower trans again, you can use a hammer and a punch and mark the 4 corners on the floor for the shifter to pass through. {mark them heavily}

lower trans. you can see the witness marks made by the hammer & punch. cut the hole in the floor from mark to mark. you now have a nice, tight fitting hole for the shifter. you can also trim a little here or there to accommodate the shifter for shifter to floor clearance.

you can use a 1/4" drill bit on the 4 corners and cut from hole to hole with a die grinder w/cutoff wheel, or a sawsall from hole to hole... whatever suitable panel cutting equipment you have on hand.


hopefully this will assist further...
 
#3 ·
Sorry for the late reply texas. This is a nice post tho. I will refer back to this page after i get my floor pans in and some other work done. Ohh yea anybody know how to get the molding with the air vents by the kicker panels out without having to take the dash apart?
 
#5 ·
Wow just found this post. This is what I want to put in my 68 L79 but it has the borg warner heavy duty M13 transmission. They say it won't work for my tranny. The only thing that may be different is the tale housing bolts. Can you measure the center distance of the bolts where the bracket bolts to the tail hosing for me? I would like to try this set up...

Also maybe measure the mounting bracket front to back if possible?
 
#8 ·
Ok good, that's what I'm hoping to get out of my 355 I'm building this winter. I've heard a lot of guys ragging on the saginaw, but i think for a street application it will hold up fine. I want to do some hard shifting, but I'm planning on staying away from doing holeshots.

What is the length of your shifter stick? Was given a hurst mastershift but the stick is for a truck and is 14in tall. I feel that would be awkward in the nova.
 

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