Modern transmission swaps made easier

Words: Hib Halverson; Photos: Drive Line Components Company, Hib Halverson

Ever wonder why shifters are such a popular aftermarket modification?

This Tremec TKO five-speed is fitted with a Quik Stik Shifter configured for use in a ‘68 or ‘69 Camaro. TKOs have three different locations for
their shifters. On this transmission, the rearmost mounting point is used. The two other locations have cover plates sitting on them. Driveline Components has shifter base plates available which enable shifter installations at either of those other two mounting points.

For one, they enhance the driver’s control over the vehicle, delivering that simple satisfaction of a positive shift engagement so you know you are in the right gear at the right time. Aftermarket shifters are also a relatively inexpensive modification, but it can be confusing to pick the right late model shifter for your application.

In the early- to mid-’80s, the auto industry changed to manual transmissions with top-mounted, internal rail-shift mechanisms, such as the Tremec T-5 in Camaros, Firebirds, and Mustangs. The T-5 was followed by the T-56 and T6060 six-speeds and eventually, the T6070 seven-speed. Additionally, Tremec offered an aftermarket five-speed, the TKO, and aftermarket six-speeds, the Magnum and Magnum XL. Aftermarket shifter makers concentrated on making products for these newer transmissions used in original equipment applications.

When the Resto Mod craze took off, shifter makers were caught flat-footed. There were few shifter choices for, say…a modern five-speed in a ‘68-’69 Camaro or a contemporary six-speed in a ‘65 Fairlane.

In the early-2000s, this shifter shortfall caught the attention of hot rodder/engineer/entrepreneur Red Roberts, founder of McLeod Industries, best known for flywheels and clutches. McLeod was also a Tremec distributor and maker of transmission adapters, so Roberts heard a lot of Resto Mod customers crying about the lack of shifters for swaps of modern transmissions into older cars.

Seeing an opportunity with the hundreds of thousands of late model performance cars with Tremec manual transmissions, Roberts did some brainstorming and developed some key ideas for use in what would become the “Quik Stik” Shifter.

As a first step, Roberts would use “belleville” washers for biasing rather than traditional coil springs. Second, he’d replace the typical delrin-ball-in-socket shifter pivot with a spherical bearing, which is smaller, more precise, generates less friction, and requires no lubrication. Last, and from a business standpoint, certainly not least, he wanted this to be a “modular” design so a modest number of parts could be used in different combinations to make shifters to fit many different applications — everything from a TKO five-speed in a Plymouth Duster to a Corvette TR6070 seven-speed in a Hudson Hornet.

Well, ok, we’re just foolin’ with you on the Hudson Hornet thing, but you get the idea: Roberts’ company, Driveline Components, which he formed after his sale of McLeod Industries, catalogs a heck of a lot of shifters — about 5000. The two most common applications are for ‘68-’69 Camaros with either the Tremec TKO five speed or the T-56 six-speed. The most unusual? Roberts told us he has built several shifters for right-hand-drive, Australian hot rods with Tremec gearboxes.

The core of a Quik Stik Shifter is its “Stub.” Driveline Components makes about a dozen different versions of the Stub, which are the basis of the product’s wide application range. The stubs are machined from billets of 4140 steel. The top is threaded. At its center is the spherical bearing mount. The bearing is retained by a snap ring and rides on a steel pin, the ends of which are retained in one of several different 6061-T6 aluminum shifter bodies.

The Stub’s two cross arms are 90 degrees to the bearing centerline, which prevents the Stub from twisting on its yaw axis in the body. Slots in the body allow it to pivot fore or aft, for up- and down-shifts, or side-to-side in the neutral gate. At the bottom is a ball, which engages a socket machined into the transmission’s internal shift rail.

On the pin, between the inside of the shifter body and the bearing’s inner race, are 10 Belleville washers, five per side. Developed by a Frenchman, Julien Belleville, in 1867, a “Belleville Washer” is a type of spring that looks like a washer. When compressed axially, its shape produces spring characteristics. Since the early 1960s, the most common automotive application for them have been “diaphragm clutches,” the “diaphragm” being a large, Belleville washer with “fingers” on its inside diameter.

Used in a Quik Stik Shifter, Bellevilles provide the “biasing” towards the 3rd/4th gate, which is a common shifter principle. This bias eliminates a driver having to “find” third gear; as it moves through neutral, the shifter’s Belleville washer assists the Stub’s side-ways movement into to the 3-4 gate but resists the handle going as far as the 5-R or 5-6 gate.

Retaining the Stub in the shifter body is a steel retaining plate. Most Quik Stiks come with a standard plate however, for racing applications, Driveline Components has an optional plate with adjustable shifter stops. Attaching the plate and the body to the shifter’s 6061-T6 aluminum base plate are four countersunk, socket-head cap screws.

The steel adapter arm, which is the other factor in this shifter’s wide range of applications, attaches to the stub with a self-locking nut. To ensure precise orientation, the arm has a keyway, which is a slight interference fit on the stub. Driveline Components has nearly a hundred different adapter arms offering as much as a 4 ¼-inch fore/aft offset and up to a 3-inch lateral offset.

The Quik Stik for the TKO/early Camaro application finished with a Driveline Components shift lever and shift knob.

Finishing off a Driveline Components Shifter is a chromed shift lever. Three different levers are available, and each can attach to the adapter arm in one of three positions. A shift knob is not included, but there are many vendors, such as Hinson Motorsports, that carry shift knobs.

As great as it is, even a Quik Stik Shifter cannot violate the laws of physics. When you decrease the shift throw, shift effort goes up, but, Driveline Components’ reduced friction design mitigates that increase. Switching to a premium, low-viscosity, synthetic gear lubricant in the transmission, such as Driven Racing Oil’s STF, may further reduce shift effort. In fact, it’s possible this shifter, in combination with a premium synthetic trans lube, could actually have net shift effort staying about the same, in spite of its shorter shift throw.

Driveline Components Quik Stik shifters for restomod, retrofit, and non-GM OE replacement applications are available from McLeod Racing, along with several Tremec “Elite” distributors. They are also sold direct by Driveline Components. The “Hinson Short Throw Shifter” based on the “Quik Stik” design is available for original equipment Tremec six-speeds in C5/6/7 Corvettes, 4th Gen Camaros, and Pontiac GTOs, and is sold exclusively by Hinson Motorsports. Additionally, Hinson Motorsports is developing its “Short Throw” shifter for 5th Gen Camaros and the 1G and 2G Cadillac CTS-Vs.

Sources

Hinson Motorosports
hinsonsupercars.com

McLeod Racing
mcleodracing.com

Tremec
tremec.com