[HWYSTR455]

What are the options for retaining OE back lock components when doing a 5 or 6 speed conversion? Would be nice to hear some ideas of how this can be done.

What are others doing with the back lock arm on the steering column if omitting the back lock feature?

Pics would be great, would like to hear from others on this topic.


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[Formulabruce]

What we are doing on my Buddies 1970 Formula is to leave the top end back drive alone and the swivel on the frame. Only the rod to the shifter is missing.
Reverse light wire to a spade and plugged into harness above the column.
So only thing to do is manually rotate the column to get key out and lock steering wheel position.
All I have so far. Tremec Silversport, No body mods at all.

[HWYSTR455]

Yeah, that's what I've been doing too, rotating the collar. I did convert to a shifter mounted safety & reverse light switch, but that doesn't prevent the key from being turned off while in gear, or lock the shifter when key is removed.

Would be nice if there was some type of cable operated setup, or a way to use a soleniod, but maybe I'm dreaming. Would prefer to have the functionality of the back lock setup.


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[Formulajones]

No way to keep the back drive linkage functional as far as I know.

Have done a few of those swaps and currently have a 5 speed in my wife's 69 Z.

I basically have done what Formulabruce explained. I leave the column rod intact and hooked to the swivel down on the frame. I only removed the reverse rod that runs from the shifter to the swivel. Obviously because the modern 5 or 6 speeds are all internally shifted so there is no way to hook up that back drive rod.
I secured the swivel on the frame with wire in the parked position so it holds the column up in the parked (reverse) position and doesn't move. The back up lights are now functioning through a pigtail harness and switch off the 5 speed.

So the steering wheel still locks as it should when the key is shut off, it just no longer holds the shifter in reverse, and it's no longer necessary to park the car in reverse either. Nothing is modified that can't be put back to original.

[HWYSTR455]

Yeah, I'm thinking something like a stepping solenoid, with maybe a throttle cable, mount it on the frame below the booster, and weld a tab on the column housing.

Could just have it step with key on or something, retract when power is removed.

I dunno, seems like a lot of effort for little gain. I will think more about it though, for a manual, the only gain would be the key-remove-while-driving safety feature, not sure it's worth it.


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[HWYSTR455]

So for overdrive autos, ShiftWorks does have a select shaft lever that has the provision for the rod, and universal rod kits, but that obviously doesn't help manual trans folks.

I was talking to a guy at Jake's, who responded to an email to support, and he pointed out that although the above selector shaft lever isn't offered in the GTO/LeMans kits, it is offered in the Chevelle kits, and can be used.

https://shiftworks.com/collections/c...=3259886665749

Now not sure if it will clear a header application or not, but that's another topic.


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[Formulajones]

If this helps.

I put a 4L80E in my Chevelle which is a floor shift car. Still uses the column rod though to work the neutral safety. I run 2" hooker super comps on that car. The stock column rod works just fine and clears everything.
I did use Shift Works for a new horse shoe shifter detent and shift cable though.

Dad's 69 GTO also is a floor shift and uses the column rod for the neutral safety. He's running 2" hooker super comps on his car and that factory column rod also clears everything on his car fine too.

[mrennie]

On my T56 install, I removed everything except the frame pivot bracket as I needed it for the Z bar spring.

As I did not need the reverse light switch in the column and also due to mine being in bad shape anyway, I rotated the column to the lock position and then ran a large self tapping sheet metal screw through the switch assembly. My thought was that if the switch tab that rotates with the inner column tube cannot move, then neither can the tube.

Never thought about being able to turn off the key while driving as a concern. Should I rethink this?

[Formulajones]

I can't even imagine why it would be a concern. Unless you have kids in the car climbing around while you're driving, and they have a tendency to grab the ignition switch and turn the car off??

LOL I can't think of any other scenario where it's something to be concerned with.

The nomad here has nothing of the kind, just a switch on the dash that doesn't even need a key to start the car, let alone turn it off. LOL

[HWYSTR455]

Yes, someone turning off and pulling the key while driving, locking the steering, maybe even a whacko friend or mad girlfriend, you never know. Steering getting locked on the highway would be a panic moment for sure. Sadly, that has happened to me once.

Moving the shifter while the car is parked, it could roll, that's a concern. Maybe not putting shifter all the way into park, too, and have it roll. That too has happened to me, once of each scenario.

I have dougs in the gto, and the driver collector isn't straight back, it's leaned in towards the trans, not happy about that. That might even prevent me from using that selector lever, so might be a no-win. Tempted to switch over to super comps, but dang, that means a new x-over too, forward of mufflers would have to be redone. Uhg. The tips pass through the valance, and it's not lined up as well as I would like, pet peeve of mine, and it's due to the collector offset.

My neutral and reverse lights are moved to the shifter on that car (gto), so that's not an issue.

The manual car (71 bird) is a tko-600, so that wouldn't get the shifter lock anyway. I'm not that concerned with that car, I've never had the back lock/drive stuff hooked up. But while I was asking, I figured I'd include that, see what others have done.

I'm not going to go to any extreme effort to make this happen, but if there is a solution, I would consider doing it at some point.

I will chew on it a while, not sure what the final outcome will be yet, if I will attempt anything. Still interested in ideas though.

EDIT: I still have all the back lock stuff for the gto, so wouldn't be like I would have to shop for that.


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[Formulajones]

If your car is an automatic then by all means I see a couple of good reasons to have the backdrive functioning.
One is that I can't get a car through NHRA tech without a functioning neutral safety, so my auto cars need to retain that back drive feature. Without it you can reach in and crank the car in gear, which isn't a good scenario with an automatic. On a stick car they won't start without the clutch pushed down so that's a non issue.


I guess with an auto, moving the shifter while the car is parked could possibly be a problem, but it really shouldn't be an issue with a stick car, as anyone with a stick car should be parking it with the emergency brake applied anyway. With that said, since this post originally pertains to a 5-6 speed swap (stickshift) I never view the ability to move the shifter out of gear when parked a problem, since I always park them with the brake applied, and don't understand why someone wouldn't, because you can't push the clutch in to start the car without the car rolling if the brake isn't on.

This gets back to the backdrive setup on a factory 4 speed, and the necessity to have the shifter in reverse before you can shut the car off. Meaning every time you park the car, the trans physically has to be in reverse before shutting the car down and removing the key.
Many found this feature annoying back in the day which is why many 4 speed cars got the back drive linkage removed very early in life. Which is why today you still see 4 speed cars that don't have working reverse lights. Can't tell you how many 4 speed cars I've come across with back drive linkage gone.

Personally I never found it to be an annoyance because I'm almost always backing into parking spots anyway so the shifter is in reverse, shut the car off and done.