[Sarge2]

Just signed up and hoping to find someone that can give me some advise... bought a 63 Bonneville 2dr ht coupe...4speed....problem is someone swapped the BW trans for a saginaw...and cobbled in a muncie shifter....short of finding a BW 4spd, is there a Hurst shifter set up I could use.? Apparently Hurst on line has no suggestions and short of buying something for a later model gm that uses the saginaw I'm stumped at to what to look for....the trans is fine, the shifter is junk and jams up even with normal driving....since the 63 has a bench seat it might complicate things more.... anyone have any ideas? Suggestions....

[alleyCat]

I havent seen a saginaw in years but I would think the mounting locations on a saginaw are the same as a BW or Muncie trans so you should be able to get a Competition Plus to fit. You can buy an aftermarket bench seat shifter handle that looks similar to the factory shifter handle.

[Deadhead]

Chevy Bench seat spaghetti shifters are the same. There is an Impala vendor (Hubbards Impala Parts?) that sells them. Not expensive. I did for a BW T-10, but they probably have for Saginaw too. Could just be the wear parts are gone & could rebuild. Had to tweak the one I bought slightly, but came out fine for a power bench '63. I put a Hurst Comp. Plus on mine.

Got all my Hurst stuff on E-Bay. Guy in SC sells parts & rebuilds. The Hurst site is now useless. You will have to search the ones for sale to determine application. I had all the #s etc. but sold my '63.

[mgarblik]

I might be able to help a little here. The BW, Muncie, and Saginaw 4-speeds all have the same basic case size and bolt-ups. Shifter wise, the Saginaw is also very similar for the 1-2, 3-4 shift levers. The only major difference is the reverse shift lever. On the saginaw, it's on the side cover, right behind the 1-2 lever. On the BW and Muncie, it's on the tail housing. So getting a shifter to fit your 63 big car and look and work the way you want, depends on how handy you are and how much work you want to do. Personally, I would use a Hurst shifter and not consider modifying an Inland or some other junk factory shifter, other than a factory Hurst. The factory Hurst chrome levers are round and if you can find one that fits your bench seat, I would start with that. Aftermarket Hurst shifters have a bolt on lever that will also work, but looks less stock. Once the lever fitment issue is worked out, a shifter for a BW or a Muncie will work on a Saginaw, but the reverse linkage rod will not. You will need to fabricate that link rod. Remember, this is only for reverse, so it doesn't have to be as heavy duty to get the job done. I would google Muncie and Saginaw images to get an idea of what will need to be done to make that link. Not a big deal.
I have a slightly modified factory GTO shifter on a Muncie transmission in a 62 Catalina with a bench seat. Not factory stock but works well and looks OK.

[Deadhead]

Here's a Comp. Plus with a Hubbard's afterMkt stick:

[Stuart]

If you aren't determined to have an OEM appearing round shift lever, you could simply get a modern Hurst Competition Plus shifter assembly and then just replace the lever if necessary with another Hurst lever. that fits your car. This page on the Hurst website has a chart showing the shapes and dimensions of their various shift levers. http://www.hurst-shifters.com/stick-...ion-id-charts/

[Deadhead]

Originally Posted by Stuart

If you aren't determined to have an OEM appearing round shift lever, you could simply get a modern Hurst Competition Plus shifter assembly and then just replace the lever if necessary with another Hurst lever. that fits your car. This page on the Hurst website has a chart showing the shapes and dimensions of their various shift levers. http://www.hurst-shifters.com/stick-...ion-id-charts/

IIRC, it is finding the correct CP mechanism that will fit using their website that is a problem. The PN for the correct one is what he really needs. The lever part is easy! I could be totally in the weeds on this, but that is the problem I seem to remember running into.

[alleyCat]

Well this may be the shifter body. The handle is easy from Hubbards etc. The rods may take more investigating

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/h...model/firebird

[Sarge2]

Not really worried about the "stock" look......was more concerned about the shifter length and the mounting bracket location...the stock trans mount goes around the tailshaft seal area with the two biscuits....I can fab whatever I need but was wondering if there was someone who actually used a specific saginaw hurst shifter and install and bracket kit.....being lazy I guess...lol...I'll let you know what developes as I move along on this....really appreciate all the response......hope down the road I can be of assistance to others...