Install - Part IV

The beefy 3/4 shift rod was the one that would present an issue with clearance in the tunnel. It mounts to the outer 3/4 shift leg below the shifter body, and as luck would have it that leg already protruded out beyond the tunnel wall (see image 1 below). I installed the shift rod and wedged it up between the tunnel and the front of the trans side cover. That allowed me to mark the tunnel where 4" of the tunnel would need to be relieved along the back end of the rod (closest to the shifter body).

Instead of pounding or massaging the tunnel outward, I chose to slot the tunnel ahead of the shifter box and this allowed the back half of the shift rod to travel through the side of the tunnel closest to where it would attach to the shifter. After it was slotted, I continued with the sheet metal work and formed a 24ga tapered cover for the outside of the tunnel. This enclosed the slot I made for the shift rod and joined to the front of the shifter box I had just finished. Building this new side cover with a tapered front, it was 7/8" deep at the point where it joined the box, and tapered out to be flush at the leading edge.

https://i.ibb.co/CJWS5j1/Shifter-11b.jpg
Here you can see the outer shift leg for the 3/4 position rod is out beyond the side of the tunnel. This is why it needed to have the side of the tunnel slotted.

https://i.ibb.co/Fz9FqZ3/Shifter-12.jpg
I marked out the chalk lines in the tunnel and transferred them through to the inside before making my lateral cuts.

https://i.ibb.co/7jQf4Z1/Shifter-13.jpg\
Only the first 4" of the slot would have the rod pass out through the side of the tunnel, but I decided to cover it with a longer tapered box that ran 8" forward of the box.

https://i.ibb.co/rdnTsW3/Shifter-15.jpg
Cutting a longer slot than needed, a tapered box was made with it being 7/8" deep at the shifter end and feathered out to nothing at the front.

https://i.ibb.co/9bD9Tpr/Shifter-16.jpg
I added a coat of epoxy to the inner seams and once it was all done and welded into place, I sprayed a few coats of black paint to the tunnel side.

Great Tip ! my Dad hooked me up on this trick on a couple shifter installs !!!

Install - Part V

As things wrapped up with the metalwork, I added some sound deadener material to the inside of the transmission tunnel to help with road noise. I will now move on to glue and carpet the sides of the box and will then install a new black loop carpet on the inner floors while trimming around the shifter box. I also found that by cutting down the original SS3 boot, I could install the smaller B4 boot ring. This will provide a clean and correct SS3 boot finish, but on a smaller footprint.

Hoping this helps the next person who wants to install a vintage shifter in a 69 Camaro. More pics when all is finished up next week.

https://i.ibb.co/x60tcvs/Shifter-17.jpg
Sound deadener added to cancel out road noise.

https://i.ibb.co/BLjjwWq/Shifter-18.jpg
It also helps to reduce the amount of heat that transfers up through the floor.

https://i.ibb.co/pWYbV6h/Shifter-19.jpg
Here's a cut down SS3 shifter boot bought from Summit Racing and fit with a B4 ring from another shift boot I had laying around.

https://i.ibb.co/7YvJbzj/Shifter-20.jpg
Once the carpet is wrapped around the box, this will provide a nice clean upright finish for the boot.

Sweet! Nice work!

Jason

What did you “cut down” on the SS3 boot?

Ryan W31

WOW!!!! Very Nice Work

I cut the top section off the boot Ryan. It was cut along the 5th rib where the only top 4 ribs were left intact for the top of the new box. I then put a smaller B4 ring around the top section of the boot after it was cut down. Pictures are above.