B&M Unimatic shifter instal

[bucket]

This was a very easy instal, it's just a basic floor shifter with a lot of bang for the buck, and I highly recommend it over the stock column shifter and linkage.

Here's what caused the instal:

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New headers that tuck much higher than the old ones, and they interfere with this:

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This here is going to solve the problem:

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I forgot to take pictures of cutting the hole in the floor, but it's pretty simple. The shifter comes with a template to lay on the floor. Just place the shifter where you want it on the floor, then mark the shifter's center pivot on the floor with a center punch. When picking a location, make sure the shifter has room for full travel and there will be enough clearance to mount the boot to the floor.

Shifter loosely set in place:

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Then I chose to put some tar type sealer strips under the shift base, and then bolt it down:

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^NOTE^ The shifter has a neutral safety switch mounted on the side of it. I chose not to wire it up at this time, my wife and I are both smart enough to not start the truck while it's in gear. I will wire up the switch whenever the truck gets new carpet.

Next install the boot and knob:

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More to come...

 

[bucket]

Next job is under the truck. Remove the stock shifter linkage and bolt the new shift lever to the tranny. Then bolt on the cable mount using the two middle tranny pan bolt locations. Put the shifter and transmission in low gear (after blocking the tires!!) or if a 3spd tranny, the shifter goes to the next lowest position. Then instal the shift cable, adjusting the end so that it lines up with the forward hole on the shift lever.

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I forgot to mention earlier, you can bolt the cable to the shifter assembly before bolting the shifter to the floor. Easier than doing it while it's under the truck.

Here you can see there is oodles of exhaust clearance now:

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After laying on the ground several times, I see the ticks are going to be bad this year, lol. This little bastard was on the brim of my hat, waiting to attack:

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Anyway, back up in the truck, you can check operation.

Clearance in park:

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In O/D:

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First gear:

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And the parts left over:

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[RetroC10Sport]

So that's where my claw hammer disappeared to. Nice install!

 

[bucket]

So that's where my claw hammer disappeared to. Nice install!

Lol, I don't even remember why I was using that hammer for this. I've got ball peens and body hammers.

 

[smurph20]

I see ebay parts for somebody wanting stock shifter stuff for their resto

 

[J Knight]

Looks nice in there. How is the movement with regards to reverse lockout and such. Can you accidentally hit reverse or neutral while manually going through the gears?

 

[timbo350]

i just put that same shifter in my dually I swapped out my manual for a th400 those headers are those the hedman shorty elites

 

[bucket]

Looks nice in there. How is the movement with regards to reverse lockout and such. Can you accidentally hit reverse or neutral while manually going through the gears?

You have to push downward on the shifter to access reverse and park, but it doesn't take much downward pressure. So yes, it could be done if you're not paying attention. It wouldn't be much of an issue in a car, because you wouldn't be reaching down to grab the shifter. However, it's much easier to use than the stock column shifter, and the detents are much more precise.

i just put that same shifter in my dually I swapped out my manual for a th400 those headers are those the hedman shorty elites

Yep, the short Elites. Previously I had the standard long Hedmans and they were a dream to instal and cleared everything fine (except for the light rubbing on the shackles). But they hung low enough that the salt spray and crap caused the reducers to rust out easily. So I tried the short version and have been dealing with incompatibilities. With the shift linkage out of the way, I was able to build my own head pipes to meet up with the old exhaust.

 

[timbo350]

those elites are built strong ive had a bunch of problems with keepin the header bolts tite i bought them stage 8 locks and the seal
for good aluminum header gaskets now i have now problems

 

[bucket]

Most my stuff has headers, I just periodically go around and make sure they are all snug. I normally run the cheaper graphite type gaskets and have no problems, but this time I splurged and got the high dollar copper ones.

However, the ball-flange collector bolts are always a real bear to keep tight. The last year I just double-nutted all of them and all is well.