What auto shifter do you run?

[turbobuick1]

Ok, these pictures are terrible, and the car is dirty, but just wanted to show the Hurst Lightning Rods in my car because a fellow member was asking. I love the reaction people have when they see it! And they're pretty fun to shift too!

 

[1of1547]

I had a Winters shifter (Turbo 350) in mine for years and loved it. Then I decided to try to put the stock shifter in again with a reverse manual gate so I could reuse the stock console. I put it back in, but never drove it with the stock shifter. It felt way to Mickey Mouse for me. And if I remember right the cable broke. Then I got the brillant idea to put a Quarter Stick in it. "The Source" article is a great starting point for this. It works great, just a real PITA every time I put it in reverse. I'm getting to lazy for the push this, pull that, etc. As soon as I find the transmission lever (found everything else ) I'm going back to the Winters. It's much easier to use. Winters makes a shifter for the 700r4 Maverick Performance Products, Sidewinder" , I don't know if it can be used in a 200r4.

 

["Turbo-T"]

I'd love to have a set of lightning rods in my car, darn shame is they're EXPENSIVE.

 

[turbobuick1]

I concur, but prices are not nearly as bad as what they were, just keep an eye on ebay. I'm contemplating selling mine this winter to fund another project for my GN.

 

[Shane]

Guys, I saw the pictures some of you posted about the aftermarket shifter you installed in your GN and they all look great!...For a nice appearance, I also bought a console overlay from " TR Custom Parts 84-87 Turbo Regals, Olds G-Body Cars, S-10 Blazers/Pickups " like some of you did, but have a question: ->WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO REINFORCE THE STOCK CONSOLE PLATE (after enlarging the opening for the new shifter) WHERE THERE ARE SOME UNUSED HOLES LEFT BY THE STOCK SHIFTER'S POSITION INDICATOR? I'm concerned that if I simply affix the overlay over it that it will be too "soft" and eventually break through if I accidentally press on it...

I was worried about this when I did my Lightning Rods install, so I reinforced the console plate.

Basically, I cut all of the original plastic out (up to the metal reinforcement braces). Then I cut a piece of sheet metal into a rectangle and duct taped it to the top of the console plate. This let me pour in some fiberglass resin so I had a solid console plate with no holes.

From there it was as easy as cutting the solid console plate to fit the Lightning Rods and RTVing Mark's overlay on top of that.

 

[The_Six]

Turbobuick1,
I love the way the rods look I gave up on getting mine in the car never was able to get a trans bracket for mine so now they just look good on a shelf in my family room. I have been thinking of selling mine to but part of me still wants to get them in my car some day.

 

[turbobuick1]

Turbobuick1,
I love the way the rods look I gave up on getting mine in the car never was able to get a trans bracket for mine so now they just look good on a shelf in my family room. I have been thinking of selling mine to but part of me still wants to get them in my car some day.

By all means, get it in the car. That bracket you speak of is on ebay from time to time (maybe every other week or so). As far as the center console goes:

I bought an extra "top" for my console (that is, the part of your console that is upholstered). Reason being that I wanted to be able to put my stock shifters back in someday, because you have to cut the plastic of that top upholstered piece in such a way that the stock shift indicator could not be reinstalled.

There is no need for any reinforcement. The metal plate that makes up the shifter console should be cut in a rectangular pattern just large enough to let the lighting rods go through (take off the shifter balls obviously.) With Mark's overlay applique, there is plenty of support for it, provided you cut out the metal plate just big enough.

The stock GN console is located by four screws, two in the storage bin by your arm, and two underneath the metal shifter plate. You should take the time to fabricate a bracket for the screws underneath the shifter plate, as the stock shifter has a provision for these screws.

Shifter cables cost around $50, NOS GM ones are over $110 if you can find one.

Interesting fact is that you will probably have to uninstall the passenger seat, as the lightning rods will need to be bolt down to the car first, and then the Buick console goes over them diagonally. But you might find another way of doing this.

 

[The_Six]

Ya Ive been watching ebay and havent seen one on there in a long while and the guy over on the olds boards told me that he no longer can get parts for them. So now Im going to have to make one if I want to use it.

 

[8urV8]

I wanted to put a hurst quarter stick shifter forward pattern.Is there one that will work with the 2004R? If so what is the part number and what cable will I need?Also do you have to modify anything?



Eric

 

[TR Custom Parts]

Here are two pictures I found showing the modified trans lever...The first picture shows the two needed brackets (B&M left, GM right) and the second picture shows them welded together and installed on the transmission (Note that the lower part of the GM bracket has to be cut off before welding). The most important thing is to make sure that the rectangular holes in each brackets are perfectly aligned one on top of the other!

Claude. :smile:

Bringing this thread back to life, do these brackets really need to be welded together? Looks like you have them mounted on top of each other. The stud they go over fits the slots perfectly so they can't rotate. Getting ready to do a Quicksilver install on mine.