And here is the install of the Christmas Hurst Syncro Loc...



for the sake of reference, here is neutral



1st Gear



2nd Gear



3rd Gear



What a smooth little shifter she is too.


The line up looks good and all things are finally normal. I guess the 3rd time, er... 4th time is a charm? Now to get down to brass tacks and get this installed on the transmission in the car. Hopefully I will have some time to do it this weekend. The installation looks straightforward enough.

Anyone out there in need of a Master Shift unit or the other Syncro Loc I tried? they are for sale for what I got in them. danaxjessup@yahoo.com" class="SmlLinks">danaxjessup@yahoo.com

Daniel Jessup

Lancaster, California

aka "The Hot Rod Reverend"
check out the 1955 Ford Fairlane build at www.hotrodreverend.com

Look what Santa brought me for Christmas...






Yep - it is a Syncro Loc shifter, NOS, with a removable shift lever. The brackets and arms in the box are for Pontiac, but the bag of hardware should also be handy!

Daniel Jessup

Lancaster, California

aka "The Hot Rod Reverend"
check out the 1955 Ford Fairlane build at www.hotrodreverend.com

Before I give you part 3 here, let me say I am very happy that I have a duplicate transmission out of the car. The constant adjusting, fiddling, bolting/unbolting, removal, installation, etc is quite easy since there is a transmission on the bench.

Ok, so today the postman leaves me a couple of boxes on the doorstep (actually 3 boxes but the third box contains a pair of Holley 94's to rebuild). One box holds a very nice Mastershift with a nice handle that is LOOOOOOOONG compared to the syncro loc I have and the other box contains Hurst shifter hardware arms and the like, prebent specifically for this overdrive transmission.



Photos of the rods installed on the syncro loc....



And photos of the Mastershifter (I am told it is the updated version of the syncro loc)




While things look good if you look closely you can realize that when the shifter is in second the rod is interfering with the shifter case... reason? The Mastershift case is slightly larger than the old Syncro Loc. Also, if you look at the bracket you will find that where the pivot hole lined up for the Syncro Loc, the hole does not line up for the Master Shifter.

I like the Mastershifter and the option to change out shifter arms pretty easily. It is definitely "larger and heavier" than the Syncro Loc.

Back to the benc and more modifications... time to elongate some holes and to bend a rod ever so gently.

Daniel Jessup

Lancaster, California

aka "The Hot Rod Reverend"
check out the 1955 Ford Fairlane build at www.hotrodreverend.com

Here are a couple of photos of the interference from the bracket/OD lockout lever.



You can tell by the photos above that the lever was hitting the Hurst Bracket and leaving that small arc of grease. I put the bracket in a vise and carefully nudged it over with the vise to make the bracket widen out a little bit. This gave me about an 1/8" clearance and I am pretty happy with it after bolting everything up it looked pretty good.



The shifter shifted into all positions just fine tonight with 0 play - nothing seemed sloppy at all. I did have one shifter rod from Hurst and kind of mocked it up in the shifter and put it up to an original lever on the case (after flipping it upside down). I know that Hurst made levers to replace the originals but I think these were all flat stock right? Seems like the offset of the original levers would help you keep a straigther rod since the line looks very good. Maybe Hurst uses levers that essentially have a shorter arc because they are smaller?




Daniel Jessup

Lancaster, California

aka "The Hot Rod Reverend"
check out the 1955 Ford Fairlane build at www.hotrodreverend.com

Also trying to figure out a Hurst Syncro Loc Shifter that I just had delivered... not quite sure I have it all right. Maybe I can put a post up elsewhere to get some help in some questions. I could not get the shifter to go into 1st or R (just sitting on the bracket, no arms attached). Can I hook the arms up with the levers on the side of the transmission in their current position or do I have to turn these upside down. It looks as if they need to stay down from what I can tell. How do I get the OD lockout lever in a position to move because of this bracket setup - will the current position work?

check out the photos and fire away with any helpful comments. The shifter is only 12" above the mechanism (including the ball)... not sure this is going to be tall enough in the car.

 
 
 
 
 
Any ideas on what the bracket and rods below might be for?
 


Daniel Jessup

Lancaster, California

aka "The Hot Rod Reverend"
check out the 1955 Ford Fairlane build at www.hotrodreverend.com

Been a long time and this move has been a real kicker, but I have finally been able to get back into things here and there. First up are a few photos of a Christmas present for my dad. I took a 55 Ford Mainline Headlight Hood and turned into a clock... I think he will like it.

 
 
 
 




Daniel Jessup

Lancaster, California

aka "The Hot Rod Reverend"
check out the 1955 Ford Fairlane build at www.hotrodreverend.com

Hey Daniel;
A move like the one you (and I) made definitely takes the wind out of your sails when you are on a roll and getting things done on a project. I'm confident you will be back on track soon. It's hard to kill the passion we have.
Rono

  Ron Lane,  Meridian, ID

I am still alive if anyone cares to know. I have not had much time to do much of anything what with the new move, setting up a garage that only had one outlet when I started, etc. I reckon I travel quite a bit more too. Hopefully I can get back to things by the holidays. I hate I missed Columbus being so close.

Daniel Jessup

Lancaster, California

aka "The Hot Rod Reverend"
check out the 1955 Ford Fairlane build at www.hotrodreverend.com

Thanks fellas for the encouraging comments.

Here is a link to the load up....
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=iKFOQ0RzxMk

Enjoy lol - it's pretty mundane

Daniel Jessup

Lancaster, California

aka "The Hot Rod Reverend"
check out the 1955 Ford Fairlane build at www.hotrodreverend.com

Dan, 
          Being from Ohio I can tell you the best deals are usually in one of the small towns away from the citizen and work centers.  

Frank/Rebop

Bristol, In ( by Elkhart)