C1 '57 3 speed shifter

[Theodore K.]

I recently e-bay purchased a 3 speed shifter advertised as a 57. I now have it and am not sure that it is a corvette shifter. It kind of looks like the one in the AIM. I have several questions.
Is the shifter lever that comes to the knob straight or does it have a dog-leg bend in it?

The AIM shows the cross shaft with a bolt head and spiral spring. Mine has a bent leaf spring to move the lever side-to-side. Which is correct for a 57?

I want to replate the shifter shaft. How do you disassemble this shifter? There are two pins that go through the cross shaft. They do not appear to drive out with a punch and hammer. Do they press out or something else?

I find no part numbers on any of the parts so far. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Ted

[Steve Junkersfeld]

Re: C1 '57 3 speed shifter

Ted, This is my analysis based on what I have seen while working on my 56 shifter. The stick for 56 and 57 is straight. 58 and later shifters have the dog leg. Early 56 shifters have the "U" shaped leaf spring to pre-load the shifter to the 2-3 gate, while late 56 and 57 have the spiral spring on the end of the center shaft (I can't tell you where early 56 ends and late 56 begins). The shifter dissassembles by pressing (or hammering) the pins out. It is a very basic setup. I purchased replacement parts (very good ones I might add) from a company I think is called Michigan Corvette Supply (I will follow this up with an email to confirm that). You are correct - there were no part numbers on any of the pieces in my shifter. From what you describe, it sounds like you have a 56 shifter - I hope this helps. Steve