Muncie Shifters

[Bill W.]

Re: Muncie Shifters

Walter,
Someone will correct me if I am wrong, but I believe Inland (a division of GM) built the shifters for C2 and maybe other series also. For what it is worth the original shifter in my '66 has 127K miles on it and does not rattle or jam between gears. It has also NEVER been speed shifted. Merry Christmas to all who read this! Back to the garage! Bill

[Michael J.]

Re: Muncie Shifters

Walter,
Someone will correct me if I am wrong, but I believe Inland (a division of GM) built the shifters for C2 and maybe other series also. For what it is worth the original shifter in my '66 has 127K miles on it and does not rattle or jam between gears. It has also NEVER been speed shifted. Merry Christmas to all who read this! Back to the garage! Bill

[John H.]

Re: Muncie Shifters

Walter,
Someone will correct me if I am wrong, but I believe Inland (a division of GM) built the shifters for C2 and maybe other series also. For what it is worth the original shifter in my '66 has 127K miles on it and does not rattle or jam between gears. It has also NEVER been speed shifted. Merry Christmas to all who read this! Back to the garage! Bill

Bill -

That's correct - Inland Division of GM made all of the 4-speed shifters for '63-'81 Corvettes. The one in my '67 has at least 87,000 miles on it and still works as smooth as silk, in the short-throw position, and has never jammed. It takes about an hour to rebuild one if it needs it.

[Norris W.]

Re: Muncie Shifters

I've always felt that the biggest problem with Muncie shifters were the fact that they were mounted to the chassis instead of the side of the transmission, so full power shifting with the engine and transmission on rubber mounts and the shifter mounted rigid to the chassis played havoc with the adjustment, especially when everything started to wear a little. I'm not sure when GM made the change to the chassis bracket, but needless to say the '63 and back shifter that I'm familiar with was a much better setup than the remote one after the change.

I also didn't know there were two different length handles in the Muncie shifter, but Terry M. was using my L89 for a workshop somewhere and pointed it out as having a shifter that was 3/4" (if I remember right) too tall. It had been Top Flighted, Bloomington Gold'd, and PV'd and it was never caught.

[Joe L.]

Re: Muncie Shifters

I've always felt that the biggest problem with Muncie shifters were the fact that they were mounted to the chassis instead of the side of the transmission, so full power shifting with the engine and transmission on rubber mounts and the shifter mounted rigid to the chassis played havoc with the adjustment, especially when everything started to wear a little. I'm not sure when GM made the change to the chassis bracket, but needless to say the '63 and back shifter that I'm familiar with was a much better setup than the remote one after the change.

I also didn't know there were two different length handles in the Muncie shifter, but Terry M. was using my L89 for a workshop somewhere and pointed it out as having a shifter that was 3/4" (if I remember right) too tall. It had been Top Flighted, Bloomington Gold'd, and PV'd and it was never caught.

Norris-------

The change to the bracket-mounted linkage occurred in early 1966. All Corvette shifters prior to that time were mounted directly to the transmission.

The bracket mount was done to reduce vibration and shifter movement. Personally, I prefer the bracket-mount.

[John H.]

Re: Muncie Shifters

Norris-------

The change to the bracket-mounted linkage occurred in early 1966. All Corvette shifters prior to that time were mounted directly to the transmission.

The bracket mount was done to reduce vibration and shifter movement. Personally, I prefer the bracket-mount.

Per TSB #66-65, the change to the bracket-mounted shifter occurred on March 21, 1966.

[Jim T.]

Re: Muncie Shifters

Just removed my 1968's top shifter plate/console panel and noticed from the top of the top boot down there is a crud/rust development. Anyone have seen this and corrected it? Any suggestions on how to clean up this portion of the shifter?

My shifter works great and is original, plan on removing it soon and clean the moving/sliding parts and lubricate it again. Its been a few years since I did it last time.

[Stuart F.]

Re: Muncie Shifters

I've done my share of power shifting back in the day at the strip and on the street, but since I've had the 63 Vette with the tall 3.36 final I've not found it to be necessary. i usually wind away from most all those I've mixed wheels with. It's rather fun to do while watching the 4.11 and 4.56 guys power shifting their hearts out trying to keep up with me to no avail.

My shifter has 47,000+ plus on it and is as smooth as ever with no rattles. That surprised me too as I was used to the B-W's vibrating like crazy at high RPM's. I know I am close to new clutch time and I can't wait to see how my counter shaft looks cause it's starting to get noisy - sounds more like a rock crusher every day.

Stu Fox

[David L.]

Re: Muncie Shifters

Per TSB #66-65, the change to the bracket-mounted shifter occurred on March 21, 1966.

My 1966 Corvette (purchased in 1979) with February 24 body build date ("F24" on trim tag) came with the 3888263 bracket. I believe that the bracket is original equipment as the partial VIN on the Muncie transmission matches the VIN on the car. The engine is not original.

Dave

[Michael J.]

Re: Muncie Shifters

I've done my share of power shifting back in the day at the strip and on the street, but since I've had the 63 Vette with the tall 3.36 final I've not found it to be necessary. i usually wind away from most all those I've mixed wheels with. It's rather fun to do while watching the 4.11 and 4.56 guys power shifting their hearts out trying to keep up with me to no avail.

My shifter has 47,000+ plus on it and is as smooth as ever with no rattles. That surprised me too as I was used to the B-W's vibrating like crazy at high RPM's. I know I am close to new clutch time and I can't wait to see how my counter shaft looks cause it's starting to get noisy - sounds more like a rock crusher every day.

Stu Fox

The ubiquitous power shift sure helped that FI Sting Ray beat the 413 back in the day:


Tach it up, tach it up
Buddy gonna shut you down
Declinin' numbers at an even rate
(Ooo, movin' out now)
At the count of one we both accelerate
(Ooo, movin' out now)
Ya my stingray is light and the slicks are startin' to spin
(Ooo, movin' out now)
But the my four-thirteen's really diggin' in
(Ooo, movin' out now)
Gotta be cool now
Power shift here we go

[William F.]

Re: Muncie Shifters

Best car song ever!

[Gene M.]

Re: Muncie Shifters

The Beach Boys, Jan & Dean, The Ripcords, and Ronnie & Daytonas sure put out some good car songs.