As the car was going down the line at the factory. Was the body lowered onto the frame with the four speed shifter mounted to the trans already or was it installed after the car was lowered? This is referring to the 64 - 67 cars

 

My guess would be that the shifter handle would have to be installed afterwards. There were different shapes depending on if there was a bench seat or not and the bench seat shifter has a pretty good bend in it.
I would think that the shifter and rods would be installed before just for access and adjusted afterwards.
But again, I am only guessing.

 

Actually, Olds used the same handle for bucket and bench applications, but the answer is still after. There's a reason why the factory Hurst shifter handles snap into the shifter vs. the aftermarket ones retained with two bolts. Snapping it in was MUCH faster on the assembly line.

 

Does that explain why the hole in the floor for 4 sp. cars is so much bigger than it really needs to be. Then of course you had the small 4 sp. floor hump to cover the large cut out. Just wondering what sequence everything came together. So my guess is that the body was lowered to the frame with the large cut out with all drive train together except shift handle. Do you think the 4 sp. hump was tack welded on at this point or was it put on as the initial cut out was happening?

 

Welding was done before the body got to the assembly line, in fact, before paint even. The sparks from welding would have damaged the interior if it were done that late in the process. The large cutout is there to allow room to remove the shifter for service with the trans in place.

 

Ok, that makes sense. But why was the initial cut out so large?

 

One more time...

 

My 65 442 club coupe has a four speed / bench setup and the shifter is specific to the bench seat setup.
I am pretty sure there were three or four different shifter handles in 65 and most likely the same up to 72, but I could be off on that part.

 

I should have noted that my response only applied to the 1966-up factory Hurst shifters. The 64-65 Muncie shifters are different and use a bolt-on stick. According to the parts book, there were four different sticks used on the 1964-65 Muncie four speed shifters. 384744 was non-console, 384730 was console, exc. 442 (due to the "442" logo), 390046 for 442 bench seat and 390049 for 442 buckets.

As for the number of different sticks on the Hurst shifter, there was only one shape for 1966-69. It was the same for bucket or bench, console or non-console. There are two part numbers because one said "442" (393713) and one didn't (392965), but the sticks were otherwise identical.

For 70-72 there were two shapes (console and non-console), each with or without the "442" logo.

 

Joe, are you sure there was a "442" shifter after 1969?

 

Both my 70W-31 4 speed and 71 W-30 Had the Letter "H" engraved at the base of the shifter handle.

 

The W-31 was NOT a 442, so it obviously would not have received the stick with the "442" stamp.

 

Yes I realize that, I was trying to point out that for 1970-1972, that Oldsmobile for 1970 did not use 442 at the base of the shifter as you had noted. Each shifter used a letter H only engraved at the base of the shifter handle during those 3 yeas and no other letters etc. except a lonely letter H.

I cant vouch for the 68's or 69's. I don't recall if they used the "H" or 442.

 

Non-442s NEVER got a stick with "442" on them, so using a W-31 as an example in a discussion about 442 shifters is irrelevant.

 

'68 & '69 442s had both the "H" & 442 on them. I painted them on mine just to put a little color in the interior