Hi Y'all,
I have decided to redo the shifter setup and wanted to pass it on for everyone to check out and pass on any comments and/or show us all what you're running. I'm going to extend it up through a narrow slit in the roof so it will be visible as it goes down the road. I still need to add something to the hand that I can attach a few pinches of a good old plaid flannel tattered shirt sleeve with something that would resemble bloody skin and muscle that will flap in the breeze while heading down the road. Since the shifter has a reverse lock-out setup I will be inserting a cross bar just above the mechanism to be able to engage that as well as easily operating the shifter itself so that I don't need to make the opening in my roof any wider than I have to. And, as an added "bonus", I will be attaching a couple of matching pistons on each end that will have the "guts" machined out to turn them into cool cup holders and attach them to the cross bar on one end in a way that would allow them to pivot as the shifter is operated so that the cup will always stay in the upright position and not spill. I'm thinking about using a couple of floating piston pins and machine an extra slot in them that would let me use a c-clip on the inside as well as the outside of the piston so that the piston won't slide back and forth along the pin. I still need to apply a little more heat to it so that the sleeve will pretty much stay parallel to the roof line but so far I haven't had any issues curling the fingers around the original knob to attach them using an 8-32 buttonhead screw through each one to make sure it stays put. The only thing I'm not sure of yet is what I will use to give the appearance of the bloody arm in the sleeve. I'm going to attach it to the "arm bone" on the hand using the same type of screws but I need it to be durable enough to not have it tear away yet look realistic enough for people to take a second look when they see it. Let me know what y'all think about my plan and certainly any feedback is welcome. I was originally thinking of using a mannequin hand and arm but when Halloween came it dawned on me that a this was a better way to go, especially when I was able to pick up a pair of solid plastic hands on clearance for only $4. Plus, if my son has his way, we might convert over to RH drive, which means the shifter will need to be shifted with the left hand so I'll be covered if that ever happens...lol
I have decided to redo the shifter setup and wanted to pass it on for everyone to check out and pass on any comments and/or show us all what you're running. I'm going to extend it up through a narrow slit in the roof so it will be visible as it goes down the road. I still need to add something to the hand that I can attach a few pinches of a good old plaid flannel tattered shirt sleeve with something that would resemble bloody skin and muscle that will flap in the breeze while heading down the road. Since the shifter has a reverse lock-out setup I will be inserting a cross bar just above the mechanism to be able to engage that as well as easily operating the shifter itself so that I don't need to make the opening in my roof any wider than I have to. And, as an added "bonus", I will be attaching a couple of matching pistons on each end that will have the "guts" machined out to turn them into cool cup holders and attach them to the cross bar on one end in a way that would allow them to pivot as the shifter is operated so that the cup will always stay in the upright position and not spill. I'm thinking about using a couple of floating piston pins and machine an extra slot in them that would let me use a c-clip on the inside as well as the outside of the piston so that the piston won't slide back and forth along the pin. I still need to apply a little more heat to it so that the sleeve will pretty much stay parallel to the roof line but so far I haven't had any issues curling the fingers around the original knob to attach them using an 8-32 buttonhead screw through each one to make sure it stays put. The only thing I'm not sure of yet is what I will use to give the appearance of the bloody arm in the sleeve. I'm going to attach it to the "arm bone" on the hand using the same type of screws but I need it to be durable enough to not have it tear away yet look realistic enough for people to take a second look when they see it. Let me know what y'all think about my plan and certainly any feedback is welcome. I was originally thinking of using a mannequin hand and arm but when Halloween came it dawned on me that a this was a better way to go, especially when I was able to pick up a pair of solid plastic hands on clearance for only $4. Plus, if my son has his way, we might convert over to RH drive, which means the shifter will need to be shifted with the left hand so I'll be covered if that ever happens...lol
