Updating:
I had to put the install on hold, once I realized, ( thank goodness BEFORE I started drilling...)
that the drivers side down pipe on the "Y" pipe is dead in the way of stopping the bracket for the cable from lining up with the bolt holes on the pan, AND directly in the way of the path the cable will come to the bracket.
So....the trucks going to the shop, to have the pipe modded a bit on Tuesday, hopefully, then I can start the install.
MIGHT have to fab some kind of heat shield for the cable since the drivers side exhaust pipe is going to be pretty close, ( within 2" to 2 1/2" ) to the pipe. Not sure yet.
Possibly thinking of wrapping the exhaust pipe in header wrap at that point to keep the temps down surrounding it? Not quite sure yet.
I'll do pics through the install for this post as it goes in. Depending on when I can get a damn day off, this install will happen in the next couple of weeks...

 

Updating:

Got the shifter in, sorry, no install pics. I dont get days off, usually on mandatory 70 hrs a week, this week, they gave me an option on one day off, so I took Saturday, and thought I'd give it a shot getting this in, and hoping I wouldnt render my truck un-usable since its my dailey driver to and from work.
Actually went better then I expected, with some bumps, but had it started and finished in about 5 hours....
I'll go into detail more through this later... but here it is....




It works fine, no issues, I do have some pics, but all are after the fact. Sorry guys...
But I will try to answer any questions and take more pics as time allows...
I have a few questions myself right now, trying to get the specs needed to install a different ( nicer ) O/D button switch some where on the dash...Thats why I havent taken out the column shifter yet, and I want to make sure this thing is solid first.

 

O/D button is just a momentary switch. So, you can use pretty much anything you want, and put it anywhere.

I think there is just a pin that holds the shift lever in, knock it out, and the lever should come out as well. Don't forget the wires for the O/D switch, they are in there too. Or, could grab a steering column from a manual trans truck.

 

Yeah, I know it's a momentary switch, just wanted to be sure of the specs. ( summit has one I like...this....Momentary switch )
I know that there are 2 lug, 3 lug, and 4 lug push button momentary switches.. usually, the 3rd and 4th lugs are for LED lighting and such...
I've seen the diagrams of the shifter, and replacement ones so I know the wiring, the plug and how to get the old switch out if I wanted to, but I'm just going to do like mentioned, knock out the old shifter, unplug the O/D button, solder in a new one and place it on the dash. I have a brand new bezel sitting in the basement, so once I get the old bezel off, I can find a spot to put the new O/D button.

 

PLEASE Make sure you put the E brake on and chock the wheels!!!! You WILL be shifting the gear selector arm by hand, and the truck WILL move if its not secured....
The first thing I did was figure out the parts install on the trans below.
I decided to just undo the gear shift arm, keeping the link arm to the shifter linkage assemble attached to the gear selector, but removed from the linkage assembly. It was just a cotter pin to remove the gear arm linkage from the rest of the shifter linakage assembly.

Might be hard to tell, but this was where I realized, the stock Y pipe was in the way of letting the bracket line up with the trans bolts to install it, AND, it was directly in the path of the cable to come into the cable bracket.


Since my exhaust was rotted from the muffler back, I was going to get it redone anyway, and this was the time to get them to custom make me a "Y" pipe...
Since I dumped the exhaust as soon as it exited the Muffler, the money I saved on that offset the custom pipe...



The header wap was to try to keep the heat down as much as I could, to help protect the cable. Actually, the wrap did ALOT more then I expected..

For this shifter, you have to remove the TV arm, so you can replace the stock gear selector arm with the one from the kit, then replace the TV arm.
My Trans was completely rebuilt with a new stall and shift kit 2 months ago, so its fairly clean. The TV arm wasnt hard to get a socket on, and once the "Clinch" bolt was loose, I used a screwdriver to pry the arm up and off the spindle.
The spindle has a flat spot in it, so the TV arm, ( and also the gear selector arm ) can only go back on in one spot.
It was alittle tight getting the TV arm off, because the "clinch" bolts actually "clamp" the arm around the spindle, so if its stuck after loosening the bolt, you can use a screw driver to pry the "jaws" of the arm apart, and it comes off easily.
I actually got the arm off with just a bit of prying, but did spread the clamping side a bit before putting it back on... went on very easily.



Once I got the arms back on, I installed the bracket to the trans...easy. Remove 2 bolts on the pan, use a pair of spacers since the stock pan has a raised edge and you dont want to crush or deform that, then reinstall the bolts and the bracket. Torque to spec.



Notice I show the coolant line? The bracket has a slotted front hole so you have some adjustabilty up and down for the cable. Good thing, because the coolant line is just a tad in the way if you try to install with the cable swivel ON TOP of the gear selector arm. I went from underneath. gave me a much straighter line for the cable.

Now, the cable was not installed at this point, because if something was to go wrong, I was going to have to go back to stock, and you should have the shifter in, before you mount the cable. Mostly because its a tight fit on almost everything, and feeding the cable down from the access hole is much easier then feeding it up, around the starter, then up through the access hole.

I dont have any pics of the interior at this point, wish I had but I was sure, time was not on my side eting this done and back to work, without something screwing up, BUT...
They advise you to NOT try to drill through the carpet. I AGREE!!! The carpet and padding was a major P*I*T*A. Just ONE thread of that insulation with wrap your drill bit like a cocoon...I learned quickly, to map out the holes ON the carpet, cut out around the hole pattern, removing the carpet and insulation in that area, and leaving the rest. I was actually surprised how thick the padding/insulation was.
The shifter itself sits on 1/2" spacers, but the outside cover was going to sit on the carpet, which posed a small problem, since the cover bolts to the shifter. Since the shifter was going to be on the bare floor of the truck, but the cover was going to be on carpet, the cover was sitting too high to bolt on, so I took my Dremel an and taped off 5/8" off the bottom of the cover, and cut ( more like melt) the bottom 5/8" off the cover so it would sit on the carpet.






Since the cover sits on the carpet, I just filed the edges a bit to smooth them out, no jagged edges...

Once the shifter is installed, you mount the cable. You must make sure your E brake is on, and your wheels are chocked...

You put the shifter into lowest gear, and you move the selector arm to low as well.
You then thread on the swivel mount for the cable, until it drops into the selector arm hole as easily as you can get, by threading it in or out to get as smooth a fit as you can, with NO moving of the arm or the shifter.
Then you move the shifter to PARK and check the adjustment again. You can make adjustments to the threaded cable mount at the bracket, or the swivel head on the cable to get both right. Mine was very easy, very little adjustment needed.
You saw the header wrap, that was because the cable needs to be installed with as wide and smooth curves as you can get. No sharp bends. Mine came out under the truck under the trans tunnel, ran along the coolant lines, over the starter, then wrapping back under the starter, straight to the bracket. Perfect length cable was in the kit, they have shorter or longer cables available if you need them, depending on the install, for like $40 a piece I think.
Now, there is some PRE install work on the shifter, you need to install a stop nut, basic enough, and I went and added a cone spring to the "T" handle. ( The "T" handle is you shift lock.. for PARK, REV, 1ST, and 2nd....) It does NOT come with a spring loaded "T" handle, which was sloppy, annoying and felt...just wrong.
I got the spring at my local hardware place.
It can be a pain to undo the "T" handle, which you MUST do to put the cover on or take off. The "T" handle is held in place with a small cotter pin. Once you do it a few times, you get the hang of it. Basically you need to shift to like 2nd gear, so you can grab the cotter pin with long nose pliers.
Other then that, it wasnt too bad.
So.. lets talk facts....
this is not meant for a Dodge ram truck. Its made for a hot rod with lots of room to fab and install...
The directions werent terrible, but they could have included a parts list with what was for what. But if you've ever put together IKEA furniture, you got this...
The one thing that would help ALOT, is a bolt hole pattern, you can place and know exactly where to drill. Took me awhile to figure and plan out the drilling.
I actually made a pattern....



I placed it on the carpet, marked the holes with marker, cut around the hole pattern and removed the carpet and insulation.
I used it again on the bare floor of the truck, used a punch and mallet, punched the bolt holes, and drilled them, using a variable hole bit for the larger hole for the cable exit.

I'll update this more, its late for me, ( gotta be up at 3am for work)
All in all. not as bad as I was thinking.

 

Great job!! Looks cool too!!

heres mine in my trans van The box it sits on slides back so I can get the doghouse off thats why I needed a rear exiting cable if yours exits out the rear, I may just switch out to the one you got, it looks very nice!!

 

Thats pretty cool. What are the micro switchs on top?
Just got THIS Momentary switch from Summit, I'm hoping this will work to relocate the switch to the dash, so I can get rid of the Column shifter.

 

Micro switches ran the overdrive and lock up converter. Remember, I was running the engine carbureted so no pcm to shift OD and LU

they just went to a relay each and the relay closed the ground which is what the PCM does

now I will use one to momentary wiper actuation and for the big LED spots on top

 

Hurst makes the pistol grip like mine, but that wouldn’t work cuz you have the little t handel to activate the shifter but........hurst also make a big t handel that would work great and it comes with a momentary switch

thats the 5speed short throw shifter in my wrangler with the two custom mounted OX locker shifters but you can see the T handel hurst on top and the momentary push button switch. Mine doesn’t do anything. That T handel has been on every custom hot rod or vehicle that I owned for the last 30 years! Lol


viperdave

 

So the micro switches are running your OD and TC... nice.
I'm still trying to learn more about the locking converter. I'm kinda worried that the LTC locks and unlocks so much at certain speeds, I'm gonna wear this new trans out fast...
I run with the OD off alot, and still trying to learn how the TC is acting when the OD is off....so I wont burn this thing up too quick....

I'm still trying to figure out if the 2 lug momentary switch I got ( This One ) will work to relocate the OD on/off switch to the dash.
I'm still not sure.
That old Hurst shifter has seen some fun, you can tell.....