Hurst competition plus vs OEM hurst?

-

Mopar92

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 23, 2015
Messages
1,460
Reaction score
279
Location
Lewisburg tn
I’m trying to get schooled up on shifters. What’s the functional difference between a “ Hurst” and a Competion Plus Hurst for these 833’s in A body cars? Thanks!
 
Well "sort of." When I had the old 70 440-6 car, I thought the shifter might be getting a bit worn. This was the factory issue pistol grip, the shifter slides/ locks/ clips into the shifter and there is a little rubber in there I think.

The comp plus had a bolt on lever

The competition plus had some differences........

Transmission levers.........Levers are not interchangeable between factory and CP. The factory had no bushings as I recall, or at least the rods/ bushings from the CP will not fit the OEM

The reason that I tried to swap trans levers I DO REMEMBER. The CP levers had some play where they fit the transmission shift shafts. I used to cut short pieces of feeler gauge and jam in there to take up the play. I remember well that the OEM levers HAD NO play

Without the feeler gauge shims, there was NOTICEABLE play front/ rear in the lever. Poor quality control!!!

(I was around 24 years old on a side note, this was about 72--73)

Bushings........either the factory had no bushings on the rods, or they were different size, been 40 years LOL

Rods "ends" are different size, IE will not fit the levers/ bushings between one / other

I don't remember, but I do not think the OEM had the adjustable shift stop bolts.
 
Last edited:
The few I have seen that were 100% original shifters said "COMPETITION PLUS" right on the shifter body. Are you sure what you are talking about wasn't an Inland shifter?

Well "sort of." When I had the old 70 440-6 car, I thought the shifter might be getting a bit worn. This was the factory issue pistol grip, the shifter slides/ locks/ clips into the shifter and there is a little rubber in there I think.

The comp plus had a bolt on lever

The competition plus had some differences........

Levers.........Levers are not interchangeable between factory and CS. The factory had no bushings as I recall, or at least the rods/ bushings from the CS will not fit the OEM

The reason that I tried to swap levers I DO REMEMBER. The CS levers had some play where they fit the transmission shift shafts. I used to cut short pieces of feeler gauge and jam in there to take up the play. I remember well that the OEM levers HAD NO play

Without the feeler gauge shims, there was NOTICEABLE play front/ rear in the lever. Poor quality control!!!

(I was around 24 years old on a side note, this was about 72--73)

Bushings........either the factory had no bushings on the rods, or they were different size, been 40 years LOL

Rods "ends" are different size, IE will not fit the levers/ bushings between one / other

I don't remember, but I do not think the OEM had the adjustable shift stop bolts.
 
NOPE. I don't think any of the 70 cars came with inland. Let me see if I can find something in the shop manual...........EDIT.......This is a Valiant shifter right out of the '70 shop manual. My RR was the same. Notice there are no bushings pictured, nor stop bolts

shifter.jpg


One reason I remember this "so well" is that I had spent "all that money" on a competition plus back then........and gained pretty much NOTHING. I could have pulled the OEM apart, and welded up the shifter mount and it would have tightened it right up
 
Last edited:
Yeah, I am pretty sure you are dead right about no Inlands in the later stuff like that. I wonder what beed up with that then? Because I KNOW the.....three I am talkin about were original. I wonder if they could have used a few different shifters? This is gettin interestin.
 
Well "sort of." When I had the old 70 440-6 car, I thought the shifter might be getting a bit worn. This was the factory issue pistol grip, the shifter slides/ locks/ clips into the shifter and there is a little rubber in there I think.

The comp plus had a bolt on lever

The competition plus had some differences........

Levers.........Levers are not interchangeable between factory and CS. The factory had no bushings as I recall, or at least the rods/ bushings from the CS will not fit the OEM

The reason that I tried to swap levers I DO REMEMBER. The CS levers had some play where they fit the transmission shift shafts. I used to cut short pieces of feeler gauge and jam in there to take up the play. I remember well that the OEM levers HAD NO play

Without the feeler gauge shims, there was NOTICEABLE play front/ rear in the lever. Poor quality control!!!

(I was around 24 years old on a side note, this was about 72--73)

Bushings........either the factory had no bushings on the rods, or they were different size, been 40 years LOL

Rods "ends" are different size, IE will not fit the levers/ bushings between one / other

I don't remember, but I do not think the OEM had the adjustable shift stop bolts.
Correct, the comp-plus aftermarkets had adjustable stop-bolts, I don't recall any OE ones with them,...of course I haven't seen every OE shifter either so..................
I had an aftermarket on in My '69, pounded those bushings out constantly anyhow...........................
 
I bought a NOS Comp + shifter with the rods and levers a few years ago. I was thinking the shifter was the same but the rods and levers were thicker metal than stock.
 
The inland shifter was discontinued in the early to mid year run for the '68 models.
 
Inland (ITC) shifters were re introduced somewhere around 74-75.

Tbe factory hurst shifters were all competition plus, there are two handle mount styles, clip in and bolt on, the shicters with the stop bolts are not oe, they are hurst aftermarket.
 
Nope, not all factory were comp plus. The comps + had the stops and diff rod holes w/without bushes, AND you had to push down on comp+ handle to get reverse.. just O/H ed a couple.. cheers..
 
Last edited:
Yeah i dont know.... the mystery deepens. I have a few comp plus shifters from factory installations that dont have the stops. Any of the shifters that I have had were stamped comp plus and you had to push sideways, not down, through a spring for reverse...
 
I even have one from a 70s truck that was on a 4 speed OD. It says Hurst right on the handle, but as yall say, it doesn't have the stop bolts. Maybe that was the difference.
 
I posted this picture on another thread on this site, but this is probably a better location for it.

The shifter on the left the a Hurst Competition Plus. The one on the right is a factory Hurst shifter from my 69 Dart GTS. You can see the difference in the shifter levers when they are side by side. .
I originally took the picture to show why there is not a alignment hole in the reverse lever of the factory shifter. The installed alignment pin and blue arrow points to where the hole would have to be in the reverse lever which is right in the middle of the bend. Not a good location.

100_4503.JPG
 
Another note is that the Hurst Competition Plus used the #2298 mounting pad with spacers. This pad angled the shifter more upright.
The picture with the shifter that has the black ball is a 1969 factory Hurst shifter and linkage installed with the correct factory mounting pad.
The picture with the T-handle is a Hurst Competition Plus shifter and linkage installed with the correct #2298 mounting pad and spacers. The shifter rods do not interchange between the two set ups.

100_4021.JPG


100_4022.JPG
 
Last edited:
^^That shifter IS NOT a 'normal' CP

That was a special short throw design, might have been called "ram rod" I don't remember. If you waltzed into a speed shop and asked for a CP to fit your car, that is NOT what you got

This is what I remember.........right from Brewers.......CP came with the more "bent" and smaller diameter rods which were shaped much like the OEM rods

Brewer's Performance - Mopar A833 4-Speed Transmission and Component Specialists

SP6789PKG.jpg
 
Last edited:
Just went thru some shifters, the stk 340 shifter has no adjustable stops, the 2 comp+'s I have, one has adjustable stops, the other - not. The "super comp+" shifter, in my son's car, you have to push the shift lever down for reverse.. hope it helps.. cheers
 
^^That shifter IS NOT a 'normal' CP

That was a special short throw design, might have been called "ram rod" I don't remember. If you waltzed into a speed shop and asked for a CP to fit your car, that is NOT what you got

This is what I remember.........right from Brewers.......CP came with the more "bent" and smaller diameter rods which were shaped much like the OEM rods

Brewer's Performance - Mopar A833 4-Speed Transmission and Component Specialists

View attachment 1715112121

I'm not sure what you mean by not a "normal" Comp. Plus shifter. That shifter is marked Hurst Competition Plus on the side of it. It was installed in my Dart new back in 1974 with all the parts just as shown in the picture.
The picture that you posted from Brewers is a B-body shifter set up. A whole different bear. The B-body shifter was mounted way forward on the tranny tail piece. Hence the shorter rods and the longer handle. I'm not saying that the short 7" shifter handle is a A-body one. That was the handle that came with the shifter kit when it was new.
 
I have to agree with 694spd, when on a road trip to Cali, back in 70, we purchased a Dart 340 comp+ shifter from a speed shop, and crawled around under car in motel pk lot, installing it.. It came with short straight shift lever as shown.. True story..
 
Seems like a lot of confusion on shifters. No wonder I bought all wrong stuff off the classifieds here. Ha. I didn’t educate myself!

So does anybody know what mount I even have? I’ve tried google to no avail. Brewers list it 67-76 A body. So maybe I got lucky and 1 part I have is correct!

6B6A2163-79C5-4D74-A4E7-9A4C977DC042.jpeg
 
EDIT: - If you "search" member "trudysduster" IIRC, he did a shifter swap - starting with incorrect adaptor, and spiralled from there. Perhaps there would be good info and pix there.. cheers
 
Last edited:
I'm not sure what you mean by not a "normal" Comp. Plus shifter. That shifter is marked Hurst Competition Plus on the side of it. It was installed in my Dart new back in 1974 with all the parts just as shown in the picture.
The picture that you posted from Brewers is a B-body shifter set up. A whole different bear. The B-body shifter was mounted way forward on the tranny tail piece. Hence the shorter rods and the longer handle. I'm not saying that the short 7" shifter handle is a A-body one. That was the handle that came with the shifter kit when it was new.
I'm talking about "back then" if you waltzed into a speed shop and bought an off-the-shelf Hurst CP to fit your car. It did NOT come with the huge reinforced straight shift rods. The shift rods resembled the ones depicted in the factory manuals.

The shift lever you could buy separate. Whether it got installed with a straight lever or S curve is too hard to track down. The only REAL answer is if one of you could come up with a "seventies" Hurst catalogue, and even then some of the photos might be "representative"

The B body shifter in the brewer site is EXACTLY as I remember the Hurst shifters I bought for my 70 RR, and for my 64 426 Dodge.
 
-
Back
Top