cruiser
Well-Known Member
Here's the situation, MoBros and MoSis'. I've run out of component restoration topics for my 1974 Gold Duster. I suppose that's a good problem to have, but the fact remains that many of you still have trouble falling asleep at night. And I still feel that it's my job to put you to sleep with my dull, boring articles. As a matter of fact, a letter poured into my mailbox last week complaining about the lack of sleep inducing content from yours truly. Given that, I thought the best thing would be for me to branch out into some other areas of our hobby - so here goes. Tonight we look at a unique improvement that few were aware of back in the day and even fewer purchased: the Duncan Engineering Shift-R-Arm. My 1969 Dodge Charger RT/SE (for sale on this website, BTW) came with the factory console shifted auto tranny. I liked the console, but was never a big fan of the shifter. In 2003, I saw an ad from a company called Duncan Engineering advertising an automatic transmission shifter that looked like the classic Hurst pistol grip four speed manual shifter, but adapted for a Torqueflite automatic. Naturally, I ordered one up right away. It came with the shift arm, the Duncan Shift-R-Gate, and a pair of plastic grips for the shift lever. It was simple to install and required no modifications or hole drilling. To shift the Duncan unit, you push the lever down, slide it to the selected position, then let it pop back up under spring pressure. You can also use the Shift-R-Gate function to shift through the gears like a three speed manual tranny (1-2-3). I loved it right away, but still was unhappy with the plastic grips that came with the unit. These are the exact same plastic grips that came on the factory pistol grips back in the day. Fortunately, I knew a very talented gunsmith in southern Minnesota and asked for his help. He agreed to make me a custom set of real walnut grips identical to the plastic ones. I brought him my console lid, and he searched through his supply of walnut wood stock to find a match for my console woodgrain. I was extremely happy with the result (see photos below). It is SO COOL to have real walnut in my console, and the look of the wood grips is far more luxurious than the cheap plastic ones. To clean them, I just hit them with a gunsmith's silicone cloth and they shine up beautifully. And yeah, I know that this is from a B body car but I felt that the A body faithful might find this interesting too. I've never seen another vehicle with this modification, and I'm not sure if Duncan Motorsports is still in business. In any case, whoever ends up purchasing the Charger will get to enjoy the trick shifter, and can also have the original shifter as well. The first picture is a photo of the original unit that I pulled from the car in 2003. So there it is, kiddies: A little known but eye catching modification from back in the day. Please feel free to weigh in below if you've seen one of these shifters. As always, thanks for reading but now its time to change into your jammies. Put away the melatonin, get yourself two large chocolate chip cookies and some milk, and you'll be fast asleep in a jiffy. Keep those cards and letters coming. Good night and God Bless!
