hemi install column shift

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dartman 440

dartman 440

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does anyone know if this is at all possible 5.7 hemi with the truck auto trans and hooking up the column shifter to it and haveing it work in a 70 duster? are these tranmissions still shifted with and arm like the old ones or are they electric? thanks ed
 
Electronic shifted. The truck 545rfe is shifted by the pcm. You put it in gear with a cable driven shifter.

I've yet to see anyone be able to use a column shift setup with this trans. But you can take the column shift parts out and use an aftermarket floor shifter.

Riddler
 
I was amazed when I tried connecting the column shift in my 73 duster and everything but the last bar pretty much lined up. I just had to do a little fab work to make the arm longer. I figured I would have to go with an aftermarket shifter, but i am glad I could keep it simple. Compared to widening the tunnel and fabbing a mount to get the trans to fit it was a breeze. I'll try to get some pictures to share.
 
I know clearance it at a premium in the column area on my 5.7 swap, but I don't know what an auto column shift looks like size wise. I know I had a manual shift column and there was no way in hell it was going to fit, lol. I ended up gutting the linkage out of the column and putting in a manual steering shaft to get it to fit.
 
Here's a few pics of my setup. I cut the solid end off the truck shift cable and welded it to the shaft that goes through the adjustment linkage point to get enough length. It still needs a little tweaking, but I'm pleased how easy it was to set up.
 

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Looks great Boden! Is that stock A body linkage other than the rod you had to make? I plan on using the column shift in my 70 Duster that I'm putting a 5.7/545RFE into. Did you modify the arm on your 545, or did you just make the new rod fit over the ball stud that was on it? Thanks for posting the pics.....they give me hope!
 
I just noticed I never came back to this to answer your questions.
Linkage is basically stock except for the one rod being lengthened.
No mods to the arm on the trans.
 
Thanks. I've got tons of linkage I've stashed back over the years, and should be able to find some that will work. I'll just have to go to the junk yard and get an end to weld to the one rod. No worries about taking a few days to reply :smile: I'm in the middle of making a new drivers side spool mount to clear the AC pump on my 5.7 (car motor). Then I have to hack the floor pan....and after that I'll tackle linkage...lol.
 
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