[stoveboltgeek]

If 4 speeds were to have been used in 57 passenger cars there would have been a shifter available. he only shifter in the 57 Chevy Master Parts Book is for Corvette, and there was only one place to mount that shifter and that was the 3 bosses at the very back of the tail housing, placing the shifter UNDER the seat,. I saw a 57 that had a Corvette shifter in the 60'sand the seat had been cut back with a cove to fit the shifter. The car still had the column shifter sticking up as a decoy.
Bob Drennan had a black 57 BA hardtop with a dated 57 4 speed but I later found out where the 4 speed came from. It was a slick job and it fooled a lot of people for a lot of years. I still have a tracing of the shape of the shifter. I copied it by welding 2 59 and later shifters together, for a car I built for Bob Wingate, in 79 or 80. I later found out he had sold it as an original 57 4 speed car, even though the trans was a 1960 4 speed with the 5 boss tail housing, to move the shifter forward, to clear the seat. Wingate eventually went to jail, but not for that deal.

Thank you! The point I've made repeatedly....

I have original 1957, 1960, and 1962 Master Parts Catalogs. The 4 speed shifter and linkage parts for the passenger car start with 1958. There's a 4 speed shifter for '57 Corvette, but not passenger car.

IMO - end of story. Even if it didn't make it into the 1957 catalog, it would have certainly be in the 1960 version.

I got into it some years back with a smug little twit who insisted he bought a 4 speed '57 brand new from the dealer. When I challenged him on it - repeatedly - he finally admitted he had the dealer install it. So fine - he did drive off the lot with a 4 speed - but the factory didn't deliver the car to the dealer with a 4 speed. But, that's just the kind of smug, know-it-all the guy was. (I knew him, but couldn't stand him.)

And, yes - I've read the article in the Chevrolet Service News as well. Yes, it says both Corvettes and passenger cars. But, the subsequent parts catalogs disagree.

 

[f.i.57chevynut]

Could be that this is the one the new poster is claiming to know about........it's a strange world out there these days

Mikey

Drennan's car has been around since late 70's. It's been many magazines years ago. Bob passed away some time ago but the car resides with his daughter unless she has sold it.

That would be considered a 5 or in some cases a 6 speed......

Mikey

My overdrive wagons get all 6 speeds used at one time or another.

 

[stoveboltgeek]

Same old song......until the car is shown and the world can see it, it is all just talk and BS. Every one that has come forward has been proven to
be a clone or old build with later casting dates on the tranny. And oh by, the way a custom made shifter for the passenger car bench seat. Only
shifter available in 57 was the Corvette small straight stick used with BUCKET SEATS.

Mikey

If memory serves, there was one special order 4 speed car built for a celebrity buyer, who still owns it. I think it was Bigfoot - or was it the Loch Ness Monster?

Anyway - when Bigfoot shows up at a nationally recognized car show with his car and all the factory documentation on the build, I'll change my mind.

The Loch Ness Monster's car, of course, would have to be a RHD...

(Obviously, I'm 100% with Mikey on this one)

 

[Budsin's mad mechanic]

If memory serves, there was one special order 4 speed car built for a celebrity buyer, who still owns it. I think it was Bigfoot - or was it the Loch Ness Monster?

Anyway - when Bigfoot shows up at a nationally recognized car show with his car and all the factory documentation on the build, I'll change my mind.

The Loch Ness Monster's car, of course, would have to be a RHD...

(Obviously, I'm 100% with Mikey on this one)

My 60 convertible was a factory 4 speed car with a Borg Warner front case was cast rear case was aluminum,with I believe a Corvette shifter

 

[stoveboltgeek]

My 60 convertible was a factory 4 speed car with a Borg Warner front case was cast rear case was aluminum,with I believe a Corvette shifter

I have no argument with finding a factory 4 speed in a '58-up full size Chevy. That is very well documented. The '57 - uh uh.

 

[Budsin's mad mechanic]

I have no argument with finding a factory 4 speed in a '58-up full size Chevy. That is very well documented. The '57 - uh uh.

Well hashed out on this site

 

[Maineac56]

NHRA new that cast iron powerglides were a POS.

The cast iron powerglides WERE a POS back in the day. But look at what the powerglide has become in drag racing/NHRA now.

 

[upsrod]

The cast iron powerglides WERE a POS back in the day. But look at what the powerglide has become in drag racing/NHRA now.

My POS PowerGlide still works perfectly 65 years later and doesn't puke either!

 

[stoveboltgeek]

Well hashed out on this site

Agreed. And, I contributed to said hashing earlier in this thread.

 

[Robert Haas]

I can guarantee there were some with dealer installed Fulie 4 speed 57 chevys I know where there is 1 with less than 500 miles on it NOT RESTORED NOT A REBUILD (that is the only miles it has accumulated since 1957 AND I CAN PROVE IT!

well I have been waiting for you to PROVE IT but I see you are a 3 post kind of troll. so there is that.

 

[SLIM]

well I have been waiting for you to PROVE IT but I see you are a 3 post kind of troll. so there is that.

Don't know why there is an argument over "dealer installed" Dealers could install anything they liked, could have installed a Buick nailhead for that matter.

 

[TheHotrodHandyman]

Don't know why there is an argument over "dealer installed" Dealers could install anything they liked, could have installed a Buick nailhead for that matter.

Mabe no argument about a "dealer installed" 4 spd but he still has not proven it as he said he could and has not been on site since he ran his pie hole.

 

[DZAUTO]

Well, how about an owner installed 4sp ------------------------------ THAT IS BETTER THAN WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN DONE AT A GM ASSEMBLY PLANT?
I have not checked for a long time, but at one time there was an aftermarket source for PLAIN steering column collars to replace a collar with the knob for the column shifter handle. Are these plane collars still available?
Otherwise, the only option is to leave that ugly knob, OR, cut off the knob and use something to fill and smooth the knob. Or, replace the complete steering column with one of the aftermarket columns (which DOES NOT look factory).

 

[stoveboltgeek]

Well, how about an owner installed 4sp ------------------------------ THAT IS BETTER THAN WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN DONE AT A GM ASSEMBLY PLANT?
I have not checked for a long time, but at one time there was an aftermarket source for PLAIN steering column collars to replace a collar with the knob for the column shifter handle. Are these plane collars still available?
Otherwise, the only option is to leave that ugly knob, OR, cut off the knob and use something to fill and smooth the knob. Or, replace the complete steering column with one of the aftermarket columns (which DOES NOT look factory).

Actually, the shift collar is another argument against factory installed 4 speeds - there is no GM part number for a '57 shift collar without the boss for the shifter handle. This is probably the most obscure part I initially thought of that proves beyond a reasonable doubt there were no factory installed 4 speeds.

OTOH, Corvettes were already set up for manual transmissions with a floor shifter - all that was needed was the transmission and shifter.

Now, whatever happened to the car after the initial sale was completed - hey, have fun. Install a 4 speed, headers, whatever. Just don't say that the factory installed said parts.

 

[DZAUTO]

My question was about aftermarket collars: Are these plane collars still available?

 

[zookpr]

My question was about aftermarket collars: Are these plane collars still available?

When I had one, I made it for my '55. Modified the whole column, eliminating the lower arms. Sold it when I installed a modified tilt. Modified to be a floor shift model. I have a 4-speed manual.

 

[55wagoncrazy]

My question was about aftermarket collars: Are these plane collars still available?

Not seen any of them in a long time. Not even sure they were a new casting, but some that had the boss removed and filled with epoxy. Then primed.

Mikey

 

[Robert Haas]

Simple enough to modify a stock one. Takes me less then an hour to do the lions share of the work not including paint.

 

[zookpr]

Simple enough to modify a stock one. Takes me less then an hour to do the lions share of the work not including paint.

A bit more if one wants to cleanup the part of the column extending into the engine compartment.

 

[DZAUTO]

Of course, as I have explained in the past, a 4sp, such as a Muncie, can always be shifted with a stock 3sp column shifter using some simple ingenuity and some MINOR fabrication of rods.