Slapstick Shifter Adjustment • The Dodge Challenger Message Board

by **Ron** » 19 Jul 2001 11:08

Hi My Name is Ron and I live in Caledonia Ontario Canada. I have restored (restoring) a 72 Challenger with a 440 and 727 tranny. When rebuilding the transmission I had a reverse manual valve body installed therefore the transmission has to be shifted manually and drive is 1st, 2nd is 2nd and 3rd is 1st gear pulling back on the shifter instead of pushing forward to up-shift.
My problem/question is that when up-shifting there is no lock between gears and it is quite easy to go from 1st to 3rd. Is it possible to make a slapstick "ratchet" when both up and downshifting or do I need to go to an aftermarket shifter?

by **dave-r** » 19 Jul 2001 12:18

I had a similar problem with mine Ron. My friend Linda would keep pulling it back into First from Drive when she really only wanted Second! With 3.91:1 gears that locks the rear wheels up and the car skids out of control.

I fitted an aftermarket shifter to cure that.

I can't remember exactly how the slapstick works but I think it is only supposed to pull back one position unless you press the button on the top?

I will look at mine tonight (it's in the garage someplace) and remind myself what is supposed to happen. These things do wear with age though so a new shifter may be the best answer for you.

by **dave-r** » 19 Jul 2001 13:48

This is the one I used.

by **dave-r** » 19 Jul 2001 21:55

I have the original shifter here in front of me as I type.

If you go from Park to Drive it will push back and forth between Neutral and Drive. Then when it comes to shifting down to 2nd you have to push the button to change down and it goes past second into 1st with great ease.

However. If you go up from 1st to 2nd and then Drive you now find it will not push forwards into Neutral but will now easily move between Drive and second without having to push the button and without going into 1st. To get 1st or neutral from this position you need to push the button.

In your case it is more complicated with the reverse pattern but try it and you will see what I mean.

by **Joel** » 20 Jul 2001 10:24

Dave, that seems about right. I never shifted down manually, cus an aquaintense of my that worked a Bellingham Chrysler said that, if you really would like to see how far you can go before you fry your trany, go right ahead. Transmissions, even the bullet proof Torqueflights, were not built to handle alot of gear down while still moving at a relatively fast speed, unless they were beefed up. Gearing up is not hard on the trany, but gearing down is a good way of see how really industructable your famous Torqueflight tranny and also is a quick way to making friends with the guys at the tranny repair shop, or at least thats what I have been told.

by **Ron** » 20 Jul 2001 18:06

Dave, thanks for the information. With your Hurst shifter, were you able to incorporate it into your center console or did you have to remove the console?

by **frank** » 21 Jul 2001 5:25

my last chall had the automatic and i gave it no mercy-never had any problems with it either just changed the fluid in it regularly, also i could shift it down to 1st while going about 40-50 and it would "wait" till it slowed to 30 then you could feel it go into 1st i loved racing with a slapstick cause you can lock it into 1st tach it out slap it into 2nd do the same thing then slap it into drive, on the same hand if you shifted smoothly from 1st to drive it would go all the way thru not stopping.

by **Wayne Bauer** » 21 Jul 2001 7:57

I have a slapstick auto, and to upshift you don't have to push any buttons. starting in first you pull BACKWARDS and then shift forward to second,
after you are in second pull BACKWARDS and then shift to drive... works fine... mine came with an extra slapstick boxed in the trunk. Wonder if I can sell the extra one or are they notorious for for having problems and I should keep it?? Wonder why there is an extra one to start with, the car is an actual 25,000 miles? I never downshift, have always heard it's bad on tranny.

by **Joel** » 21 Jul 2001 7:58

I have accidentally bump the stick with my elbow from 3rd to 1st at around 30, and I thought I would have broke it, but it didn't. I have also mistook the car for being in third and not realizing it being in 1st untill about 30 mph! Amazingly nothing happened. Of course I never did any of this purpose, because I am not a a-hole ••••• lover! I try to take good care of my vehicles. But those 904's can take such a beating, its unbelievable!!!

by **dave-r** » 21 Jul 2001 18:24

Joel.
Try going into 1st at 40mph with 4.10 gears. It will scare the crap out of you! Why? See answer to Frank below.
The real danger is not damaging to trans but over reving the engine. It is usualy saved by the fact that the rear wheels lock up but that sends you into the ditch.

Frank.
A trans that has been fitted with a shift kit will usually change down into 1st no matter what speed you are going at! It will not 'wait' for the speed to be correct.

Ron
Yes it is in the centre console but some cutting/welding was needed to the mounting bracket under it.

by **frank** » 22 Jul 2001 4:31

i never did modify my trans,i thought joel was talking about a stock unit he mentioned a torqueflite wouldn't handle abuse and i showed how the factory avoided the same sort of abuse by making the car slow to a certain speed before slipping into 1st,a shift kit is a totally different story sorry for the mix-up.

by **Joel** » 22 Jul 2001 7:27

No Frank, you were right, I was definetly talking about a stock tranny!!

by **Joel** » 22 Jul 2001 7:47

Does anyone love the trusty and reliable A-904 as much as I do?! I have ridden in Mopars that have 727s and I was not as impressed when I was riding in the Challenger I have bought from my brother. My oldest brother bought a $8,000 crate engine with a 727 with a 2800 stall converter and a shift kit. He put the engine and tranny into a '68 Fury with 4.10 rear axle gears. Man 500hp at the crank and 4.10s in the back, you were practiclly threw you into the seats, man that was a blast, but the 727 just did not have the shifting characteristics that the 904 has. I will not argue with anyone that the 727 is more durable than the 904 but it just does not have the same feel, you know what I mean Frank?

by **frank** » 22 Jul 2001 15:29

both are great but the 727 has a better reputation for durability sounds like we should start another thread... lol,i really beat that last automatic and even after i put a 3.91 sg it still worked fine.

by **dave-r** » 22 Jul 2001 17:43

The 904 is exactly the same as the 727. The 727 is just has stronger parts. If it felt different it would be because it was set up different. When you re-build these things you have a lot of variables to play with.

by **Joel** » 23 Jul 2001 12:59

As a wise mechanic once told me, one should not keep a tranny that is broken, one should throw such a thing out and begin anew, meaning don't fix a problem with a tranny, because it is always a dommino effect. You fix one thing some WILL go wrong with some other part in the transmission. They are a precise piece of equipment. If one part breaks and you drive a while with that broken piece, even for a short distance, it will always cause something else to act up. By the time the tansmission repair man is threw with you, you will owe him a tidy sum of money. It is just cheaper to purchase a whole completely new tranny.

by **dave-r** » 23 Jul 2001 13:28

Total crap.

Any high horsepower engine built for street/strip or race only will require you to rebuild the trans. A stock trans will not cut it.

A reconditioned trans built like this costs $800.

The kit to do this yourself is about £75 if I remember right. It takes a weekend of work and is a very interesting and rewarding job.

by **Joel** » 24 Jul 2001 0:01

I was refering to a stock tranny here Dave. I know quite well that you can beef up a tranny. There are people that trash cars transmissions here in the States like you wouldn't believe. My brother put a B&M shift kit in his car. It is a total pain in the butt when you cannot take the tranny out of the car. If you don't have a second car to drive around if something may go wrong, you begin to panic and cannot think straight and you say all sorts of naugthy words. My brother was a pure example of this. Oh, don't think he is a total idiot then, he is studying to be lawyer.

by **Ron Allan (Ron)** » 02 Oct 2002 16:20

Hi Guys/Gals: It has been a while since I last wrote but I am still having a bit of a problem with my Tranny/shifter. To recap I have a 72 Challenger, 440, 727 Tranny with a TCI Reverse Manual Valve Body. My dilema is that it is very easy when shifting to miss 2nd gear and go directly into 3rd. I really don't care for this especially hammering from 1st to 3rd at 5800-6000 RPM. (Yes the engine was proffesionally balanced & blueprintted) I am too the point where I feel I have to do something so I am thinking about a) scrapping the valve body and going to a standard valve body with a shift kit or b) putting in a ratcheting shifter. Does any out there know of a ratcheting shifter for Challengers that looks like it is actually suppose to be there and does not require any cutting welding etc. to install?

by **Hans (72challenger)** » 02 Oct 2002 16:55

Hey Ron, I have a B&M ratchet shifter in mine. Off course it doesn't look like stock but it looks smooth in the console. It shifts great! For a picture look under Consoles in the Interior section. (Right now it does have the woodgrain on it)

The only thing I had to do is changing the plate around the shifter. I bought some wooden plate, lay the original on it and cut it out of the wood. After that measure where the shifter will be in the console and cut it out too. Then install some self-adhesive 'fake' woodgrain on it and it looks just fine.

by **Ron Allan (Ron)** » 05 Oct 2002 15:54

Thanks Hans; Nice instalation,just checked with my parts supplier, my B&M Mega Shifter & Autometer 5" Tach with Shift Light is in and will be installed next Wed/Thurs. I decided to also install a good Tach because I just don't trust the stock Tach. The installer also has a machine shop & is going to replace the console plate with polished aluminium. I figure if I don't like the look of the aluminium I can always apply the "fake" woodgrain on top of it.