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looking for slapstick shifter upgrade.

Cratos

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I am looking to upgrade the shifter in my 70 challenger. I put a new slapstick shifter in it during the restore 10,000-miles later its shot.is there anything out there that will allow me to keep my console mostly intact?

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pschlosser

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... its shot.

The knob looks beautiful. My first reaction is shot... how? Can it not be repaired? Was everything new when it was serviced? It's pretty common for the nylon bushings in the shift levers to wear out, and if those were new 10,000 miles ago, maybe they were crummy, or cheap, or brittle?
 

sixpactogo

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I remember the shifter in my 76 Charger being a little taller but the same design. With your console upgrade, a taller shifter may work better for you. I too don't know what you mean by "shot", Maybe just out of adjustment.
 

moparleo

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I have had many E-bodies with the slap-stick shiftrs in the last 40+ years. Never wore one out.
I would remove and inspect.
I have a coule of 71 and up slao-sticks for the T-handles.
It looks like your console is mounted too high and is limiting the travel on the shifter.

71-74 SLAP STIK SHIFTER 3.jpg


71-74 SLAP STIK SHIFTER 1.jpg
 
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Xcudame

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Except for a few nylon bushings, the slap stick is very robust. With good nylon bushings, it's very reliable. I've got 250k + miles on my factory original slap stick in my 70 Challenger and it's still nice and firm! The one in my 71 Barracuda is still tight. Remember they were made to "slap" from 1st, 2nd and Drive.

Is something broken on yours?
 

Ricks72Chlgr440

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Except for a few nylon bushings, the slap stick is very robust. With good nylon bushings, it's very reliable. I've got 250k + miles on my factory original slap stick in my 70 Challenger and it's still nice and firm! The one in my 71 Barracuda is still tight. Remember they were made to "slap" from 1st, 2nd and Drive.

Is something broken on yours?
The slapstik is, IMHO, the very best auto shifter Mopar ever came out with. I absolutely love the one in my 72 Challenger!
 

EW1BH27

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My first reaction is shot... how?
Yeah, I'm curious what "shot" exactly means too. Does it not stop at second & drive when "slapping" it? Does it not shift by pressing the button? My OEM slapstick still works 100%. Even though it's not original to the car it's still 50+ years old and hasn't been restored.
 

pschlosser

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I never really "slapped" the gear selector, to be honest. I love the elegance of resting my hand on the console and upshifting using my thumb over the purr of the engine, roar of the exhaust and the chirp of the tires.
 

6PKRTSE

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I have always manually shift all my automatic musclecars and have never wore out a slap stick shifter in over 40 years of use on many different cars. On my current Challenger due to the reverse manual valve body. I still run the factory console and made a tubular mount with block off plate that raised the shifter up 6" and brought it back 4".

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Cratos

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it jumps past 2nd gear half the time. I took it out and cleaned and lubed it , no change. Looks like the lower slide is hanging up on the bottom end just 1st to 2nd
 

CudaGapCuda

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Oh mine was doing the same thing. I did the same think you did took out and cleaned and lubed then back in and still the same. But then on better inspection I found out that the carpet had a loose piece that was put in because the original carpet shifter hole was cut to large. The guy just cut a small piece and jammed it in there and it was holding the rachit slid lever from slapping up in to the lock on each progressive shift. took carpet chunk out and it works great.
 
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