by busman78 Wed Apr 19, 2017 6:05 pmTo start with this is not a plug and play install, Lokar does not make a shifter kit for our vans, but I went from six banger three speed to V8 automatic and did not want to install a dash shifter. I tried a B&M, yea they work but junk is junk, too easy to accidentally bump out of gear or worse yet into gear.
The shifter used is the off the shelf Lokar 727/904/518 Floor Mount shifter, originally ordered with 23" arm which would work just gets super close to the leg so I ordered the Nostalgia arm. Right off the bat you will have just a little under $450 in this conversion depending on who you buy the shifter from, I bought from Summit Racing. Still required a little spacing at the rear to get more angle, did not have to, personal choice. You will have to cut a hole for the shift linkage arm, or as Lokar calls it the quad arm, you will have to drill holes to mount the shifter and for the boot, the front and rear cable brackets will have to be fabricated, I used stiff matting board to make templates then 1/8" steel for the brackets. Once you have the shifter installed at a reasonable angle so the cable can flow around the radiator, figure out where the two cable mount brackets will be installed, I put the rear one on the lower starter stud, the front bracket mounts to the master cylinder bolts, now you can order a shifter cable, mine was ordered from Control Cables, quite stiff so avoid any radical bends, you will need 4" of throw, ends are 1/4-28 which the Lokar ball ends that come with the shifter will fit, don't just measure twice, measure three times then go back and do it again for this cable is $140, if you measure wrong there is no exchanges or returns you get to buy a new cable. In the end I was a couple inches short due to pull angle issues but was able to use a coupler with some 1/4-28 threaded rod to correct, had the mounting distance between nuts needed changing it would of been new cable time, so measure, measure and then measure again.
The install took me considerable time to get right, with several calls to Lokar tech which by the way unless you talk to Mike you will be blown off for Lokar offers little support when you do an install out side the box, three previous calls taught me that, so ask for Mike. You must follow the basic set up, even though you are using a cable and the instructions are for rods there is a lot of set up information that must be done. The biggie, this is important, the cable from the mounting nuts to the rod ends can not be to low or above the arm on the shifter, or to the outside on the arm on the trans, this causes the angle of pull to altered, gear selection will be off. That little detail cost me many hours of scratching the head, Mike at Lokar finally got me on the right path to good shifts. All totaled up I have close to $600 invested and lot of hours, is it worth it, well I had to have a shifter so might as well be a little different.
This is what I ended up with.
The shifter used is the off the shelf Lokar 727/904/518 Floor Mount shifter, originally ordered with 23" arm which would work just gets super close to the leg so I ordered the Nostalgia arm. Right off the bat you will have just a little under $450 in this conversion depending on who you buy the shifter from, I bought from Summit Racing. Still required a little spacing at the rear to get more angle, did not have to, personal choice. You will have to cut a hole for the shift linkage arm, or as Lokar calls it the quad arm, you will have to drill holes to mount the shifter and for the boot, the front and rear cable brackets will have to be fabricated, I used stiff matting board to make templates then 1/8" steel for the brackets. Once you have the shifter installed at a reasonable angle so the cable can flow around the radiator, figure out where the two cable mount brackets will be installed, I put the rear one on the lower starter stud, the front bracket mounts to the master cylinder bolts, now you can order a shifter cable, mine was ordered from Control Cables, quite stiff so avoid any radical bends, you will need 4" of throw, ends are 1/4-28 which the Lokar ball ends that come with the shifter will fit, don't just measure twice, measure three times then go back and do it again for this cable is $140, if you measure wrong there is no exchanges or returns you get to buy a new cable. In the end I was a couple inches short due to pull angle issues but was able to use a coupler with some 1/4-28 threaded rod to correct, had the mounting distance between nuts needed changing it would of been new cable time, so measure, measure and then measure again.
The install took me considerable time to get right, with several calls to Lokar tech which by the way unless you talk to Mike you will be blown off for Lokar offers little support when you do an install out side the box, three previous calls taught me that, so ask for Mike. You must follow the basic set up, even though you are using a cable and the instructions are for rods there is a lot of set up information that must be done. The biggie, this is important, the cable from the mounting nuts to the rod ends can not be to low or above the arm on the shifter, or to the outside on the arm on the trans, this causes the angle of pull to altered, gear selection will be off. That little detail cost me many hours of scratching the head, Mike at Lokar finally got me on the right path to good shifts. All totaled up I have close to $600 invested and lot of hours, is it worth it, well I had to have a shifter so might as well be a little different.
This is what I ended up with.
