Aftermarket shifter question

[NJMuscle]

This is my first posting, as I have been lurking around for a few months and did buy a 1969 Super Bee from a member here. I have wanted a Roadrunner, GTX, Coronet since before I started driving. I could never find exactly what I wanted and as a kid, ended up with a 1971 Z28 which I kept for around 20 years. I moved onto a 1968 Camaro Alky injected race car for a while and then a Pro Street Camaro for a short time. I also purchased a new Dodge Viper in 2005 and parted with it and the Pro Street Camaro in 2015. I thought my time with Muscle Cars was done and I went into an Audi R8. I still have the Audi and it is one of the finest cars that I have ever driven, but once again, the itch came back and I was finally able to buy the Super Bee.
It is a very nice car, 440 six pack, auto trans. I've done some things to it under the hood to make it my own and have also repaired the horn, blinkers and flashers. I also have the car running very well. At this point, I do not like the stock shifter and want to replace it. The car has a console, which I could take or leave at this point. I want to install something like a B&M Quick Silver, but don't know if I can leave the console in place. I'm not sure what's under the console, hopefully just carpet, but based on some things that I've discovered over the last few months (Somebody forgot to bolt the steering column to the firewall, oops.), I don't know what I'm going to find. Has anyone replaced their shifter with aftermarket and what did you use? Thank you in advance, I am glad to be here and look forward to many more years in my Super Bee.

 

[Demonic]

You would likely need to alter or fabricate a new top for the console, as the aftermarket shifter travel will be different. In my silly opinion, nothing works as well as the factory linkage that is in good condition. It's an automatic. If you want it to shift different, change your governor weights.

Whatever you do, don't cut up an original factory console, the restoration guys will want it, as the repop stuff isn't great.

There's 6 screws that need to come out, after loosening the set screw and unthreading to remove the shifter ball. Two inside the storage area, two under the front sides up by the dash. Then the two that hold the top plate, then with a parking brake on put it in 2nd and slide the top plate to you. They are a bit fragile, especially in the prom night seating area, aka, girlfriend crack.

 

[NJMuscle]

I get that it's an automatic, but it's the angle of the shifter handle that bothers me. I drove a car with a Reverse manual valve body for a while, so I do tend to shift quote a bit, but not all the time. I really wanted a 4 speed car, but didn't want to pass on this one. Maybe next time. Thanks for the info on the console. Going to look at everything this week and see what I want to do.

 

[themechanic]

This is what you will find once you remove the console or top plate of the console. Loosen the set screw in the shifter knob and unscrew it to remove the top plate.

 

[qkcuda]

This was on my a-body Barracuda, but the concept is the same. I used a B & M Quicksilver shifter. I ended up using the B&M cover and mounting it on top of the factory console. I have seen others mount the shifter entirely below the console, so it comes up through the factory slot, but that puts the shifter too low to work comfortably, in my opinion.

 

[NJMuscle]

Mechanic, thanks for the diagram, looks like what I have. Definitely will help me disassemble everything.
Cuda, yours came out really nice. That's what I'm looking to do, something similar. Is your shifter mounting plate mounted on top of the console or is the B&M cover only mounted on top? Thanks.

Cuda, forgot to ask, I assume you're using the cable to operate the trans now?

 

[qkcuda]

The mechanism is mounted directly to the floor, with about a 2 inch spacer under it. Only the cover is mounted to the console top.