Shifter options for 545rfe

[typhoontx]

I'm looking for a floor shifter, americanshifter.com has ones for the 545rfe, however their parent company has sketchy reviews and you can't even read their install instructions online without providing an email address. Has anyone used the Lokar 45rfe shifter on the 545rfe ?

Thanks, Robert

 

[5.7 hemi]

I used my factory shifter, and so can you.

 

[rescuediver1982]

I used my factory shifter, and so can you.

What kind of shifter do you have? I have a 3 speed slapstick and would love to keep it, how hard was the linkage to hook up? any modifications needed?

 

[5.7 hemi]

You'll need a cable from b&m and then figure out the throw of the shifter vs the throw of the trans. My car was 64'polara 500.

 

[Sixpactogo]

The detents are the same between the shifter and transmission. You can use your factory shifter but will need to do a little fab work. I used a shift cable from a Jeep Grand Cherokee. Shortened it and made a bracket to mount to the Console shifter bracket. Your slap stick is a little different than my 68 but here are some pics of what I did. I shortend the shifter end and used a 1/2" X 4" Aluminum bolt to affix to the bracket. Mine ended up being 42" long. Yours could be different or you could use a Lokkar or some other factory cable to start with. Have fun!

 

[typhoontx]

I ended up using the lokar 45rfe shifter as the car has only the column shifter and we wanted a floor shifter. It works but it took some changes to make it work, if you mount it like their instructions say its too close to the dash , also had to slide a piece of tubing over the all thread rod they supply as linkage rod to stop it from deflecting it also is essentially a 3 speed shifter so you end up with no access to 1st and 2nd gear, but this car build is more for cruising rather than an application that would need to be locked into 1st or 2nd. Of note for those planning to using the hotwire harness you don't have to wire up the lokar neutral-park safety switch, the ecm takes care of that for for you , unless you want 2 levels of safety