converting from column to console shift...

[petrofyed]

okay all, time for me to pick your brains....my 75 442 originally came with a bench seat and column shift....i have since put in swivel buckets but in the essence of getting the car on the road i left the column shift the way it was, even though i was given a center console and the shifter/cable assembly from the person i bought the car from....my question is: can i just put the console in, drill the hole in the trans hump in the floor to route the cable to the tranny and hook it up and go? the issue puzzling me is the fact that the neutral safety switch is mounted on the steering column...does this mean that that part of the column still rotates when i shift with the stick? i figured i would just pop out the column shift lever when i am ready to install the other parts to convert and get in and go...anyone else do this conversion??

thanks in advance for any advice....
Larry

[keith455]

I did it when i had my 75 cutlass. And yes the column still turned and indicator in the dash pointed to what it was supposed to. I thought I had it rigged up but the column in my 75 H/O turns also. I guess that's how they got around the Neutral safety switch.

[PSU442]

my column turns as well despite the console shifter.... which i found out after mounting a tach way back when... haha...

[ragz442]

When I did mine I got a floor shift tilt column, the nuetral safety is the same w/or w/out console on these years. From memory all parts needed to do a factory conversion:

console, brackets & wiring harness
shifter, cable & bracket [at trans]
floor shift column
floor shift speedo [no prndl]
floor duct

I think that pretty much covers it, I may have missed something though.

Larry, I checked out your cd site, nice job on the car. Just curious, whats the difference between F37 and G37 in '75? Is the F just more of a base Cutlass w/a fastback roof?

[damaged442]

Larry, it's kinda weird how similar our cars were, especially with the bench/column shift. I still think repainting the red with white stripes would have been a damn good paint setup. So what, I'm biased! All jokes aside, your car still came out great! Good luck with console install.

[petrofyed]

When I did mine I got a floor shift tilt column, the nuetral safety is the same w/or w/out console on these years. From memory all parts needed to do a factory conversion:

console, brackets & wiring harness
shifter, cable & bracket [at trans]
floor shift column
floor shift speedo [no prndl]
floor duct

I think that pretty much covers it, I may have missed something though.

Larry, I checked out your cd site, nice job on the car. Just curious, whats the difference between F37 and G37 in '75? Is the F just more of a base Cutlass w/a fastback roof?

hey todd...
thanks for the input....so there isn't already a place on the trans to mount the console shifter cable? if not then i guess i have to get me one somewhere...if memory serves me correctly i think the wiring to plug up to the console lights, etc was already in my car and was run with the wires for the power bench seat that was there originally....i also assume that i would leave the column linkage connected when i hook up the console shifter cable to the trans?
yeah, the F37 cutlass was a simple, no options, base cutlass....from what i have learned, even the carpet was an option on the F37....would certainly explain why most 442's of those years were done on the G37 cutlass 's'...i don't care, mine's one of 212 and that's all that matters to me! lol i have yet to see another 442 F37 like mine....

[ragz442]

Yea, you need the bracket that mounts on the trans pan that holds the cable in place. They're easy to come by, but there is a couple different ones though, depending on what trans is used. There's also a little foam plug that goes over cable at trans tunnel from inside, don't really need the factory seal, but at least use something there to seal the hole. Usually the plug is there for the console wiring, if not just tap into the illumination circuit. The column linkage will stay, that way the nuetral safety will still function. I've got a nice non tilt floor shift column if interested, I went to a tilt.

Is there any way to tell the difference between an F and G body style other then the VIN? They're both fastback 'S' bodys correct?

[petrofyed]

Yea, you need the bracket that mounts on the trans pan that holds the cable in place. They're easy to come by, but there is a couple different ones though, depending on what trans is used. There's also a little foam plug that goes over cable at trans tunnel from inside, don't really need the factory seal, but at least use something there to seal the hole. Usually the plug is there for the console wiring, if not just tap into the illumination circuit. The column linkage will stay, that way the nuetral safety will still function. I've got a nice non tilt floor shift column if interested, I went to a tilt.

Is there any way to tell the difference between an F and G body style other then the VIN? They're both fastback 'S' bodys correct?

thanks again.....well, it looks like i need to find one of those brackets then...i have a 400 trans so if anyone reading this thread has one of those brackets, hit me up...lol
yeah, i knew i was gonna have to seal the hole in the trans hump, that was pretty much a given....and i really don't care if i still have the little hump where the column shift lever mounts after i put in the console cuz it's a tilt and i like it :)
and as far as i know yes, they F37 was the fastback design and the only way to tell the diff is by the vin.....

thanks again!
Larry

[petrofyed]

okay all...
i finally got all the pieces i need to finish my conversion...question for those who have done it....is there an obvious location on the linkage setup on the trans where the cable end hooks up?

[ragz442]

Larry, on the shift lever that bolts to trans there's a bolt/nut set up where the cable eyelet mounts w/a Jesus clip. The top part of the shift lever has holes where the shift arm goes through, and the cable mounts to the bottom part, kind of a dual function lever.