Heres the ididit kit...
Heres the ididit kit in its entirety. It includes the cable, column bracket, transmission bracket, GM shift lever, spacers, and clevis pins.
After disconnecting the lower...
After disconnecting the lower steering shaft at the upper universal joint, Mabray removed the gearshift lever from the bottom of the column and installed the cable bracket on the lower end of the column. With the bracket aimed at about 5 oclock as viewed from the front of the car, Mabray spun the bolt finger-tight to allow for adjustment later. Be sure the cable-mounting hole on this bracket is facing toward the front of the car.
The gearshift lever was redrilled...
The gearshift lever was redrilled with a 5/16-inch bit, 2 inches center-to-center from the large (column mount) hole. The gearshift lever was then reinstalled and aligned with the cable bracket.
With the cable end nut and...
With the cable end nut and one of the cable housing jam nuts removed, Mabray fed the cable through the bracket and secured it with a jam nut. He made sure to center the threaded section in the bracket, adjusting the jam nuts as necessary. The cable is the same at both ends, so youll have a 100 percent chance of using the correct end on the first try. We told you ididit was smart.
Mabray then pushed the cable...
Mabray then pushed the cable into the housing to make it as short as possible before installing the clevis pin onto the cable. He installed the small nut onto the cable end, then installed the clevis pin into the gearshift lever and secured it with a cotter pin. With the forward portion of the install complete, Mabray aligned the cable bracket and gearshift lever so that they lined up perfectly and the cable housing had a straight shot below with no kinks or bends in the first 6 or so inches of cable. He then tightened the bolt on the cable bracket so it was just snug enough to hold the bracket without crushing the column tube. Note: The lever shown in these photos is a custom application. Your standard lever will be straight and wont have the 90-degree bends.
Under the car, Mabray removed...
Under the car, Mabray removed the two center bolts along the driver side of the pan rail. Youll need to replace these two bolts with slightly longer ones. One-inch bolts are perfect. Using the included spacers, Mabray installed the cable bracket as shown and tightened the bolts to proper specs. The bracket has extra holes to fit multiple GM transmission applications.
The shift lever was then installed...
The shift lever was then installed in its proper position and secured with its nut. Youll note that the lever has three holes that are marked F, C, and R; use the center one marked C.
After removing the cable end...
After removing the cable end nut and one of the jam nuts from the lower end of the cable, Mabray centered the remaining jam nut, fed the cable through the bracket, and installed the second jam nut finger-tight.
Mabray installed the clevis...
Mabray installed the clevis pin onto the cable end and secured it with the small nut. After making sure the column and transmission were set to Park, he adjusted the jam nuts until the clevis pin lined up with the shift lever hole marked C, then installed the clevis pin into the lever and securing it with the cotter pin. Now gently shiftif everything moves freely, congratulations. If not, adjust the cable according to the included instructions or call ididit for technical support; theyd love to hear from you.
We all know how cramped the engine compartment in a hot rod can get. First you stuff a big V-8 into a space originally designed to hold an inliner, then you add headers and a steering box to the equation, and empty space becomes downright scarce. Now throw a column-shift steering column into the mix, and things can get right complicated.
Enter the brains at ididit. Theyve come up with a cable-actuated gear selector kit for most GM and Ford automatic transmissions that not only does away with that solid shift rod, but also allows you some flexibility in locating the shift arm at the bottom of the column so you can install it even in the tightest of applications. Originally designed and released to fit ididits line of steering columns, theyve just hit the market with a new kit thatll fit most popular GM steering columns as well, just so you dont feel left out. This is the kit that won the Best New Product Under $100 Award at the NSRA Nationals in Louisville, Kentucky, last year. We visited Dagels Rods, where Brett Mabray showed us how simple this kit is to install, so belly up and catch a glimpse.