65 mustang C4 shifter mod for racing...anyone tried this?

I have had my C4 rebuilt (actually the '65 C4 is no more...it's a 26 spline '74 C4). Included are performance parts including a shift kit that allows manual shifting. I am rebuilding my shifter and became apparent that the shifter pawl could be improved over the old green dot shifting pattern to provide positive stop for each shift. The black square with the red arrow pointing to it (see pic) would allow me to shift from 1st to 2nd and 2nd to 3rd like the following during drag racing:

1st to 2nd: push shifter 'til it stops against the new stop (black addition stops the shifter in drive instead of letting it go all the way into neutral...bad! ) and pull it back 'til is stops at the the 2nd gear stop (this is done very quickly to minimize time in drive which may or may not matter but pulling it back to the 2nd gear stop will keep it in 2nd 'till I want to shift to 3rd).

2nd to 3rd: push it 'til it stops against the new stop (black addition).

Seems like it would work as long as when I shift from 1st to 2nd it does not go into drive for a split second, but I would be slapping it forward and back very quickly so it would not have much time to go into drive. Maybe with the shift kit it would not go into drive anyhow since I have the pedal to the metal.

I'll make up a small C shapped piece that fits over the thickness of the stop plate and tack it into place. I'll wait until I get things installed to get the piece in the right position. I'm not so sure that simply putting the piece forward of the 2nd gear stop by an amount equal to the length of the 1st gear step will suffice. I'd hate to get it in the wrong!



_________________
Tracy Blackford: Corona, Ca
Restoring '65 Fastback Mustang
329 with speedomotive hi-nod 3.25 crank, stage II 289 rods, KB 322 pistons,
282S cam, and fully ported 351W 1.94/1.6 heads to top it off.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: blkfrd on 1/23/03 8:49am ]</font>

I think a shifter from a 67 will work for you. I just used a shorter arm on my trans and adjusted the shifter so 2-3 is in the wide gate and stops before it goes into reverse. But I agree that you dont want it to easy to get into neutral.
[addsig]

If you use a reverse manual valve body, you only have to grind the part that holds it in drive so you can go from 1st to second easily and just push in the button and pull back for third. This way you can pull back for second without worrying about accidently hitting 3rd gear and all the rest still locks out reverse and park. Those manual kits don't work all that great, a good manual valve body is way better.They are engineered and designed to shift much better and firmer. I tried all those shift kits, they can't compare to a manual valve body.