Gaging interest in resurrecting the Shiftster

[PetroleumJunkie412]

So, thanks to @Curious Hound I am now in possession of a Shiftster.

I need to meet with machinists this week for other projects, and was going to have them look over the tool to see what the price point on having them made would be.

Throwing this post out there to see if there's interest in doing a production run of them again. Also if there are any modifications needed to the tool. I'm guessing there will be a request for a neutral detent... will need to figure out the clock position for that...

Either way, thread is here to see if there's enough interest to have them made. Let me know.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

That’s something I’d like in my toolbox at some point.

 

[97RangerXLT]

gotta agree with lil blue on this one. nice to have as an emergency option

AJ

 

[PetroleumJunkie412]

Well. In the machinists hands. Awaiting quote on reproducing them.

Knob will probably be different on resurrected ones, but staying with aluminum. The original ones are going to be very expensive to re-cast, so figure a simplified machined one, or a bulk ordered cast one to hold costs down.

Need to talk to a transfer case expert to figure out where to put the neutral detent.

Nice part is it will be a Made in the USA product when finished.

 

[Uncle Gump]

I have one with neutral indexed and drilled.

According to the person I bought it from... it was drilled and marked with Neu from shiftster when he bought it from them. But clearly it was a modified version of the three position unit.

If you move forward... and this unit would be helpful... I'll cover the cost of shipping to you... you pay for it to send it back.

 

[PetroleumJunkie412]

I have one with neutral indexed and drilled.

View attachment 145908

View attachment 145909

According to the person I bought it from... it was drilled and marked with Neu from shiftster when he bought it from them. But clearly it was a modified version of the three position unit.

If you move forward... and this unit would be helpful... I'll cover the cost of shipping to you... you pay for it to send it back.

Interesting. A bit different than the one I have.

Slide my DMs. Would like to get a look at that one.

 

[JoshT]

I'd consider adding one to the toolbox for emergencies. Neutral wouldn't be needed by me, but doesn't hurt to have the option

Might help to gain interest if you can figure out what other vehicles the Shiftster might fit. From my understanding some of the full size trucks use the same shift motor mount pattern as the Ranger, so it might work for them as well.

 

[SenorNoob]

I'd bet any Ford with a Borg/Warner electric shift transfer case...

 

[PetroleumJunkie412]

Might help to gain interest if you can figure out what other vehicles the Shiftster might fit. From my understanding some of the full size trucks use the same shift motor mount pattern as the Ranger, so it might work for them as well.

A job for people much, much smarter than myself.

I'm in a unique position where it's rather easy for me to have stuff manufactured at small scale. But I am a *horrible* mechanic, and have no idea what interchanges with what.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

This is the only pic I could find of the neutral I put in mine. It's exactly 180° opposite of the hole on the other side. You can probably figure out which hole by looking at the orientation of the holes with each other.

 

[Curious Hound]

If I ever get another RBV with electric t-case, I'll be interested.

 

[Shran]

I didn't know those had cast knobs. Must be a product of its time before CNC machines were really popular? Or maybe the guy building them was into backyard aluminum casting? That has been on my bucket list for a long time, pretty easy to do with sand molds.

I also might be interested in one just to have on hand.

 

[PetroleumJunkie412]

I didn't know those had cast knobs. Must be a product of its time before CNC machines were really popular? Or maybe the guy building them was into backyard aluminum casting? That has been on my bucket list for a long time, pretty easy to do with sand molds.

I also might be interested in one just to have on hand.

It's a cost issue mostly. For what a bulk sand cast supplier can build aluminum knobs for vs what my cnc guy can turn out, it's possible that its a rather large difference. I'm going to run the numbers both ways and see what the margin looks like. Bulk supplier I located yesterday is rather low cost, but foreign made which I do not like or want. However, if an American made cnc knob is going to add $50 to the final price...

As of now the only parts I will have to have turned out are the plate with index holes, the 4wd control adapter shaft, and maybe the knob. The rest is just assembly stuff and bulk ordered parts.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

It's a cost issue mostly. For what a bulk sand cast supplier can build aluminum knobs for vs what my cnc guy can turn out, it's possible that its a rather large difference. I'm going to run the numbers both ways and see what the margin looks like. Bulk supplier I located yesterday is rather low cost, but foreign made which I do not like or want. However, if an American made cnc knob is going to add $50 to the final price...

As of now the only parts I will have to have turned out are the plate with index holes, the 4wd control adapter shaft, and maybe the knob. The rest is just assembly stuff and bulk ordered parts.

Don’t we have a couple members that work in places that do sand molds? I can’t think of exactly who offhand though

 

[Shran]

Just a thought but maybe you could use an existing knob off of something else that is dimensionally similar and make the control shaft piece match the knob. That way you only have two custom pieces to make instead of 3.

Curious if Send-Cut-Send would make the plate with tight enough tolerances for you.