Beck shifter and ebrake

I'm not a fan of the Fibersteel shifter. It is not that precise(uses a VW Beetle shifter) and also requires raising the passenger seat. They are also VERY pricey for what they are.

I'd keep the cable shifter. If you can fit the e-brake fine, if not learn to live with it?

My OE-style e-brake is on the passenger side of my PBS cable shifter. It just fits.

Thanks for the info. Maybe I can find a smaller cable shifter but that 1980 plastic ebrake has got to go.

I've long been pondering what you're pondering, and I agree with @DannyP: the original style long shaft shifter would be a step backward from the cable shifter.

By the way, what brand of cable shifter is that?

I ask because, looking at it, I can see several possible ways to make it more like what you want it to be. The first way is to replace the stick with something that looks more like what 550s had. You want an 11-inch tall stick, skinny as possible, with like a 10mm thread pitch on top, Bonus points if its tapered or swaged.

I just replaced my Brandwood stick with an old VW lever and a proper Spyderish shift knob. Looks the part and still works like the nice cable shifter it is.

Since the stock cable shifter is a sleeved device with a pull-up handle & etc, the thing to do at when replacing it is make a flip-over reverse lock-out. It's just a thumb-shaped bit of flat steel welded to a hinge. I welded mine to the box but could have stopped at screws. That reverse flip-over thing also makes it look more right.

The big problem with the Brandwood box is it's too high. I did considerable surgery to lower it, but it's still about 1.5 inches taller than an original Spyder shift box. And it has to be, because the pickup for the fore/aft cable attaches about 3 inches above the pivot point on the shaft, in order to get the necessary "pull" on the cable to move the shift rod at the back of the transaxle.

That height is important to this project. Because to put the E-brake on the shifter's left, you first have to move the shifter to the right, and adjust the position of the passenger seat to accommodate it.

I think this can be done with the shifter on your car. Because the second thing I see in your rig is a bit of room under the bottom of the shift lever. If I were doing what you're pondering, I would look at modifying that bracketry to lower the stick so its pivot point is on the floor. Given how your shifter and cables appear to be integrated with the car, this is going to be a little bit involved. But very doable and still a lot less work and trouble than trying to swap in a different type of shifter.

Once the shifter is slid over about 3 inches you'll have the space for the Fibersteel or Vintage Speed 550-style hand brake. It comes with a plate with the right sized tubing nubbed on.

But you can't just weld that plate in and strap in the new handle if you want it in the correct spot.

Because the part is not a perfect replica of an original 550 handle (it's better, functionally) and was made to be installed basically upright in front of the passenger seat, to make it work in the proper 550 position you need to mod the handle bracket to get it to lay down low enough that your right leg won't be bothered by it. That means nipping the last hole off the bottom of the lever where the cables attach, and then bending the front "foot" about 3/4 of an inch at a right angle, and drilling that new tab for another bolt to secure it to the floor. 

That takes it from this

to this:

Which is where it needs to be to look and work right in the "correct" position.

Hope this helps.

Thanks Edsnova. That’s very helpful info. The shifter is something Carey had made and only sold 2 of them, not sure what it started as.

I guess the next step would be to get an e brake and see if I can cut and move stuff around….not sure even with modifications my shifter will work. 3rd and 4th pattern seem way off to the right, but I’m not familiar with these cars so they may all be that way.

thanks again

jeff

To clarify on that shifter, we used it for many years as our standard cable shifter on Brazilian built cars and I only ever sold a couple of them as retro-fits.  So there's several hundred out there, but only a few that are on earlier cars like yours.

The aluminum collar is your reverse lockout and that is all it does, it has a plain metal shaft underneath that could be changed with some fab work and keeping the cable attachment points the same.  You'd have to fab a flip lever or some other sort of lockout for reverse if you got rid of it, but it is possible.

As for e-brake position, you'll see original cars with the brake on both the left and the right of the shifter.  I prefer it on the right simply because whatever you put there is partially impeded with a passenger and I'd much rather have the seldom used e-brake impeded vs. having the shifter impeded.  If you don't usually have a passenger, then its a non issue...

As for the original  style shifter, I've used versions from 2 of the 3 companies that made them and found all of them to be vague and require a lot of shift rod and coupler fabrication to make work at all.  I was less than impressed, especially for the money.

All in all, I think Ed's solution of a modified Brandwood would be the easiest route to go, albeit still not simple and requiring some fab work.  I have a used Brandwood many many years ago, but we attached the e-brake directly to the side the brandwood box by welding a proper sized tube to it directly.

@chines1 posted:

As for e-brake position, you'll see original cars with the brake on both the left and the right of the shifter.  I prefer it on the right simply because whatever you put there is partially impeded with a passenger and I'd much rather have the seldom used e-brake impeded vs. having the shifter impeded.  If you don't usually have a passenger, then its a non issue...

As for the original  style shifter, I've used versions from 2 of the 3 companies that made them and found all of them to be vague and require a lot of shift rod and coupler fabrication to make work at all.  I was less than impressed, especially for the money.

EVERY single bit of that ^^^^^^^^^

I put the e-brake on the right on MY car for two reasons: I can easily use the shifter, it falls right to my hand and I really didn't want the e-brake interfering with MY leg.

A side benefit: the e-brake tends to keep the passenger AWAY from the shifter. It's REALLY annoying to go from 2nd into somebody's leg instead of 3rd. Spyders are VERY tight on interior room.

$1455 for a VW Beetle shifter and some steel fabricated bits? Seriously?

IMHO a shift lever that is 11" long is not what you want. Yeah, it looks like OE, but it gets in the way getting in and out. And functionally the shorter lever feels less vague. The PBS shifter has two positions for throw adjustment at the nosecone: both fore-aft and side-to-side. It's easy to get the feel you want. This is why both Carey and Greg are using this unit.

THIS IS NOT MY CAR BELOW:

The PBS(or copy) is also physically smaller up front. This enabled me to get both the shifter AND e-brake between the seats on a 2000 Vintage Spyder that I worked on. You can see that the mechanism protrudes to the right and must be forward enough to not interfere with the passenger seat.

I made up these two pieces to allow this in a Vintage. The square tube lifts the shifter about an inch, allowing the cables to come in from the rear without interference with the angle iron on the floor. The other piece bolts to the top of the shifter bracket and via captive nuts to the angle iron on the left side.

The PBS lever was temporarily used, a proper skinny and round lever has been installed.

This is VERY, VERY tight, but it just sneaks in. Just trying to show what is possible. The e-brake can go on either side, but is easier on the left with PBS-style.

This is my car, ebrake on the other side.

You can see the fabricated bracket for the e-brake. That bolts directly to the floor.

You can also see how this would tend to keep a passenger leg/knee out of the way!

Just a look at the current configuration of the shifter and e-brake in a recent, 2018, turnkey vintage Spyder. It’s very similar to Danny’s. I really can’t imagine the e-brake on the driver’s side. Both of these instruments just fall into your hand.

Here is a complete kit we offer with Billet machined tail section that replaces the nose cone.

https://www.vintagemotorcarsin...ct/spyder-shift-kit/

I measured my shifter. It is 9.5" from the top of the 3/4" thick center tunnel to the top of the ball. Custom ball by Twisted Shifterz.

I’ve been in Danny’s car, and the e-brake definitely intrudes upon the passengers room a bit, at least for a 5’11”, 185 lb guy.  Two more inches of width would really help out the interior room in these cars.

@LI-Rick Here's another shot showing the shifter and e-brake. New Vintages will fit like this too I'm sure.

I could have Mike(the owner) take an overhead shot if you want. Also, this Nardi is an inch bigger than mine. Mine is 13.5", his is 14.5".

@DannyP, did that setup intrude on the driver, or do you think it’s better to have it on the passenger side?

@LI-Rick posted:

I’ve been in Danny’s car, and the e-brake definitely intrudes upon the passengers room a bit, at least for a 5’11”, 185 lb guy.  Two more inches of width would really help out the interior room in these cars.

Two inches in every direction (down, width, and aft) would help enormously.

It's tough fitting clowns into these cars with those tight dimensions.

@Gordon Nichols posted:

It's tough fitting clowns into these cars with those tight dimensions.

It works fine. It's wholly between the seats, both shifter and brake. Plus, for those "correctophiles" the shifter is on the right like OE Spyders. Honestly it's probably about an inch and a half to the right of mine.

But for me, I like the shifter low and close. I don't care about originality. I also don't care if it's in the way of the passenger too much. Plus, you've met my size tiny wife. She doesn't mind the e-brake, it's not in her way at all.

You do you, Rick.

Thanks Danny. I don’t care at all about “correct”.

Get Greg's pedal cluster(and the OMP covers). It looks fantastic, it works VERY well, and doesn't look "kit".

I see you either purchasing(from Carey:his is NICE) or turning your own steering wheel hub as well. You'll be removing all the "VW Beetle parts bin" cues.

All the touch-points need to work and look business not hand-me-down.

But that's just me. As Swayze said, "Opinions vary" LOL!

That’s all on the order sheet!  Hoping by the end of the year to get it in my garage.