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Just when you think you’ve gotten the last piece to the puzzle to get something complete and it doesn’t exactly work out as planned.

Now that the motor and transmission are in the race car I’m assembling the smaller stuff. I needed a shifter handle for the Hurst Competition shifter base.  <– Tap Link.  I’ve been looking and the one I want seems to be bringing over $100. I mentioned in that previous post that I may use a stock handle. In the positioning of my seat it seems that the stock handle might be a bit of a reach which would be fine in a street car. But in a race car, I need the shifter to land right where my hand would be so that it is convenient to shift.  If that makes any sense at all. No reaching for a short shifter like back in the day on the street.  The shifter can’t be too far forward because the harness’ keep you in place and too far back and your elbow contacts the seat edge creating an arm movement limit.  Both are no good.  It needs to be right where my hand rests.

I’ll admit it, I am frugal.  I don’t like to use the word cheap because I don’t buy junk products.  I’ve been working to get this old Hurst Competition Shifter complete. I bought the base a couple years ago for $70. Maybe I’m stuck in the past, but I wouldn’t pay over $100 for the handle when I paid $70 for the base.

As you can see above, I scored a handle. I only paid $50 shipped for it.  The handle was advertised as fitting a chevy transfer case. I took a gamble and only partially won. 

The handle fits the shifter base just fine. But there’s another problem. 

Thanks to a good friend that I’ve gotten to know in the community of Foxbody Mustangs, I was able to get a shift knob a few months back. It was something they were not going to use and it was sent to me.  I was planning to use it on this shifter base but it seems the threads are a little small and it won’t fit the handle I just bought.

It looks like I’ll be buying another shift knob for this handle.  It has 7/16″ x 20 threads on it.  In a quick search it seems the standard Hurst knob is that size. Part number Hurst 1630004 to be specific.  So I’ll be ordering one of those.  

All in all I’ll have $180 in the shifter.  Which in the end doesn’t seem like it saved that much money at all.  Sometimes it pays out to be frugal.  Other times… not so much.