stock column shifter question

[cutty]

what do you guys think.....lol got my v8 in now(pics coming soon)and was underneath hanging my pipes to the full length headers and noticed i have tons of room for the stock column shifter to fit so i tried it and was shocked it does fit and not only does it fit but get all the gears, and now debating of leaving it hooked up and leaving it look stock on the inside,what do you guys think......lol


p.s car has the 60/40 bench

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

I still have mine in place. Then again, I hate my automatic transmission and will soon be rectifying GM's error in making my car without a real man's transmission.

Anyhow, the biggest problem with the automatic column shifter is that it it hard to shift it manually with accuracy. And shift it manually you must if you want to get all of the performance out of your engine. Otherwise, you will be full throttle shifting at 3,000 RPM. The only other solution is to use a different governor that will upshift later, as used in the 442, turbo cars and MCSS. Those cars upshift between 4,500 and 5,000 RPM. So, if you like the bench seat and plan to keep it, I would keep the column shifter if you want to keep the automatic. Along with that though, plan on some transmission modifications to allow you to fully use your engine's power band. Otherwise, the car will always be slow.