AMC cross pollination - Postal/Overlander Shifter

[ag4ever]

Was passing time, and discovered the Bricklin SV-1 with the AMC 360 V8 and Automatic Transmission used the same floor shifter as the Postals and Overlanders.





(Also used in the AMC Gremlin & Pacer)

Just thought it was interesting the Bricklin SV-1 had lots of AMC parts in it.

 

[FLCJ8]

Just thought it was interesting the Bricklin SV-1 had lots of AMC parts in it.

I've been under the impression that AMC parts were actually a mix of Big 3 parts.

 

[bigwalton]

And Eagles.

 

[ag4ever]

A few months back, I was able to buy a floor shifter from an AMC “Hornet, Gremlin, or Pacer“ per the seller. I finally took some time to compare it against the overlander shifter.



The overlander shifter is 1.5” longer (overall), and the shaft is considerably thicker. But, that shaft threads on a shorter stub shaft of the shifter in the overlander.

Another difference is the color of the light filter to illuminate the shift gate.



The overlander has a blue filter, the AMC shifter has a green filter.

So, if you want a higher shift knob location, you can use an AMC shifter. And, if you want green light, you can use the AMC filter. But if you are looking for an original style shifter, well it seems only the Postal and Overlander shifters will match. From the photos above, the Bricklin might have the thicker shaft with the short stub on the shifter, but I have not seen one in person to confirm.

 

[DeLuke]

I also recently hit up the AMC-side of the fence to find one of the plastic covers for my red Overlander. It's hard to find one at all but then I found it's even harder to find one where the notches haven't been broken out in some form. Luckily that notched piece unscrews and you can swap them between covers. The gear letters/indicator strip is also swappable.

Here is one that has been on Ebay recently. Do not think it sold though:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Amc-1974-1...=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

 

[ag4ever]

I bought the one with intentions of using it to make a silicone mold and try reproducing them. This would be used if I pull the stock engine and transmission from the overlander and replacing them with a 4.0/aw4/d300 combo. I would then pickle the stock drivetrain to use if I want it returned to original. Whatever I do must be able to reverse back to 100% stock.

 

[bigwalton]

FWIW, I reused they shifter when I went to the 4.0/AW4 and tried to adapt the underside to keep the Postal shifter/gate/cover. My fab skills are limited and I was only successful in making the shifter work, I couldn’t get the stock gate or, in the end, the cover with the gate removed to work. So I just have the skeleton of the stock shifter with the light (for no good reason other than it was stock so I left it). Believe I have a thread showing my attempts on here somewhere. I’m pretty sure it could be made to work properly by someone with half a clue and better skills.

 

[ag4ever]

I saw in your thread you used the stock cover with a "custom" gate cut from sheet metal. Did you abandon that?

If I start working on the aw4 swap, I'll probably use the "new" cover as a mold for a custom one.

 

[bigwalton]

I saw in your thread you used the stock cover with a "custom" gate cut from sheet metal. Did you abandon that?

If I start working on the aw4 swap, I'll probably use the "new" cover as a mold for a custom one.

I couldn’t get the gate to work but the AW4 really doesn’t need it anyway. In the end I found out that I didn’t have the throw quite right to use the cover without the gate.

The rod of the shifter, when it was in 1-2, was *just* off enough that it would let the trans shift into 1-2 but any off-road movement/bumping would knock it back up into 3. As soon as I pulled the cover off entirely, it worked great. I did also swap to a less heavy shifter knob. The AMC one looked odd without the cover, so I stored it with the other shifter bits.

I’m 100% sure it can be made to work, I just gave up rather than keep fiddling with it. I was at the end of my patience once it started popping out of 1-2.

 

[ag4ever]

So, it sounds like a shift arm ratio issue? Just need to tweak the shift arm on the transmission so the arm on the shifter has full throw at the transmission?

 

[bigwalton]

So, it sounds like a shift arm ratio issue? Just need to tweak the shift arm on the transmission so the arm on the shifter has full throw at the transmission?

Yep, I had that thing apart to adjust more than a dozen times trying to get it to work. You also have to worry about clearance under the floor, not just the arms themselves.