shift rod to engine bar clearance problems, tailshift to sideshift conversion Options

[mightyohm]

My car is a 72 with a sideshift conversion (done long before I bought the car). The engine mount bar originally had the ends chopped down to raise the motor, apparently so that the shift rod would clear the bar in 4th/5th gear. I need to lower the motor to get my 2.0L airbox to fit, so I am putting in a stock engine mount bar, and now the shift rod rubs a little bit when I try to shift into 4th or 5th.

Do the tailshift cars have the shift rod up higher on the firewall than sideshift cars? I had never heard that before but bondo says he thinks he has heard of this issue before. I can't imagine that I am the only person to run into this clearance issue if this is true.

I managed to bend the rod a bit by pulling down on it but I'd like to get a little more clearance. I'm not sure how easy it will be to bend the shift rod more without making a jig to keep the ends in the right alignment. Has anyone done this before?

[mightyohm]

The inside mounts are stock. The outside mounts have been upgraded to the late style U channel type (no rubber mounts) and appear to be correct. I don't want to raise the bar since I need the clearance in the engine compartment. The PO had hacked off the uprights at the ends of the bar in order to raise the bar (and the motor) relative to the chassis, this created the needed clearance for the shift rod.

Last night I ended up taking the shift rod out and putting a very small bend in it. Now it clears just fine and I can still hit all gears so I think I did good. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

It's possible that my shift rod was bent to start with and that is why I am having issues. But after talking to Royce (bondo) he had me convinced that the early cars have the shift rod coming out of the firewall at a slightly higher position and this was a known issue for V8 conversions.