turning tail shifter into a sidewinder: sources for bushings?, Have I been mislead? Options

[Calwaterbear]

Ok guys, have a 72, with the tailshifter. so I salvaged everything from a junked 74 - from the shifter to the transmission.

so first - i have been told that you just need to change the linkages, but in reading on the Pelican, they indicate you would need the newer transmission as well - IE no conversion, it is a replacement - trans and shifter. Can anyone confirm that?

my hope/plan is to leave the current trans in the 72, and turn it into a sidewinder. so took all the shift rods etc, wire wheeled em, hit em with primer and an enamel for longevity and rust protection. So I guess next step is to replace all the bushings, Right?

so anyone have a favorite supplier? does 914 rubber carry em? I assume pelican does.

I'm hoping they come as a kit!

somebodty needs to lie to me and tell me this is a simple straightforward conversion, slap it back in, 2 hours tops!

[theer]

This is a simple straightforward conversion, as long as you have all the parts. There's a bunch of threads on this topic here & on Pelican, but in addition to everything inside the car (shifter & linkage bar), you also need the rear linkage bar and transmission connector bits - which you probably got at the boneyard.

I believe you can convert a tail to side shifter, but it is a bolt-in affair if you have the side shifter already.

What's not obvious, is that you will need the later engine support bar, inner & outer motor mounts and the metal brackets to connect to the block (two) and the outer bar mount (two). Lastly, the driver side warm air guide is different, so you will need that (or run without).

The bushings are available (Pelican & others), including the "special" firewall bushing you'll need to mate the old hole to the new linkage bar. The rubber boot at the firewall is also different, but I used the early hard plastic cover flipped 180 degrees (I found that solution here, too).

Piece of cake!

Did I miss anything?

[BeatNavy]

I believe you can convert a tail to side shifter, but it is a bolt-in affair if you have the side shifter already.

You can. I believe most people swap out the whole gearbox, but it is pretty straightforward to convert a tail shifter gearbox into a side shifter with the right parts (e.g., shift console).

In terms of bushing, I recommend the one from Tangerine.

I did this a couple of years ago. All good and worth it. The process is documented extensively here, but the information is generally in fragments in various threads. Try to find a "comprehensive" thread that covers it all.