I have a 67 with a Muncie 4-spd, but a Hearst shifter. I am trying to return the car back to original condition. Was having a Hearst shifter a dealer option, or not? If not, how hard is it to switch back to a Muncie shifter? I am fairly good at figuring things out, but not a mechanic. I see that I can buy the shifter and installation kits through Ricks. Any input is appreciated.

Good looking car. Its the same color as mine eccept for the top. :) I think only a z28 came with a Hearst in 67 & 68. In 69 the Hearst became standard. I've never heard of like a SS even, coming with a Hearst the first 2 years. I could well be wrong though if someone told the dealer they HAD to have a Hearst.

Hopefully someone who knows FOR SURE will post a reply.

Just so ya know, it's Hurst shifters and not Hearst.

Yah, I don't know what I was thinking (Hearst vs. Hurst). I think I was typing faster than my brain was operating!

the hurst came out in 1969. all 67 and 68 muncie cars(z/28 included) had the muncie shifter.but the 67 cars did not have the name muncie on the handle like 68 did.

i like the idea of what your doing.. but the hurst is a much better shifter.you will be dissapointed in the shifting charactaristics of the muncie. especially after using a hurst shifter.

all that said... do what your doing...i'm kind of a purest so the muncie shifter needs to be installed into your car.

there kinda tricky to install.(leave your trans in place) after you remove your crossmember and hurst shifter,install your support rod to the trans tailshaft bolt.then your reverse switch onto the trans side cover.

"no... wait.......do yourself a big favor. take out your tranny from the bellhousing."


lay the trans on the floor bolted to your crossmember .bolt the muncie shifter to the crossmember as well.install everything together( complete shifter, reverse seitch with rod etc) now adjust you reverse switch using an ohmeter or per your assy manual. adjust all your linkage.

this will help out alot in a preliminary adjustment. it will all change slightly when in the car. but this will show you how far off the reverse switch linkage is. you may need to make your own rod for this switch.

then install it all in your car.it its tricky!!!

the crossmember cant go in untill the trans is in.the shifter is hard to install with the trans in place.the crossmember is needed to hold both in.....

you will find out......

Keep the Hurst and stamp "Muncie" on the lever. Unless you don't plan to drive the car anymore, you'll be very dissappointed with the Muncie. I like originality too, but a Muncie shifter is the biggest piece of crap on these cars.:sad: Sorry if that isn't what you were looking for.:(

you can also put a muncie handle on a hurst body......

you can also put a muncie handle on a hurst body...... :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

I like Muncie transmissions, but why GM contracted with them for the shifters is a mystery to me....:sad: was it really worth saving a few bucks for a piece of junk ?? Pontiac was using the Hurst all along and I think Olds too ??

The 1967-68 Camaro had the Muncie shifter with Muncie stamped in the stick if it had a Muncie trans. If it was Saganaw trans it did not have Muncie stamped in the stick.
The 67-68 3 sp and 4sp Muncie and Saganaw trans shifters were all based on the same design and share many parts.
Chevy was tight and didn't want to pay extra for the Hurst shifter so only used it on a few cars as compared to Pontiac and Olds.
Also from what I read, the Hurst did not meet quality standards because of higher vibration transfer to the stick.

you can also put a muncie handle on a hurst body......

This might be my best option, but is it easy to do?

I have done a few where I cut the Muncie stick and drilled 2 holes to bolt on the Hurst shifter. I did them years ago but don't think I would ruin an original Muncie stick today.
Maybe you can find a repro bolt on Muncie stick
I have seen repops for Chevelles but it is a different shape then the Camaro one. not sure if anyone sells a Camaro one.

I have always liked my Muncie shifter!!

I set it uo so that I lead second going to the "H" and the lead third going from the "H" by about a half to a thread each way.. lube her up and it works great by me!!

Like this!!

.....l_/
...../.l

vs this

.....l_l
.....l..l

pdq67

My dad is a late 50s,early 60s guy and he says the popularity of hurst shifters grew directly out of the unpopularity of muncie shifters...he bought a 63 impala ss with a 327/4 spd and said that chevy replaced the whole muncie shifter mechanism,twice, in the first 6 months he owned it...eventually even his local chevy dealer wound up putting a hurst shifter in it, even though the car was still under warranty from G.M....by the way my dad still owns the car,its a beaut,and it still has the hurst shifter in it!

I have the Hurst Heritage book and it's a pretty interesting story.
I have to check the book but from memory.....
He started with a little shop making things like bumper guards and hitches then one day realized that his old 3 on the tree shifter, common in so many 50s cars, were junk so made a floor shift conversion. He would make them up then fill up his old Chevy and sell them on the road. He used his car to demo the shifter then sell them out of his trunk. He did well and just kept growing and doing a lot of hot rod promo stuff.

The Hurst shifters had a lifetime guarantee at one time.