three on the tree shifting

[sidcharles]

speaking of transmissions .... the floor shift was omnipresent until when; around 1941 or so?

but what happens if a rodder has a three speed transmission, and not the means or desire to put the lever on the floor?

for him, the journey may be the destination with no hurried anticipation of getting there.

or maybe his gal likes doing the "slide-over" and sitting next to him on those long drives. kinda hard to feel romantic with a steel shaft between your knees.

i've yet to find the interconnection between the transmission linkage and the two perpendicular stalks which emerge from the steering column mounted shaft connected to the shift lever.

any link to a diagram or help piecing this puzzle together will be greatly appreciated.

thanks,

sid

[johnyrotten]

Here's a couple from GM. 67-71 c10 truck and the older 50's versions. The H.A.M.B is a great resource for this kind of information. Tons of knowledge and information there.

[Ace-Garageguy]

^^^ Excellent.   

[Bainford]

The vast majority of 3-speeds that I have encountered were on the floor. Three on the tree seems to have existed in cars throughout the 50s and early 60s, though common in pickups into the early 80s.

In addition to the excellent illustrations posted by John, here are a couple photos of a '61 Merc steering column. I'm sure your imagination can fill in the bits between the column levers and the transmission. 

The best thing about owning a vehicle with three-on-the-tree today, is no one will be asking you to borrow it.

[espo]

7 hours ago, sidcharles said:

speaking of transmissions .... the floor shift was omnipresent until when; around 1941 or so?

but what happens if a rodder has a three speed transmission, and not the means or desire to put the lever on the floor?

for him, the journey may be the destination with no hurried anticipation of getting there.

or maybe his gal likes doing the "slide-over" and sitting next to him on those long drives. kinda hard to feel romantic with a steel shaft between your knees.

i've yet to find the interconnection between the transmission linkage and the two perpendicular stalks which emerge from the steering column mounted shaft connected to the shift lever.

any link to a diagram or help piecing this puzzle together will be greatly appreciated.

thanks,

sid

In addition to the pictures of actual mechanicals check out the clutch and shifting in one of the Mobius '42 - '48 Chevrolet models. 

[sidcharles]

holy-smoley guys.

 

you don't know how many responses the Ford Barn & HAMB have sent me today and most of them have left me scratching my head.

both diagram & pictures  [above]  have all but eliminated and doubts in my mind how the seemingly contradictory motions of lever & crank thingie interact to make it work.

 

much appreciate the helps,

 

sid 

[sidcharles]

12 minutes ago, espo said:

In addition to the pictures of actual mechanicals check out the clutch and shifting in one of the Mobius '42 - '48 Chevrolet models. 

those rascals @ scalemates pulled a good one on me. it's listed under Fleetmaster (if that's the one you meant)   '47 Chevy Fleetmaster , Moebius Models 2302 (2025)

 

the instruction sheet (from another version) has a good picture of the steering column & shift shaft (?) to help with proportion.

 

thanks

sid

 

[Deathgoblin]

Had one in a previous vehicle, 1969 Dodge A100 van.  It was a weird little thing.  3 on the tree with a Slant-6, drum brakes all the way around (which was fun when I had to replace the brake pistons on the front).  It had overheat problem until I got it down and gutted the thermostat.  I'd replaced it, but it didn't help.  Ran great for a while, then some jackass who was stalking my wife sabotaged it.

Off topic, sorry. 

 

Edited July 30 by Deathgoblin

[sidcharles]

i had some Amazon money in the till, so i ordered a bunch of Vern Tardel's repair books. #2 is "transmissions" and at first blush, [delivered yesterday afternoon] they will prove of value in a number of areas.

[bobss396]

Chevy dealers used to have steering column rebuild kits in stock. If your column shifting was going bad, the kit would get it going again.

It was like gutting a fish 🐟... the entire column had to come out to install all the parts.

[sidcharles]

i'll bet that was a project

[NOBLNG]

I had two ‘68 Biscaynes with a 250 straight six and three in the tree. It shifted way nicer than my buddy’s dad’s’63? Fairlane that also had a three in the tree. I could beat him in a drag even though he had a V8.🙂

Edited July 30 by NOBLNG

[Ace-Garageguy]

2 hours ago, sidcharles said:

i had some Amazon money in the till, so i ordered a bunch of Vern Tardel's repair books. #2 is "transmissions" and at first blush, [delivered yesterday afternoon] they will prove of value in a number of areas.

If you build "traditional" rods, real or model, Tardel's books are a great resource, if a little light on hard info.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Last 3-on-the-tree I had was a '66 Dodge pickup I bought for $50 because it was "stuck in gear and needed a transmission".

Nah. Chimps had been at it, and the gearbox was bolted to the bellhousing with huge lag screws that had backed out enough to let the box hang at an angle, and the linkage jammed.

Drilling / tapping the ruined holes and putting in proper fasteners fixed it permanently.

[Rob Hall]

I've never had the opportunity to drive a car w/ a manual column shift, but as I was learning to drive 40 years ago, I did drive my Dad's '67 and '68 Cougars w/ 3pd manual floor shift...and manual drum brakes, manual steering..quite different experience than the 'modern' (late 70s, mid 80s) vehicles of his I was also driving. 

[bobss396]

On my '64 Ford, I broke the shifter off of the column with a hard 1st to 2nd shift. 

I hit the windshield with the shifter and my hand. I limped home in 2nd gear and picked up a floor shifter the next day.

[W-409]

On 7/29/2025 at 7:37 PM, Bainford said:

The best thing about owning a vehicle with three-on-the-tree today, is no one will be asking you to borrow it.

 

Exactly! 

My daily driver ('64 Rambler American) has a "three on the tree" with un-synchronized first gear. It's actually really easy to drive as everything works the way they should, but still no one else wants to drive it, because they think they can't figure out the shifter situation.

[bobss396]

The last I had was a '65 Belair in 1978. It had the non-synchro first gear. That was a small transmission aka the peanut box.

[stavanzer]

The last stick shift I had was an '88 Suzuki Samurai in the early 1990's. I loved it. But, it was a 5 speed on the floor.

I learned to drive in 1981 on a '61 Chevy Pickup with a Three on the Tree. 

[TarheelRick]

My last three-on-the-tree was my first 65 Chevelle Malibu, 283 4bbl, manual everything. Traded it for an identical colored 65 Malibu Super Sport with 283 4bbl 4 Speed.

[drodg]

I learned to drive a stick on a three on the column 1960 Plymouth Savoy.  225 six and it was slow.     

[Rbray47]

I've driven them, but never owned one.

In case anyone is looking for different ways to build MPC's gmc and c10 pickups, my uncle bought one new in 85 or 86. It had 3 on the tree and a 4.3 V6. 2wd, short bed, no options. 

[Carmak]

Back in the early 90's I daily drove a 76 Dodge Aspen wagon \6 with a 3 on the tree.

I bought the wagon from the original owner who had factory ordered that car (as a very low-cost family car).

The original owner told me that what the car was delivered the dealer told him the 3 on the tree option had just been discontinued.

 

[DanL]

Once owned a 1969 Cortina MK2 with 4 on the tree...nice little car and a lot of fun

[bill-e-boy]

My old 39 Dodge had a 3 on the tree and I think it may have been on some earlier models too

A funny story - a group that I belong to went on a shed raid and this old geezer has a 28 Chrysler coupe that he converted the shifter from a floor shift to column mount - his story for doing this was so that the ladies could get closer to him.

This would have been done in the early 50's going by his age