This is not on a slant powered car, but I believe there are more creative minds here than on any other Mopar forum.

I have a 1966 small block 727 that will be installed in a '56 Plymouth. I had originally planned to use an A-body floor shift, but would prefer to keep the unique way of selecting gears, so I have been modifying a 3-speed pushbutton shifter with a park lever to work with the later 727.

I know there are ways to use the pushbutton shifter if you don't want a park selector, but I don't like that option.

I've made a prototype mechanism to accomplish the job, and I made it fit into the '56 dash location, so that's not an issue. The problem I have is that the force needed to push the buttons to move past the detent in a stock '66 transmission is very high.

I've been told that the detent force can be reduced, but I'm concerned that there might be some problem keeping the transmission in gear, as the selector assembly does not have a strong detent mechanism.

I've also toyed with the idea of using solenoids or stepper motors, but hate to make it more complex than necessary.

Any and all advice and comments are welcome.

The dingus that drops into the detents on the roostercomb in the transmission has a much lower pressure spring on the '65-down transmissions; its positional retention force, together with the positional retention force of the pushbutton mechanism (or '64-'65 lever selector), is adequate.

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Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Thanks for the info! I contacted Pat Blais and have the lighter spring and ball on the way.

I have the correct / good used "cable" LA-727 if you need a complete spare tranny...
DD

Thanks for the offer, Doug, but my '66 transmission is in the shop being rebuilt right now.

The focus of my (foolish?)effort has been to find a way to shift the later transmission with buttons, and to also incorporate a Park feature. I believe I have it and when the shop is done with the rebuild, I'll be testing the prototype to see if it works as expected. If not, I have an early-A floor shifter that will work with a minor mod.