Let's face it, First-Generation Camaros have attained a level of perfection once reserved for the best of the best in the street rod crowd. With virtually everything needed to build one of these machines available from the aftermarket, the only limits on how nice an example you construct are your imagination and your wallet.
While imagination is everything when it comes to building your machine to stand out in a crowd, innovation is the icing on top of the cake. That's where the crew at Lokar have made their name in the street rod industry, by coming up with quality-built components that work as well as they look.
One area that Lokar felt needed improvement in early Camaros was the automatic shifter. The original design, while adequate in function, left a lot to be desired in the "trick looks" department. And in the case of our ongoing Camaro project, we agreed that the factory "horseshoe" design didn't lend itself to the high-tech profile we're striving for. The solution? One of Lokar's new Camaro shifter kits.
While we received literally one of the very first shifters made available, our only comment is that despite the included instructions being somewhat generic in nature, this ultra-trick piece was one of the simplest conversion items we've ever completed. And, upon completion, the look of this cool shifter sticking out from a new Classic Industries console, was totally high tech, and it went from Park to Low and back again with sure-fitted ease.
Follow along as we transplant the Lokar gear selector into our perpetually popular project. We're sure you'll agree that it looks right at home in this F-Body's cabin.
Here are the ingredients for...
Here are the ingredients for adding a cool looking-and solid performing-automatic shifter in the cabin of our Classical Resurrection Camaro: a street rod-inspired Lokar shifter and a nicely made reproduction console from Classic Industries.
The Lokar shifter is a fully...
The Lokar shifter is a fully self-contained unit. It operates gear selection with an intricate mechanism activated by a machined aluminum push-button knob atop a brilliantly chromed bent stick. Perhaps best of all, the link between the shifter and the transmission is a threaded rod with spherical rod bearings at each end.
Determining the correct position...
Determining the correct position for the entire shifter to reside on the Camaro's floor is critical. Using a measuring tape, we began by centering the shifter's stick through the console's opening.
With a felt-tipped marker...
With a felt-tipped marker we outlined the shifter's mounting feet on the floor's sheetmetal, all the while being careful not to move the shifter in relationship to the console's opening.
After the shifter's position...
After the shifter's position was marked on the floor, the old console was removed and the shifter's adjustable feet were positioned over the marks.
While the Camaro's transmission...
While the Camaro's transmission tunnel is pretty flat, there were a couple of protrusions that caused the Lokar shifter not to sit flush. These threaded inserts, which once bolted the factory shifter in place, provided no use in our setup, so we simply ground them down and removed them. This left a flat mounting spot for the Lokar to rest on.