About bent shift levers

[Jim Johnston]

One of the things I enjoy about restoring a car is learning stuff I didn't know, which leaves me with endless opportunities for fun. For example, after my '59 Coupe was dismantled into its parts, I noticed that the shift lever had a subtle sideways bend. I'm not talking about the obvious front to rear bend that brings the shift knob closer to the driver, but a slight bend in the bottom section toward the passenger side, which then seems to return very slightly toward the center line. It's hard to notice this curve unless you're looking at the lever straight on from the front or back, which is my excuse for not noticing it for the past four years of ownership.

Now I may be the last one to notice this, but I asked around to see if this was a factory original feature - and why - or something acquired along the way. One guy had one curved example and one straight. Another found a similar curved lever on a customer T2 Speedster. One floated the idea that the curve was put there to reduce the risk of hitting the seat. Another thought it might have resulted from vigorous shifting, but it seems like a very sturdy piece of steel to me. Then I called Jim Breazeale at EASY, who has likely handled many dozens of T2 shift levers for every one I've touched. He immediately knew exactly the kind of curve I was looking at and pronounced it as a factory original design. He even pointed out that early 911s also had such a sideways bend.

So, does your T2 shift lever have a subtle sideways bend? You won't see it clearly if you're not looking at it directly from the front or back, preferably removed from the car. And why do you think the factory made them this way?

[Jim Johnston]

The lack of replies so far to my post suggests that I was the only one who didn't know about this sideways bend in the T2 shift lever, but I'm still curious why the factory put it there. Any ideas?

[Jim Breazeale]

The lack of replies so far to my post suggests that I was the only one who didn't know about this sideways bend in the T2 shift lever, but I'm still curious why the factory put it there. Any ideas?

Hi Jim

I'm going to try and take some photos of people's shift levers tomorrow at my Coffee and Doughnutfest. I pretty sure that most people have no idea that their shift levers have those bends in them. It should be fun! I'll post the results in the near future.

Regards

Jim

[Jim Johnston]

Great! I'll look forward to seeing them.

[Jim Breazeale]

here is a 356B and a 356A shifter. I'll post more when I get the opportunity.