Installed the Hurst Competition Plus shifter a friend gave me yesterday and I have to say this a major improvement over the stock 4SP from the General. The shifts are short and incredibly easy. I am going to order and install a stock style  shifter handle soon to keep the original look. I took it through the gears on the way home after the install and I got the tires to bark in all 4 gears, was never able to do that before.

Very Happy

LandShark

Sooooo...a new shifter gives yer engine mo power

Congrats on the new hardware!! Didja have fun installing it

Ok see here is a new problem. What would cause an excessive amount of heat that would cause the shifter to become extremely hot to the touch.
Could the transmission oil be low enough to cause this? How and were do I check it?

The aftermarket(Hurst) sheefters bolt up to da trans tailhousing. The factory sheefters bolt mostly to the crossmember. Now, wid da sheefter bolted to the trans, you will get a wee bit more heat transfer thru the handle. Not that the stock sheefters don't git hot...they do.
Make sure you have both(lower & upper) boots on the sheefter, to start with. This will help.
See if you have the foam seal(collar) that fits on the bellhousing, too. I'm not sure the earlier cars had them, but the collar fits on any Shark. This helps keep some of the engine heat off of the sheefter, and it helps keep the heat from coming up thru the sheefter hole/boots.

The trans has a skware-headed fill hole/plug on the pass. side. Take the plug out, and see if gear lube runs out. If it does, it's more than full. If it does not, then take yer pinky finger, and feel in the hole for lube. It should be level with the hole. If you cannot feel any lube, then the trans is low, and you should add enough to get the fluid level to the bottom of da hole.

And, finally, two werds.....
"Driving Gloves"