I recently saw a 1963 122 on ebay that had a shifter form what looked like a 1984 Volvo DL. This change resulted in the shifter being located much farther back toward the seats than the original long-neck shifter, which connected way up under the dash. Bit, it got me thinking about making the same change to my '68 122. Can someone tell me what would be involved in making such a switch? Would the tranny also have to be changed? Thanks for any feedback.

Richard,
I have a shifter/gearbox cover like Justin shows cluttering up my garage. You, or anyone else, are/is welcome to it for the cost of shipping.
Bob S.

I put a M41 from a 1800 in my 122. I wrote a little ditty about it here. Nothing to exciting to read but there are a few photos that may help. There were no issues with seat clearance. I have since put seats from a Toyota MR2 in with no interference either. I almost never have rear passengers so I was not concerned about their feet getting cold, but I can see how it would be an issue.

One thing that is not clear from that write up is that the entire tunnel came out of the 122 despite what the top photo looks like.

To answer your question, you could just put a shifter extension on a M40 box for the new shifter position but for all that work it would be just as easy to go the full monty and get a M41.
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Justin 66 122E
Read vclassics tech!

I bought the part NEW from a guy on ebay for $40, and I'd send you a photo of it installed in a car he did if I had your email address. I laid it out on my tunnel and then decided I was unwilling to give up the heat bladder supplying heat to the rear, for the time being and so haven't installed it. He might have another. If you're interested, I'll see if I can find his email address. His ebay name is ehamlet, and he seems to buy a lot and sell some vintage new parts. His name is Eric and he's in LA.

I'd get the part, locate it on your tunnel for initial cutting leaving more metal overlap than you'll end up with. After cutting, fit the new trans cover with the remote shifter, and then locate the new tunnel piece based on the actual shift lever location. Then final cut and fastening of new tunnel piece.

You'd pretty much need to weld in a different transmission tunnel. Then you can use the trans cover and shifter from an 1800 or later 140.