Replacing shifter bushings - don't walk, run

My '86 has always been a little tough to shift, especially going from 1st to 2nd it felt notchy passing through neutral. Didn't seem to have too much play in the shifter. I was afraid a tranny rebuild might be in the plans. But I decided to try some cheaper fixes first. So this morning I did the following:

1) Replaced the shift coupler bushings
2) Replaced the shifter ball cup
3) Replaced the front slider bushing
4) Filled 'er up with Swepco 201

The short answer - if your car has over 50k miles do this IMMEDIATELY. My car has 85k and the difference is enormous. It now shifts smooth and positive. I thought my shifter was solid before, now it is a rock

The whole thing cost about $70 in parts and about 4 hours (counting test drives between each install to measure individual improvement).

The bushings made the most dramatic improvement. Here are some tips -

1) shift coupler bushings. This is accessed through the tunnel in front of the rear seats. Easily removed. Tip 1 - Scrib marks on the splined shaft before you remove it so that you can put it back in the same place on the first try. Tip 2 - To drive the pin out, hold the splined shaft in a vise then use a hammer to knock it out. Tip 3 - Putting in the new bushings is a tight fit, use this trick. Put the bushings in an ice water bath to get them to shrink a bit, put the coupler metal in a hot water bath to get it to expand. Now the bushings can be pressed in easily with a screw driver.

2) Ball cup. You need to pull the center console up over the shift lever and knob to get it out of the way. You should be able to pull get the center carpet over the shifter without actualy removing the carpet. Then just unbolt the shifter from the floor and pull it out. The shifter ball cup just presses on.

3) Slider bushing. Pull the set screw out of the ball cup, then just slide it off. This one is easy.

I will be doing my '77 next weekend, bet I can do the job in 1.5 hours this time. That car has 230k so I can imagine how much improvement I will get. This one is highly recommended.

Chuck

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'86 Cab, '77 Targa, '85 toyota 4wd rain mobile

You can't stress this enough, the difference is HUGE!!!!!!

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Joshua Harrison
1968 912 Coupe

Hmmm,
Seems like Warren has suggested this procedure before you decide on an expensive rebuild.