and Sherwood is the shifter expert....put in one of his while you are at it.

winner :)

You'll be amazed at how the shifter feels with just these bushings replaced. Ask me how I know.

And the ball cup bushing while you're at it...

the parts haven't arrived yet, but yes, i'll be hitting all 3 while i am in there.

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The parts came in and today, after mowing the lawn, I had a few minutes to play. I cleaned up the support bracket and installed the bushing. I used my benchvise to squeeze it in. Easy peasy.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1369100112.jpg

Here I have all the parts (broken and together before I started putting it together).
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1369100090.jpg

Then, hmm, something doesn't look right. Aw crap, the shift linked is cracked?!?! I have never seen such a thing. Now, unfortunately, I have to purchase new linkage. On the flip side, just means my shift will be substantially tighter. It also explains why I had a little bit of wear on the side of the side shifter.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1369100100.jpg

Sorry to hear about the cracked shift shaft. If possible, attempt to repair it in the car (watch the fuel lines). Otherwise, the drivetrain must come out to R&R the shift shaft.

Sherwood

wow - thats a pisser

real sorry about that

Aww, crap. I didn't think about that; I probably cannot pull it up through the floor. I wonder if I can weld it in there? Not a lot of space to work. Might be better off just dropping the engine again. This would make drop number 3 this year!

I already purchased the part, so if I screw up, I have a back up...provided of course, I don't set the car on fire.

if you are getting a new shaft from tom butler, let me know, looking for an excuse to get some stuff from him, too.

in the meantime, if you need a hand, let me know.....if you want to do the work here, I have a bay open, in the very least, I have that 'high lift' hydraulic table that will come in handy during the swap.

anything else you need, let me know.

When are you getting back from your trip? I have convinced myself to do a little welding. Which would avoid the engine drop for now. I purchased the shift rod but will hold onto it for my next engine drop. Really it is just an excuse to pull out my mig welder. If it doesn't work out I'll simply do the engine drop sooner.
I
I'll show the play by play of my work, probably this weekend. I really think I may have my idle and mixture set properly and dying to take it for a test drive.

FINALLY, here is the update.

In last weeks episode....
As I mentioned earlier, the shift rod is broken and I ordered a new one. I decided to try to weld it back together as a temporary fix because I really don't want to drop the engine again just yet....

I cleaned up the old rod and used my vice grips to align the parts properly.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1369522404.jpg

The weld came out pretty good. Then I took my grinder to clean it up followed by my dremel. The grinder was difficult to get in there. I wound up stuffing an old workglove under it to boost it up. In fact, you can see the area on the right where I didn't get it in the opening and scuffed it. I cleaned up the burrs and high points to give a smooth texture. It isn't perfect but it is smooth enough for its intended purpose.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1369522426.jpg

Finally, I put it back together. The shift rod circle bushing wasn't fitting around the rod, despite a heavy dose of grease. I took the dremel and sanded it down a hair. Re-greased and put it together. I put the ball cup shift bushing in again with a lot of grease. I was having trouble putting the ball in the cup, then I realized, all i had to do was lined it up correctly then screw it in. The force of tightening it down seated it nicely.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1369522434.jpg

I put everything together and took it for a test drive. HOLY COW what a difference. I thought my tranny was on the fritz, now it is obvious that my tranny is in perfect condition. I used to struggle with almost any gear, but not anymore. I'll hold off putting in the new shift rod until either this one breaks or I have to drop the engine again for some other purpose.

Thanks everyone for your help!

Good work.

Just as a general reference for anyone else with this problem, a secondary cause can be the tapered hole in the transmission shift rod. I had one that had opened up because some doofus had failed to screw the tapered bolt in all the way. The tapered bolt had to be reshaped from a V to a U to now fit the enlarged detent in the shift rod. Something to check if you have problems with the gears at the extreme left or right of your pattern.

To make it easier to install next time, install the ball cub bushing onto the shift lever on the bench: With the ball cup bushing sitting upright on a flat surface, align the shift housing assembly (and lever) on top of the ball cup opening then press downward until it snaps into place.

To install the shift assembly on the car, align, then slide the ball cup into the receptacle end of the shift shaft, then install the mount bolts.

Glad it's shifting like it should. Bear in mind that from day 1 of new bushing installation, wear will be gradual, like spark plugs that gradually lose their ability to create an adequate spark. For the shifter, it'll be okay up to the point where normal gear changes will be more difficult via excessive bushing wear and resultant slop. It's a good idea to periodically remove the rear tunnel cover, then observe the shift tube react as you move the lever back and forth and side-to-side. Excessive wear will be revealed performing this inspection.

Sherwood

Thanks for the pointers. Next purchase from PP I will get the bushing ring to keep around as a spare. My old ball cup bushing was in pretty good shape. It was still pliable and it fit tightly. I changed it as a matter of course but saved the old ones for an emergency.

So, some bad news and an update. After about 200 fun pain free miles since my linkage repair, the linkage gave at the end of my mornings commute. Happily, it happened just as I was pulling into my parking space. I had left my emergency tool kit at home but one of my coworkers had his.

I took apart the shift boot and linkage. The coupling had come completely apart from linkage rod. The metal was in really bad shape. Rather than pay the $150-$400 for a tow, I tried to repair it using a hose clamp from the engine bay. The repair went well. After a test, I decided to take her home. With only 2,4, and R, it was a little limiting but I made it home with little fanfare.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1370489537.jpg

As the parts have finished coming in, I decided to do the engine drop tonite and not bother with a second attempt at a repair. After 1.5 hours, I am ready to remove the old linkage and install the new one. As it is pretty late, I will finish this tomorrow.