Gear shift rod

[sepia2.4]

Hey guys. Been fighting adjustment issues with my 72 915 transmission lately. I've got the coupler whisperer and wevo clamp hoping this would solve some of my issues with getting reverse to work correctly. All of the bushings are good and have been replaced. I recently removed the gear shift lever to take a look on that end and noticed some play where the smaller diameter end of the gear shift rod inserts into the main rod. Minor play side to side and back and forth. My gut tells me this is not correct and that end needs to be solid. I've attached a picture from Pelican to illustrate the end that I'm referring to. Any insight appreciated.

Thanks

[Craig]

Sepia,

There is a ball cup bushing that fits on the end of the shift lever that you can replace. What you are pointing at is the shift rod bushing. Look inside the 'cylinder' at the end of the shift rod.

Craig

[69 Soft Targa]

If I understand correctly the small end of the shift rod that the cup attaches to is no longer solidly attached to the shift rod tube.

You will need to remedy that situation. I don't know if you would want to attempt brazing with the fuel line so close.

Might be best to drop the engine/transmission and remove the shift rod for repair.

I've been through this. I was able to reach back and shift by grabbing the coupler.
I wouldn't recommend that as a long term solution.

[sepia2.4]

Craig, thanks for the reply. I snagged the pic from host to get a general idea of the location. See attached. It's the smaller diameter rod that fits into the main rod.
I should have been more specific.

[Craig]

Ah, my mistake! Sorry to confuse the issue.
I just replaced all my bushings, and the shift rod was all one piece, with no looseness,

Was the 'cup' attached solidly to the shift rod? It takes a special conical screw to fit it together, just wondering if that needs tightening. As I recall the conical type screw is also used to attach the coupler to the transmission shaft.

Good luck.
Craig

[69 Soft Targa]

The small diameter rod has broken loose from the shift rod tube.

[sepia2.4]

That appears to be the problem. It doesn't come out but it can be moved forward about a sixteenth and side to side a little, not much but it probably should be rock solid. Wish there was an in-car fix.

Thanks Craig and Bob

[Craig]

JB Weld?

Craig

[sepia2.4]

Worth a shot

[matt demaria]

I found this on a 69 ten days ago. The snout was loose in the tube. It caused my gates to shift sideways.
What I did was to disconnect the coupler in back. I bent a license plate in half and put it under the snout for a heat shield for the fuel lines and harness. I pulled the snout forward about 2 or three inches in the shift tower recess.
I tig welded the snout to the tube at 35 amps. I used a .040 needle with a #5 cone. I used some vicegrips on the tube at the rear access hole and turned the tube after I had welded a 10mm length on the snout. Weld and turn the tube. I ground down the weld with a whiz wheel so the ring bushing would fit over it nicely. Grease, assemble.

[Walt Fricke]

If this were so loose you could pull the smaller tube out of the larger one, I'd suggest cleaning both really well, applying green Loctite sleeve retainer, and reinserting. That stuff is really great.

Welding would be more permanent.

Seems like one needs to be careful with register here - making sure the grub screw hole is at exactly the same angle to the larger tube as it was before, so the vertical cup part, when held in place, points in the right direction. This stuff is not watchmaker precision, but as we all know from trying to adjust and readjust our shifters, you can't be far off without problems.

[gtc]

It is not easy, but the shift rod can be removed from inside the car. Remove the rod, braze, reinstall.

[sepia2.4]

Seriously? I thought it was impossible without clearance modifications.

[gtc]

Yes, we did it on mysticllama's SC a few months back.
Hopefully he'll chime in, since I can't remember exactly which angle proved the easiest for maneuvering it back into the tunnel. It was a tight squeeze, and some of the rods and fuel lines in the tunnel had to be moved to the side. Seats and tunnel carpet had to come out of the car, and I think we loosened the heater levers and e-brake handle also.

[MysticLlama]

Yeah, it took some fighting, but we got it out and put a different one back in that had been reinforced.

There was one point where we had to bend the sheet metal around the ebrake up just a little bit for some clearance and then bang it back down with a hammer, maybe 1/2" or so.

Lots of twisting back and forth, wiggling and tugging, because it binds against the bottom of the tunnel, but it is doable.

As far as removing stuff around it, removed some carpet, both seats, seatbelts from the center mount, ebrake moved to the side, heater levers taken out. Come out via the ebrake hole after disconnecting and pushing all the way to the front.

They aren't too hard to come by usually, I'd try to find one, reinforce it, and have it on hand to swap, that way you don't forget how it goes, have all the tools handy, etc. Also will probably need another set of hands.

[MysticLlama]

A couple more things actually.

It does shift way better once fixed.

It won't actually break off, it's doweled in from the side, so it's not in imminent threat of coming apart or anything, it's just loose.

[Hanzo]

Originally Posted by matt demaria

I found this on a 69 ten days ago. The snout was loose in the tube. It caused my gates to shift sideways.
What I did was to disconnect the coupler in back. I bent a license plate in half and put it under the snout for a heat shield for the fuel lines and harness. I pulled the snout forward about 2 or three inches in the shift tower recess.
I tig welded the snout to the tube at 35 amps. I used a .040 needle with a #5 cone. I used some vicegrips on the tube at the rear access hole and turned the tube after I had welded a 10mm length on the snout. Weld and turn the tube. I ground down the weld with a whiz wheel so the ring bushing would fit over it nicely. Grease, assemble.

^" My car" shifts like a champ now can't add much here but Matt fixed my linkage so well that my 69 now shifts like a modern car. Thanks Matt

[sepia2.4]

Any pics of what a reinforced rod looks like? Or one that has been welded, brazed?

Thanks all,

[rinverso]

wow, i'm dealing with this right now. this is perfect. thanks

[gtc]

Originally Posted by sepia2.4

Any pics of what a reinforced rod looks like? Or one that has been welded, brazed?

Thanks all,

Not much to see, really. Brazing is just a hotter version of soldering, so all i did was heat up the rod and let some brazing rod melt into the joint. I did this to an undamaged rod with a tight insert, so it only took a bit of braze to fill.

I chose to braze Rob's shift rod rather than weld it since the bushing is right there, and I figured brazing would not change the surface of the rod and effect the smoothness of the shift throw. If one were a masterful welder, it could probably be TIG welded and cleaned up.