Chasbod wrote:Any chance one could weld up some metal on the lever and grind it to reform the tab?
From experience I can say, "Don't try to weld it up and then re-contour it". It takes the weld, but trying to get the correct angles is a nightmare!! I must have spent 3 DAYS trying to get mine right! And it still isn't right. I hit a lot of local salvage yards and they were all showing the worn tab.
So if someone has a source for new lever... Please let us know!!
How did you try to reshape it? Did you try a dremel or a high speed rotory tool?
Chasbod wrote:Any chance one could weld up some metal on the lever and grind it to reform the tab?
From experience I can say, "Don't try to weld it up and then re-contour it". It takes the weld, but trying to get the correct angles is a nightmare!! I must have spent 3 DAYS trying to get mine right! And it still isn't right. I hit a lot of local salvage yards and they were all showing the worn tab.
So if someone has a source for new lever... Please let us know!!
How did you try to reshape it? Did you try a dremel or a high speed rotory tool?
How did you get it to take weld?
It took the weld fine. I have a friend that owns a welding shop and he TIG welded little "balls" on it, and I went to town on them with a dremel tool. The problem was that there are two or three compound angles that have to be right for it to work! It was a few years ago, and I still distinctly remember installing it, testing it, removing it, grinding it, installing it, testing it, removing it, grinding it... FOREVER!!!!!!
I did get it to work “betterâ€Â
97 Lincoln Mark VIII LSC
97 Ford Aspire (Slow, but getting 35 mpg)
73 Mercury Cougar Convertible w/351C 4V
69 F100 LWB w/460 Engine
76 Glastron Carlson 23' Jet Boat w/460 CJ Engine
Well, I can't find a replacement either. When I do find them, I'm going to buy all I can. Hopefully the one that I'm getting from Keith will be better than the one I have...at least Keith's has a tab left...mine is totally gone!
UPDATE: I received the shift lever from Keith and after beating the old collar to a pulp getting the pin out, I installed the lever on a new collar and put it on the truck. It works great! If I bump the lever, it stays in park as it should. It still easily slips into reverse when you pull the lever every so slightly towards you, but this was a problem with these trucks when they were new. I'll still set the emergency brake every time I park, but it's much better now.
One idea: I removed the plate that the lever tab sits in and inserted two small washers behind the plate to make it sit out a little further towards the lever tab. I had to grind one side flat on both washers so they wouldn't be in the way of the holes in the plate, but it seems to help. Doesn't help tremendously, but enough to be noticeable.
Anyway, thanks to Keith and everyone here that helped. I greatly appreciated it!
will the 73-77 columns swap entirely over? as a bolt on or is modding needed?
"It is better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than to open it and remove all doubt." - Mark Twain
'70 f250 4x4 Crew cab 460/C6 '72 F100 390/C6 9.8 MPG AVG. '89 Mercury Cougar LS Dual Exh. V6 . 18.9 MPG AVG. In Town.
I don't want to give em a heart-attack. That is what would happen if I answered the door in the buff. Heck it almost scares me to death when I step out of the shower and look in the mirror.~Mancar1~
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The lever is supposed to have one more little nub on the very end. I almost think you could put a roll pin in it if you had a way to drill it straight.
Don't know how I missed this to start with, but I have an extra collar if anyone needs it.
If you look at the shift indent plate a truck that pops out of park into reverse usually waht has happenned is many people have not pull ed back on the handle and it over time wears a groove or completely eats out he metal between park and reverse. get a new plate form another automatic ford and make sure the pin on thshift lever has not also worn off. It is extremely important that you pull back on the lever on these trucks and not get lazy and drag the lever from park to reverse or drive.
DuckRyder wrote:The lever is supposed to have one more little nub on the very end. I almost think you could put a roll pin in it if you had a way to drill it straight.
Don't know how I missed this to start with, but I have an extra collar if anyone needs it.
What color is your extra collar?
Barry
"Are you gonna make it all 220?"
"Yeah 220, 221, whatever it takes."
DuckRyder wrote:The lever is supposed to have one more little nub on the very end. I almost think you could put a roll pin in it if you had a way to drill it straight.
Don't know how I missed this to start with, but I have an extra collar if anyone needs it.
