Shift collar needed

[Nathan289]

Hello,
I'm looking for a gently used shift collar for a manual 3 speed.. I guess there were all the same from 60 to 65.

I'm looking for the collar where the shifter arm attaches.. the roll pin in mine is worn out causing difficulty finding reverse and first.

I tried fixing it and well I made it worse..

Nathan

[redfalken]

Hey Nathan,

Is this something you're needing before the regional show? Sorry I don't have a lead but I'll keep an eye out. I once had one from a Comet that had a cool light behind the lens (this was for an automatic) but sold it on eBay. I decided I didn't want to try and fish another wire down that steering column!

I would strongly recommend trying to find a NOS part or get a repop for $30 plus $8 for a new rubber insulator. Every used one I've seen at swap meets is worn to death and that's just the automatics I was interested in. I'm sure the manual shifts are even worse since they get way more use.

And they're such a PITA to change it would be worth it.

[Nathan289]

Kenny,

Yes this is something I need to get the car back on the road for the July car show I'm registered for.

The problem is no one has any repops available.. seems that the guy that was making them quit..

Macs antique auto supposedly has on for the tune of $158..
I've only been able to find a whole steering column on e-bay and it would cost $100 to ship it with no guarntee that its any better than my old one..
I'm trying to locate one through other sources and I'm not finding much luck..

I may have to convert to a floor shift, but rather not..

Nathan

[redfalken]

Yikes! :WHATTHE: $158 does seem a bit pricey. I would think $50-60 was more in line. So did you give Ron at http://www.falconparts.com/ a call? Does he know how far out they are yet?

Ask Ron if he has any of the larger pins he sells with the collar. Maybe he can sell you one for cheap and you can mount your old collar with the arm in position into a drill press (or a hand drill if you have a steady hand) and drill a larger whole to round it out a bit. You should also buy a $8 bushing or "insulator" too. This will get you by for a few years.

I'll also ask a few people I know who may have one and let you know by PM.

[Nathan289]

kenny,
I've tried ron at falconparts.. I have my tranny mounts coming from them. $30
I've tried dearborn the next most expensive at $60
I've tried falconconnection or thunderbird connection they were the cheapest at $25, they were theones that told me that the guy that was making them quit and the over seas can't make them right.
I tried macs auto parts they were the $158

I even e-mailed Northwest falcons in a slim hope that maybe they'll go look..

I would try the larger pin idea if i hadn't gotten stupid and tried welding it.. thin metal and soft..

I have the new isolator bushing..

Nathan

[Luva65wagon]

Nathan,

I have one I'll give you. Just tell me where to send it and I'll send it to you. I converted to a 4-speed and have both the collar and the shift lever somewhere around here.

I think I know where....:confused:

It's been a few years, but IIRC it was in really good condition.

[Nathan289]

Roger,
You da man..

Do you remember if your shift arm was all slopy?? not that beggers and be choosers, but.....

I'll P.m. with my addy.. let me know If I owe you anything..

Nathan

[Luva65wagon]

I had just editted my post to tell you, but you answered already.

Payment? Naaaa... consider it "this" presidents' economic stimulus package...

[Nathan289]

You have my vote come re-election time..

hmm guess that means I better contribute to The RFC
I'll bring my donation check with me to the regional..

Nathan

[Luva65wagon]

You can donate $68.25 to the club, which is the average price I saved you...

:WHATTHE:

Just kidding...

[Nathan289]

just tried p.m.ing you and it bounced back as undeliverable???

I'll try again

Nathan

[Nathan289]

Roger,
only becasue you can't recieve instant messages or Private messages..

I'll post my info out here on the web for everyone to see.. just kidding don't really care..

[Luva65wagon]

Patrick sent me a PM last night and I got it... but couldn't reply to it. I'm not sure what is going one there. Anyway, I have the address written down now, so if you want to edit it out of your post so fewer millions on the WWW can mail you things, go for it.

Also, I found the parts this morning before heading off to work, and it all came rushing back to me that it had apparently been replaced, I guess, just before I bought the car. So it has maybe about 5 years of non daily-driver use on it. It's not even painted yet. You see a little elongation of the holes, but nothing bad at all. I don't know why they made it out of zinc, since that's much softer than aluminum, but you can tell that holes elongate due to just being pushed against -- not due to wear.

I'll go down and bead blast it so it'll be all ready to paint when you get it. I'm going to send you down the shift lever, insulator, and pin as well, since I'll never need them. Should be there in a couple days.

[Nathan289]

Roger,
Thanks again, you are a life saver..:BEER: even if you do kill threads..:banana:

Hopefully this will get my car shifting again..
The inside of the transmission looks good though..

Nathan

[Luva65wagon]

Maybe I only kill threads when my posts are just so good it leaves everyone speechless... yeah, that's it. [thumb]

[Nathan289]

:rotflmao:

hmm that smiley didn't work..

Nathan

[Luva65wagon]

Oh, I do have the shift tube as well I pulled out of my wagon. I'm not sure if that can be bad per se. I think I left the shift levers on the outside under the hood, but I can't really recall. That was all done in another one of my 3-week try to get more done than humanly possible work sessions. I do know that "neutral" must be adjusted right or nothing will shift the way it's supposed to. Any slop anywhere means one of the levers may be still engaged keeping another from moving. But, of course, I'm sure you know that already.

[Nathan289]

the weird thing was everything was working in this car..
I've been driving it for a couple of weeks.. every now and then I would have a hard time finding first or reverse..
Then one evening while driving home I went to shift from first to second and nothing.. it was like something was binding up..

I got the car home and played with the linkage everything seemed ok.. so I disconnected the linkage at the transmission levers..

Felt like the binding was in the tranny so I dropped the tranny... by the time I got the tranny to my work bench everything was working again?? so i inspected the inside anyways.. nothing seemed out of the ordinary and the tranny looks almost new inside..

So I took the column apart and everything there seems fine as well..
So I'm replacing parts that seem worn or that could be part of the problem..
My shift collar was actually cracked at the top hole for the roll pin.. I got really stupid and thought maybe i could weld it and drill a new hole.... yeah why are they made of pot metal anyways?

Now I have my dash all torn apart and started painting everything, becasue it needed to be done and i have nothing better to do while I'm waiting for parts.

Nathan

[Nathan289]

good news is my tranny mounts should be here today So I can get that off my work bench..

I just finished replacing the motor mounts..

I replaced u joints becasue i had the driveline out and replaced the rear output shaft seal while the trans is on my bench..

Do you know if the was a bushing where the shift arm meets the shift tube?? Mine didn't have anything and it seems sloppy there, but there might not have been anything..

Nathan

[Luva65wagon]

You know... I should remember, but I just don't... exactly. It seemed to me the shift tube went up into the collar and it was only keyed to fix it into place and down where the shift levers were there was a big spring that kept the tube pushed up into the collar. But it's been 5 years since I did the swap and I only pulled it apart... not work on it. Usually if I rebuild something I'll remember every minute detail. This was "out with the column" "in with a 4-speed" and as such it is somewhat a blur.

The tube has to be allowed to both return to the neutral position as well as align both the levers up for the tranny to be in neutral as well. Again, any slop you see anywhere may allow a lever (on the column or on the tranny) to stop moving before it's totally in neutral. So fixing anything with slop is a good first step.

I'm dropping the collar in the mail on the way home, so it shold be over the mountains in the next couple days.

[Luva65wagon]

Also, I'll look at the tube when I get home (I think I know where it is stashed as well) and measure its length. If yours is still out you can do the same thing. If the new collar is sloppy in the tube and my tube is the same as yours is, then I can mail you over the tube as well... just in case. Again, better see it used than collecting dust.

[Luva65wagon]

Man, I'm racking up the posts here lately! Look out Kenny, here I come!

:3g:

[Nathan289]

Roger,
IIRC the 64/65 column was longer than the earlier years or maybe it was shorter.. it was one way or the other... i'm gona getch you... ok now that I'm done singing..

I understand everything you are mentioning.
On the cross over tube/shift tube there is a hole at the top where the shift arm attaches. Theres a little bit of slop there and I thought maybe there was supposed to be a bushing or something there..

I can't find anything through the vendors and the shop manual doen't exactly diagram the column stuff very well..

My other rant is. Why is it that taking a car apart is easier than putting it back together?? It should be the other way around.. you already know what tools are needed to put it back together so you cut down on searching time.. but what took me an hour to take a part took me 3 hours to put back together..
I ended up taking it further apart to get it back together???

Nathan

[Nathan289]

Sweet I'm half way caught up with roger on post..

Kenny wont be on the top for vewry long..:BIRTHDAY:

Nathan

[Luva65wagon]

It's so you don't scratch all the beautiful paint.

Now I might be the last poster on all the major categories. I was until a few minutes ago.

[Luva65wagon]

Yep... at 11:06 PM I was somebody...

:banana:

[Nathan289]

quit posting I'm trying to catch up...

Nathan

[Luva65wagon]

I felt like telling Kenny that a couple minutes ago. I'm nobody again.

:(

[Nathan289]

I only have 99 more to go to catch up to you..
Wait a sec make that 98
Nathan