[JSHarvey]

The detent cable on my shifter has stretched. Last week it streched enough that it would no longer let the shifter move far enough to go into reverse. Faced with buying a new shifter (nearly $200 - ouch!) I decided to experiement. I found I could put one layer of thick washers between the shifter and lower mechanism and still have the forward speeds work with no clearance issues, but this wasn't enough to get the transmission to shift into reverse. When I examined the actual "dog" I found it was a trapizoid shape, a little over a quarter inch at the base next to he shifter and a little less at the tip. I simple increased the angle across the bottom of the dog with a grinder. Now it will go into reverse just fine and the forward speeds also work.

Given the cable is so strechy I assume this is a short lived solution. Does anyone know how to disasemble these shifters and move the attachment point for this cable? Is the only "long-term" solution to pop for a new shifter? There are lots of things on the car I would rather spend $200 on!

John Harvey

 

[Midlife]

Haven't done this as yet, but the cable is silver-soldered at the bottom. Bill Heely in Olney, MD works on shifters for a living, and can install a new cable for you. Do a search for Olney, and you'll see a post just yesterday on his name/address/phone.

 

[kevinstang]

Check out this post by nightmist Here I have also seen so called professional restored shifter handles, were the original cable- it is actually one solid wire -vs braided wire as in brake cables, is just pulled tighter.Haven't tried this method, but imagine it is done the same way as nightmist's method- bottom braze/solder drilled out, the end of cable secured and pulled tight, then re soldered with silver solder.

 

[JSHarvey]

When it gest too long for my current fix to work, I'll go the take-it-apart and really fix it approach.

John Harvey