Unbridled shift lever in neutral

[fordfun]

Well my wife and I pulled into the drive this evening after a leisurely drive in the countryside, and when I put the 29 Sport Coupe in neutral I noticed that the shift lever can now move excessively from side to side (almost in a semi-circle). It still shifts thru the gears, seemingly more smoothly than before. Something appears to have let go. Before tearing into the shift tower, if that's the place to start, I thought I'd seek advice from the experts. I've never gone into the tower or transmission as the car is about 6 weeks new to me. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated. Bill

[Tom Endy]

Henry's killer spring may have broken or the ball on the end of the shift lever has reached the critical wear factor. You could also have a large notch worn into the forks where the ball on the end of the shifter does its work.

The tower is the place to start. They are not hard. You need to replace the spring if it is broken, weld up the shift lever ball and file it round. Or weld up the forks and file it smooth.

be careful of the spring. It is not lethal, but it can give you a headache if it thumps you in the forehead.

Tom Endy

[Napa Skip]

As was said above, the spring can be a bit of a pita to work with. It's been some time since I've torn into mine, but as I recall, I used a valve spring compressor to compress the spring for removal, although I've never tried this on a broken spring.

For installation, I carefully compress the spring in a device consisting of a bolt, nut and two very thick washers notched in 3 places about 120 degrees apart (to allow the wiring described below) until it's length is sufficiently compressed such that it will - upon reinstallation on the shift lever - allow the keeper to be slipped in place.

With the spring compressed on the nut-washer-and-bolt device, wire the spring (using double strands of good quality wire) end-to-end. The notches in the washers will ensure the wires are spaced about 120 degrees apart. After slowly unthreading the bolt and observing the spring remains compressed, just slip it over the shift lever, slip the keeper in place and cut and remove the wires. Although the spring is pushing on the wires, I've never had difficulty in removing them once cut.

If you have Volume 7 of "How To Restore Your Model A" there is a good article entitled "Transmission Shifting Tower Repair" by Les Andrews on pages 105-106 that shows a different spring compressor and, in any event, is worth reading before tearing into your tower.

There may be other approaches that are easier or have some other advantage and if so, I'm certain others will chime in with such. But for a one-off infrequent job, that's what worked for me.

[Bob C]

The link to Vince's site will show a tool to remove the tower spring.
http://www.fordgarage.com/pages/shiftlevertool.htm

Bob

[fordfun]

Skip - If I'm following you correctly, the notches are on the inside of the washers so that the wires can run down along the outside of the spring and back up thru its center? Apparently there's sufficient clearance between the shift lever and the spring to accommodate the wires? If my understanding is correct, it sounds like an excellent technique for a hopefully one-time operation.

Thanks all for some excellent comments and suggestions.

Bill

[awander]

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The notches need to be on the outside of the washers, and deep enough so that the wires can go thru the "bottom" washer notch, through the inside of the spring, out through the "top" washer notch, and then back to itself around the outside of the spring, to be twisted together

[Napa Skip]

Sorry, took time off for dinner. Awander has it right and the depth of the notches (which weaken the washers) accounts for the need to use thick washers. First time around I didn't and ended up with two notched cup washers (long since discarded).

Btw, in fairness, I did not come up with this idea; it's been around for some time and has appeared in at least two MAFCA/MARC (or other publication) articles.

[columbiA]

If I recall,I used a short piece of broom handle with 3 grooves cut in it 120* apart & squeezed it in the vice & used mechanics wire to keep it together & turned it a bit to get the other wires in.One fellow in town had a shift lever that seemed to get looser over time Eventualy the repro lever broke at the lower bend.Turned out the lever was made in 2 pieces & poorly welded together.It was pretty chrome but very poorly made.

[Mike]

Brattons sells a nice tool for this job, it takes about 5 min to do the job

[fordfun]

Repair status:

I went down to the garage this morning fully mentally prepared to tear into the shift tower. When I pulled the trouble light into place I saw a pin laying on the black floor mat. It goes into the top of the shift tower and holds the shift lever in place (see photo). The bell housing appears to be all that retains it. I haven't seen this pin in any other exploded views of a Model A tower, which make me wonder if I have an odd-ball (replacement) part here. Anyway, the pin is back in and the bell housing is seated and holding the pin in.

I thought I'd pass this along in case someone else experiences the same problem.

Thanks all - Bill

[glenn in camino]

Check to see if the pin fell out. It will be laying on the floor, possibly under the seat.

[Mitch//pa]

Originally Posted by glenn in camino

Check to see if the pin fell out. It will be laying on the floor, possibly under the seat.

in his last post bill said he found the pin laying on the rear floor mat...

[columbiA]

The pin should be a tight fit in shift lever.Likely another instance of a poor repro part.