Announcement

**jopizz** · April 13, 2013, 07:48 AM

You will have to replace or repair the shift lever at the bottom of the steering column. Ray Clark has done this and there's a thread detailing it if you do a search. I'm not sure about the modifications you made. You can probably PM him and he'll give you the steps involved.

John

**YellowRose** · April 13, 2013, 08:21 AM

Play in Gear Selector

That part # 7302 is often the cause of sloppyness in shifting or the indicator not indicating proper position. That part wears after 50 years of use and can be replaced. You can get it from the Bird Nest and probably other Tbird parts places. The inside of the ring and the notch on mine was worn pretty badly. I see you say you had to modify yours, so if you bought a new one, your will probably have to modify it also to make it work with what you have now.

**V-John** · April 13, 2013, 01:31 PM

Ours doesn't line up as well, plus you need to push the shifter to the left for it to start.

**jopizz** · April 13, 2013, 01:34 PM

A new detent plate and/or shift lever will cure the problem of it slipping out of Park.

John

**Restifier52** · April 13, 2013, 03:18 PM

Thanks Ray. I have the column out of the car now. I guess I'll pick up a new part. Modifying it will be easier this time - I've already done it once

**YellowRose** · April 13, 2013, 03:50 PM

Play in Gear Selector

Hi Rick, I just sent you an email with a Word doc and a picture in it that might be of help to you. I sent it to the email address listed for you in your user id info. If that is not current send me a PM and let me know what is.

**Restifier52** · April 13, 2013, 06:32 PM

Yes Ray I got the email, thanks. I also looked up your thread from back when you had your repair done. I read there that your guy built the surface back up with bead welding then filed it until it fit. I'm definitely going to try to find someone here who would like to do that.
Confession: I am poorly organized.
Result: I can't find my shop manual

Question: Is there a way to disconnect the parking brake cable from the handle? While I have the column out I want to remove and freshen up the rectangular plate that screws to the firewall. I see how the plate is designed to allow the parking brake assembly (with the grooved wheel that the cable sits in) to come through it, but the cable prevents the plate from being removed. Thanks in advance.
Rick

**YellowRose** · April 13, 2013, 06:50 PM

Play in Gear Selector

Yes, that is right. The reason why he did that was because I did not know that part was available back then. I don't remember if Bird Nest had it in their catalog then, but they do now, new it looks like. If I had known it was available for $30 I would have bought a new one rather than him doing that.

As to your question about disconnecting the parking brake cable from the handle, I do not know the answer to that question but I bet someone on here does.

**Tbird1044** · April 13, 2013, 08:37 PM

Originally posted by Restifier52

Yes Ray I got the email, thanks. I also looked up your thread from back when you had your repair done. I read there that your guy built the surface back up with bead welding then filed it until it fit. I'm definitely going to try to find someone here who would like to do that.
Confession: I am poorly organized.
Result: I can't find my shop manual

Question: Is there a way to disconnect the parking brake cable from the handle? While I have the column out I want to remove and freshen up the rectangular plate that screws to the firewall. I see how the plate is designed to allow the parking brake assembly (with the grooved wheel that the cable sits in) to come through it, but the cable prevents the plate from being removed. Thanks in advance.
Rick

Yes you can remove the cable from the hand brake assembly. There is a slotted hole where the cable fits in and it can be released. I'll send Ray some pics that may help you.

Nyles

**Restifier52** · April 13, 2013, 09:21 PM

Yes I will have to weigh the cost of the welder's time and material against the necessity of modifying a new part. I can modify a new part the same way I did the old one with a saw, a drill and some epoxy but I can't fix the old one cuz I don't have those welding skills. I had to shorten my steering column about 3 inches to accommodate the power steering box that replaced the original manual box with power assist.

**YellowRose** · April 13, 2013, 09:59 PM

Play in Gear Selector

If I had known that part was available back then I would have bought a new part. I am not sure that work on it fixed the problem entirely. Here are the pix that Nyles sent me for you, and thank you Nyles, for emailing them to me.

Attached Files

**Restifier52** · April 13, 2013, 11:13 PM

Thanks Nyles and Ray!

**Restifier52** · April 20, 2013, 07:24 PM

I got the new arm today from Birds Nest and anxiously compared it to the old one. I had been thinking "sure the car is 53 years old but the odometer read 40k when I bought it and it looked more like 40 than 140, so how badly worn could it be?"
I am extremely happy to say that there is a significant difference. I didn't even bother pushing it all the way on, it was so snug. I can't wait to get my new steering box so I can put everything back together and drive like a boss.

Thanks again Ray. You really nailed it.

Rick

**YellowRose** · April 20, 2013, 08:13 PM

Play in Gear Selector

Hi Rick, I am glad to hear you got the part and it slipped right into place. Frank, from Down Under, with many years of working on COM's and related steering problems, is a big believer in that part, in addition to the detent plate, shift lever, often being the cause of the problems we see in shifting and getting the gear shift indicator to lock in the right places.

Announcement

Play in Gear Selector

Play in Gear Selector

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment