The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline 57 3OTT Shift Lever Rebuild Tips

Getting ready to tweak and then reinstall the shift lever of my 1957 3100. It came apart in my hands the other day (after a long run) when the aftermarket anti-rattle spring broke in half. Two little retaining too-dads went flying and I was cruising through a busy intersection with a unconnected shift handle in my hand.

At any rate, I’ll be checking the alignment on the shift gates and adjusting everything according to the service manual because the spring may have broken under the stress of a mis-aligned something. But while I was at it, I had a look at the assembly manual (Section 7, Sheet 4.00) and noticed a couple of things. First, there’s a note there about the width of the sheet metal shift handle opening that I had not seen before. It shows a requirement that the opening be maintained at between 1.001 and 1.011 inches. Now, that’s a pretty tight tolerance, and mine was WAY wider than that. I think mostly because it seemed near impossible to assemble the dang thing the last time I tried and I had to keep widening the opening to get all of the constellations in alignment for it to pop on.

Secondly, the diagram shows a “Bushing Assembly” inside the shift handle, at the end of the ball knob (#3720927). Never seen one of those before and I’ve bought a few of these shift handles (while trying to find a ‘truck’ one).

Questions are:

1. Is there a magic way to hold the little round bullet catches in place while wiggling the handle end over the top of them while you hold them on the anti-rattle spring? I closed the end of my shaft some and have a feeling this is going to be a bugger.

2. Do I need to source the bushing assembly shown to keep this from happening again?

Thanks much,

Jim

I'll give mine a look this evening, I've replaced mine before and don't recall it was that tricky. I do recall roaming around for a week with second gear only around town after my one armed bandit broke off. When you're young and without funds you can make anything last, LOL.

Jim,
The bushing is necessary for the whole thing to work. It should have been included in the kit.
Also the opening is also fairly critical even if though it makes it difficult to reassemble.
I have not found an easy way to get them together, but putting the shaft in a vise seemed to help.
Fred

Thanks Cosmo and Fred,

Fred, I haven't seen this bushing offered anywhere. As far as kits go, I've only found the small pins and the springs offered separately. Have not seen that inside-the-handle bushing. Maybe it's because my searches have been restricted to 55-59? I've purchased the shift handles via classifieds and eB*y, but none of them ever had the bushing in it. Your statement makes sense to me, though; Without the bushing, the shift handle nub would have too much play and might stress the anti-rattle spring. Definitely going to have to source this thing. And appreciate the comments on ease of assembly; with your level of experience, it's nice to know it's a pain for you too!

Best,

jim

Jim,
The Truck Shop in Orange has the kit with the bushing in their catalog. It's the same kit for 47-59.
Fred

Thanks Fred!

I can't believe I missed that. Ordered the whole kit, though I think the spring changed by 1957. I'll report back how it works. It will definitely be better to have it back like it was supposed to be.

Best,

Jim