PIA Jobs! Shifter!

SmokinBBC

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 25, 2008
Messages
2,731
Location
Oak Ridge, NC
Shifter rebuild and steering valve/cylinder replacement.

Shifter.
Shifter was sloppy and getting it in/out of reverse was funky sometimes. Well, I wanted to rebuild it without taking the exhaust out....easy enough...try again. I took the console plate out and disconnected the linkage at the trans. Top bolt easy to get at from above. Bottom bolt not accessable at all. I had to take the shifter mount bolts out at the cross member and then manuever the shifter from above to squeeze my hand in there with a short wrench. Got it and pulled the shifter from above.

The shifter probably had some wear in the part that goes into the upper mount.....a few wacks with the hammer on the pin (which would not come out) tightened it up quite a bit...nice solid feel but not binding.

The reverse lever was cracked. Had to order a replacement. Cleaned it all up and put it back together.

Now to get the damn lower bolt back in....was not has hard as getting it out since I pretty much had figured the right angle to get at it. I started the top bolt first so it would be easy to alighn the bottom bolt to the mount. Put all the bolts back and slid the adjustment tool in....luckily all of the levers went back in nuetral without any adjustment.

A little tip if your going to do this the hard way....put a hole in the end of the adjustment tool and put a string through it. That way, you can just pull on the string to remove it. A short 9/16 wrench is helpfull on the bottom bolt.




:smash::smash::smash:

If you have large fat hands.....forgettaboutit.


Steering Valve/Cylinder

What can I say, It was nice to have an easy job for once! I put in a new lonestar valve. Quality looking part. New cylinder as well. After using rebuilt ones before, I'll not go that route again.
 
Thinking of rebuilding the Hurst shifter on my Richmond 5. It actually doesn't shift too bad, but could be smoother. Not looking forward to it, maybe that's why I've been putting it off.
 
Some guys would curse my ass, but I took a sawzall to the glass on the drivers' side to cut out a section about a foot long, from the front of the seat, forward, and used stiff aluminum tied to the cut out piece, and screws to put it back, sealed with RTV/silicone seal....that way when it has needed access over the years....it was easy...from the automatic conversions...whatever...

and even on the pass side, for the ATF cooler lines, I cut a access panel...

another trick, being so lazy...I rerouted the speedo cable through the side of the floorboard, laid it across the bare glass, up the front kick panel, and into the speedo...none of that under car messup to deal with...easy access if necessary....

:lol:
 
Shifter rebuild and steering valve/cylinder replacement.

Shifter.
Shifter was sloppy and getting it in/out of reverse was funky sometimes. Well, I wanted to rebuild it without taking the exhaust out....easy enough...try again. I took the console plate out and disconnected the linkage at the trans. Top bolt easy to get at from above. Bottom bolt not accessable at all. I had to take the shifter mount bolts out at the cross member and then manuever the shifter from above to squeeze my hand in there with a short wrench. Got it and pulled the shifter from above.

The shifter probably had some wear in the part that goes into the upper mount.....a few wacks with the hammer on the pin (which would not come out) tightened it up quite a bit...nice solid feel but not binding.

The reverse lever was cracked. Had to order a replacement. Cleaned it all up and put it back together.

Now to get the damn lower bolt back in....was not has hard as getting it out since I pretty much had figured the right angle to get at it. I started the top bolt first so it would be easy to alighn the bottom bolt to the mount. Put all the bolts back and slid the adjustment tool in....luckily all of the levers went back in nuetral without any adjustment.

A little tip if your going to do this the hard way....put a hole in the end of the adjustment tool and put a string through it. That way, you can just pull on the string to remove it. A short 9/16 wrench is helpfull on the bottom bolt.




:smash::smash::smash:

I have changed a few BBC clutches thru the years. The shifter is always the largest PITA of the job. It's inhumane.:suicide:
 
Thinking of rebuilding the Hurst shifter on my Richmond 5. It actually doesn't shift too bad, but could be smoother. Not looking forward to it, maybe that's why I've been putting it off.

I'd suspect the Richmond itself. I had a Doug Nash 5 speed, which later became the Richmond 5 speed. The Doug Nash was stiff to shift. The first time on the road, I drove it from LA to Santa Barbara, maybe a 120 miles. I ended up with a blister in the palm of my hand from shifting it (the Hurst 5 speed shifter). It later loosened up. Many, many years later I related this story to "Kenny" at Tom's Differentials then in Bellflower. Kenny described that a relatively simple machining operation would make the Nash/Richmond tranny much easier to shift. Of course you had to remove and disassimble the tranny!!!!! Unfortunately, I didn't listen too carefully as to what Kenny had to say. I had a 5 speed Richmond 5 speed in the box, and when the time came to install it, I thought I'd just go back to Kenny for advice on how to modify the tranny before I installed it. Unfortunately Kenny had a fatal heart attack (55 years old!!). So why do I post this? Just to give notice that there is possibly a machining operation that can make the Richmond easier to shift.
 
Thinking of rebuilding the Hurst shifter on my Richmond 5. It actually doesn't shift too bad, but could be smoother. Not looking forward to it, maybe that's why I've been putting it off.

I was thinking about putting in the Hurst shifter made for the vette. But, I like the reverse lockout of the stock shifter.
 
"Some guys would curse my ass, but I took a sawzall to the glass on the drivers' side to cut out a section about a foot long, from the front of the seat, forward, and used stiff aluminum tied to the cut out piece, and screws to put it back, sealed with RTV/silicone seal....that way when it has needed access over the years....it was easy...from the automatic conversions...whatever..."


You know Gene, I was actually thinking about doing something like like after a few "mother duckers" flew out of my mouth:censored:
 
I was thinking about putting in the Hurst shifter made for the vette. But, I like the reverse lockout of the stock shifter.


Ol' Red has a Hurst Competition Plus that was installed in 1971. Still very smooth, and the detent spring for the reverse gate is stout enough it takes a defined effort to get into that gate. Plus the fact it's mounted ON the trans instead of on the frame so it can't bind the rods.
 
I was thinking about putting in the Hurst shifter made for the vette. But, I like the reverse lockout of the stock shifter.


Ol' Red has a Hurst Competition Plus that was installed in 1971. Still very smooth, and the detent spring for the reverse gate is stout enough it takes a defined effort to get into that gate. Plus the fact it's mounted ON the trans instead of on the frame so it can't bind the rods.

Does moving it to the trans require replacing the stock rods?
 
It's a 2 piece kit. The shifter body and an install kit. New everything- levers, rods, adjusters, bushings and clips,mount plate, bolts, and the shifter body. Couple of things about the Hurst- there are stops that need to be adjusted correctly so if you bang a gear really hard, it won't over-travel and kill a synchro ring, and there are a bunch of different levers that all fit. I have the short straight one that is about the same as the factory lever, and you can even get a round lever that's a look alike for the factory part right down to having the T-handle for the reverse lockout- not functional, but it looks like factory.
 
Top