I'm referring to the Steering Column here, more specifically the shifter components, for those that don't already know I have a 3 On the Tree setup. The other day I removed the column from the car wasn't easy, it probably is for the Automatic folks but the manuals have the clutch to get in the way, and that column weighs at least 25 pounds or better with everything attached. I know it may have been a little easier to remove by leaving the steering shaft still in the car and just sliding it off but oh well. Anyway what led me to do this was the shifter arms kept binding and seizing up and it was making it extremley difficult to drive the car as it would hang and I wouldn't be able to shift through all the gears, getting it to downshift back to 1st or to shift into Reverse was esp difficult. After I got the column all taken apart heres what I found, something inside the column is broken because I got metal shavings that fell out, also the housing where the shifter arms reside has a broken piece which is partly why it's binding. Also there is a stripped screw hole on the housing itself because the previous owner or someone put the wrong type of screw in and stripped it so there is no way to get it to sit right and as a result the Shifter Arm housing moves slightly when I try to shift through the gears so it's constantly misaligning itself, as long as that 3rd Screw can't sit in there right it will never work properly. I'm sorry to confuse anyone, those here who have 3 on the tree setups and have ever had to work on their columns will know what i'm getting at . I just wanna know if I should even bother trying to repair this thing as it's almost guaranteed i'm going to play hell trying to find another shifter arm housing since most Mav's and Comets were Auto's the ones that do turn up in the junkyards are almost always Automatics. Now I can definetley see why most of you dump these suckers for Floor Shifters I can't understand why Ford didn't just use them in the first place, 3 on the tree is so 1940's, you'd think by 1971 they'd have been phased out, but I guess not.
i guess it would be a matter of prefference and opinion whether or not u wanted to fix the column back. IMO, i'd put a floor shifter in it
Ok then I guess the Floor Shifter gets the nod providing I can find one . Truth be told i've wanted a Floor Shifter for some time, reason I asked about repairing the column was it's a short term thing, right now I can't drive the car because I can't shift it, that and it would of course be easier for me to just swap in another 3 spd column (no drilling, cutting, etc). Now I have a question or two.. Would the bench be a problem with the Floor Shifter? Seems like it might interfere, don't have the means to put in buckets yet.. I'm guessin I should scour the junkyards for one and hopefully find one that has everything I need to make it work. I haven't tried aftermarket sources yet mainly because they seem out of my price range. Guess I could also try the Parts Wanted Forum when I get some more $$$$ . Also do Mustang II Floor Shifters work? I do find those in the junkyard more often the Mavericks or Comets but never thought to grab one because I wasn't sure if I could make it work (Linkage differences, etc).
My first Comet had a factory floor shifter and a bench seat and it was fine. You just can't have anyone sit in the middle anymore ... elbow! ... ouch!
considering I only have working seat belts on the drivers side and in the back that would not be a problem. The one time I did actually have passengers in the car was a few years ago when I drove it up to Kragen (bout 3 miles away) to get the charging system tested. They rode in the back .
I have a NOS shift tube but I dont know if its for an automatic, manual, or both. Anyone got a parts breakdown?
Is there one notch or two at the end of it? Mine has two near where it connects to the rag joint for the two shift levers, I have never seen the Automatic shift tubes but I would guess that they would only have one, but I could be wrong . Other then that don't know much about it I was never able to fully remove the shift tube from the column, keeps catching on something. Fortunatley though the tube itself is fine (I think) the piece I need attaches to the end of it and holds the shift levers themselves. Wish I had a picture so I could show what is broken only have a 35 mm camera though.
if i had a 3 on the tree car it would be converted to floor anyway i was trying to buy am old rusted 73 from this lady a while back. anyway it was a tree car but the trans shop lost some pieces and they couldnt find replacments so they just converted it to a floor ****. she was annoyed but i would have considered it a favor
Well I fiddled with it some more and upon closer examination it looks as though my shift tube IS screwed up. The two notches I mentioned in my last post are worn down a bit, I kept wondering why I could move the shift levers freely without touching the shifter, the notches are worn to the point they can slide under the levers with enough pressure. Oh well so much for that column looks like i'll have something else to add to the ol junk pile on neighborhood cleanup day . I would really be surprised too if some scavenger actually took it, of course i'll need to get another one first. Now why couldn't that happen to me .
I'm pretty sure it has 1 notch. My 71 was 3 on the tree and worked beautifully. I found a factory floor shift car and converted it. The shift tube is still in the column. If you can find a part number for the shift tube, you might call Green Sales. They might just have one. Ed Bennett is another good source for NOS parts.
Thanks for the info I will keep that in mind . I guess when I bought the car the 3 on the tree hadn't quite self destructed because I could still shift it through the range I would just have to play with the shifter a bit a times, getting it into 3rd was sometimes a chore and occasionally Reverse was a pain too. There were also times when after shifting into 2nd the shifter would glide down towards the floor this would sometimes result in the car shifting into 3rd by itself if I happen to press the clutch pedal in at the same time. Over time it gradually became harder to shift until one day it didn't want to work at all without alot of effort.
Ok, been looking around at Floor Shifters incase I either A. Can't replace the Column and thus can't keep the 3 on the tree setup, or B. Can't find a factory Floor Shifter at the boneyard. Right now the shifter i'm looking at is the Spectre 6413 at Jegs.com here's a link http://www.jegs.com/i/Spectre/865/6413/10002/-1/1026989|10523 according to the info it should fit the Maverick. What I wanna know is has anyone here used this particular model and if so how good of a shifter is it, in terms of quality and ease of installation? I dunno if I'll still need the shift arms, it says it comes with them but my experience dealing with so called universal parts is they're only universal when it comes to other cars not your own . I like the price of this puppy though although it doesn't come with the boot.
Mavjoe, if it was me, I think I'd go with a Hurst shifter. It may cost a little more to start with, but the quality will be there. Every Hurst that I have ever installed came with a good parts kit, and good instructions. Some of the others are junk, I can't say about the Spectra, never used it. My former boss had a saying above his desk that rings true: "The bitterness of low quality lasts long after the sweetness of low price has gone". I still remember that every time I go to buy something based on price alone....
