Hey All,
Some time ago I had an invitation from Jon Mikalonis to possibly do a Tech Article with the promise that they would send me one of them spiffy FM Forum T-Shirts. AND then if I would do some more of them Tech Articles that they would send me one of them spiffy FM Forum Jackets. AND then if I would do even some more of them Tech Articles, they would start sending me $100.00 checks with which to pay for fixing up Ms. American 3.14159.
Well, I got one of them Tech Articles all set to go, and I wrote Jon Mikalonis about it, and got no response. And then I wrote to R. DeVito (because it says in the thing about Tech Articles that he would help), but I haven't gotten any response from him either.
So I figure what the heck, I'll just post the Tech Article here, since I'm getting no response from J. Mikalonis, or R. DeVito it's probably because they don't want to part with any of their T-Shirts, Jackets, and $100.00 Checks.
Anyway, here is what I had all ready to send off to them and this is the explanation of it all:
A while back I ordered a bunch of parts from from my favorite 1963, 63.5, and 64 Ford Galaxie parts supplier in Floral City, Florida. And the parts came, and they are WONDERFUL. That is all except for the two Three-Speed, Manual Transmission, Bushing and Insulator Sets.
They were disappointing, and EXPENSIVE, and not up to what I usually expect from GD, and certainly NOT what I would put on my "ture lurve" Ms. American 3.14159.
BUT, not to worry. With just a little work, I "fixed" the problem, and now what I am going to install is going to work just fine, and in fact be easier to install than the "original" Shift Bushing and Insulator.
Here is a JPG of one of the two "ORIGINAL" Shift Bushing and Insulators:
Here is what it looks like on "edge".
This is how it looked on the Shift Linkage:
So HERE is what I got for $8.00 from GD:
Those are four rubber washers, and two small plastic tube segments. About $.02 at the local hardware store, and I paid $8.00 each, and got two of them for $16.00 total.
And here is what they look like when all put together:
Now this is just NOT going to work because there is no flange to hold them in the Shift Arm Hole! You see what I mean? Look at the ORIGINAL, and you'll see that it has a small center, and a larger flange on each side.
And here is what it looks like on the Shift Linkage:
Now THIS is NOT going to work. It isn't going to stay in the Shift Lever as it has no "flanges" to hold it in place. You see what I mean?
So HERE is what I did to "fix" that. I took another piece of rubber gasket material, and I traced onto it the outline of the ORIGINAL Bushing and Insulator. BTW, if those don't look quite right it's because of the wide angle lens and the hyper closeup shot. They are, in fact, both exactly the same size with the same size hole in the middle:
And this is a JPG of what the pieces look like in the set that I made:
And here is a shot of the ORIGINAL Bushing and Insulator (right), and the assembled Bushing and Insulator that I made (left).
And this LAST JPG is of the Bushing and Insulator that I made on the Shift Linkage.
Well, THAT'S it!
Just as soon as I get the "last bolt" installed in the passenger side exhaust manifold, I'm going to be putting the Shift Linkage back into place using the NEW and IMPROVED Bushings and Insulators.
Thanks for reading, and your comments are welcome.
And if Jon Mikalonis or R. DeVito are reading, you can send me a T-Shirt, or you don't have to. It's up to YOU!
Hope you are all well.
JC
Some time ago I had an invitation from Jon Mikalonis to possibly do a Tech Article with the promise that they would send me one of them spiffy FM Forum T-Shirts. AND then if I would do some more of them Tech Articles that they would send me one of them spiffy FM Forum Jackets. AND then if I would do even some more of them Tech Articles, they would start sending me $100.00 checks with which to pay for fixing up Ms. American 3.14159.
Well, I got one of them Tech Articles all set to go, and I wrote Jon Mikalonis about it, and got no response. And then I wrote to R. DeVito (because it says in the thing about Tech Articles that he would help), but I haven't gotten any response from him either.
So I figure what the heck, I'll just post the Tech Article here, since I'm getting no response from J. Mikalonis, or R. DeVito it's probably because they don't want to part with any of their T-Shirts, Jackets, and $100.00 Checks.
Anyway, here is what I had all ready to send off to them and this is the explanation of it all:
A while back I ordered a bunch of parts from from my favorite 1963, 63.5, and 64 Ford Galaxie parts supplier in Floral City, Florida. And the parts came, and they are WONDERFUL. That is all except for the two Three-Speed, Manual Transmission, Bushing and Insulator Sets.
They were disappointing, and EXPENSIVE, and not up to what I usually expect from GD, and certainly NOT what I would put on my "ture lurve" Ms. American 3.14159.
BUT, not to worry. With just a little work, I "fixed" the problem, and now what I am going to install is going to work just fine, and in fact be easier to install than the "original" Shift Bushing and Insulator.
Here is a JPG of one of the two "ORIGINAL" Shift Bushing and Insulators:
Here is what it looks like on "edge".
This is how it looked on the Shift Linkage:
So HERE is what I got for $8.00 from GD:
Those are four rubber washers, and two small plastic tube segments. About $.02 at the local hardware store, and I paid $8.00 each, and got two of them for $16.00 total.
And here is what they look like when all put together:
Now this is just NOT going to work because there is no flange to hold them in the Shift Arm Hole! You see what I mean? Look at the ORIGINAL, and you'll see that it has a small center, and a larger flange on each side.
And here is what it looks like on the Shift Linkage:
Now THIS is NOT going to work. It isn't going to stay in the Shift Lever as it has no "flanges" to hold it in place. You see what I mean?
So HERE is what I did to "fix" that. I took another piece of rubber gasket material, and I traced onto it the outline of the ORIGINAL Bushing and Insulator. BTW, if those don't look quite right it's because of the wide angle lens and the hyper closeup shot. They are, in fact, both exactly the same size with the same size hole in the middle:
And this is a JPG of what the pieces look like in the set that I made:
And here is a shot of the ORIGINAL Bushing and Insulator (right), and the assembled Bushing and Insulator that I made (left).
And this LAST JPG is of the Bushing and Insulator that I made on the Shift Linkage.
Well, THAT'S it!
Just as soon as I get the "last bolt" installed in the passenger side exhaust manifold, I'm going to be putting the Shift Linkage back into place using the NEW and IMPROVED Bushings and Insulators.
Thanks for reading, and your comments are welcome.
And if Jon Mikalonis or R. DeVito are reading, you can send me a T-Shirt, or you don't have to. It's up to YOU!
Hope you are all well.
JC