shift lever extension assembly procedure

[baltobernie]

How does this thing go together?

[mdrburchette]

The parts being in the same position you have in the photo it goes:
1
5
2
4
3

You may have to give it a good whack to get everything seated. I put a block of wood on top my knob and tap it with a hammer.

[rlux4]

I didn't have much success with the "tap it" technique, I even tried the "bonk it" technique suggested by Ventura Ace. What worked for me was to put all the parts together first and then push it down onto the shift shaft (is that the name?) When it got part way on it gets too hard to push so I pushed it down while twisting it and it slid right on down to the stop.
Ron

[baltobernie]

Thanks, Denise, it went together. However,

... it is pretty sloppy. Should there be a couple of mm of #3 showing below the extension after assembly? The slop concerns me; the OEM version was a hard white plastic, looks like Delrin or something similar. The replacement assembly is very cheap black stuff.

Oh well, signing off now; been a long day of wrenching - but did get the cyl. head, manifolds, carb, etc. back on. Starting to look like a real car! G'day.

[rlux4]

Bernie, I had to do the pushing and twisting to get it all the way down the shaft. Pushing, tapping, and bonking only got it about 1/2 way down and it was real sloppy. When I got it all the way down (the bottom of the chrome extension will be at the flared out section, just before it curves down) it got solid.

[ventura ace]

... it is pretty sloppy. Should there be a couple of mm of #3 showing below the extension after assembly? The slop concerns me;

I've run into this, also. Bought a new shifter bushing set to 'firm up' my old tired original pieces, and found that the new set was sloppier than my old parts. I put the old parts back in. The vendor took the new parts back, no questions, and said that this problem was typical (so why do they sell them, if they know it doesn't fit??!!). You might experiment with making a spacer to take up some linear length, to make it compress and tighten up when snapped together.

Alvon

[pope]

I have a couple mm of white plastic showing from the bottom of the handle and have no play whatso ever. Tight as a drum

[mbouse]

then again, there is nothing that stops you from drilling a small hole in the bottom half of the shifter shaft, threading it, and installing a set screw to tighten the entire assembly down. any work performed that way is still covered by the shift boot.



of course, you could always pitch the entire set up and go with a SHORTER SHIFTER.

[baltobernie]

Thanks, all. Another day, another missing fingernail ...

I'm trying for the factory "look", Mike, I think I'm gonna try something like you suggested; if nothing else, a sheet metal screw temporarily. Or a big glob of DB Weld! Hey, I've got to leave some kind of legacy - years from now on FiatSpider.com somebody will be bitching about that SOB PO who epoxied the shift lever extension in place!