Need help removing shifter

[Hogger54]

I cant seem to do this, or I'm doing something wrong. Everything I've read says to push down and turn. I'm putting everything I've got into this thing and it won't budge.
Does it need to be in a certain gear or just neutral?
Does the hole on the side near where the shifter enters the tranny have any kind of pin in there?


Posted via Mobile Device

[starterman99]

You are correct push down and turn counter clockwise.looks like some good penetrating oil might help as the retainer looks a bit rusted.you might try tapping with small hammer to help free it up.good luck

[Hogger54]

Will NOT push down. But, it does pull up. And I can feel it has a spring in there because of the resistance pulling it up, and it goes back down when you let go.
I can't help but think that there is a pin of some kind in the holes on either side at the "neck".
I tried pulling and turning, and pushing and turning. It won't turn.
By the way this is a 4 speed if it makes a difference.
Posted via Mobile Device

[Hogger54]

Ok. After watching a video on YouTube of an "other" brand truck I got it.
Hopefully I can clarify for people in the future. Do not try and push the whole shifter handle down. Nobody every made this clear.
ONLY press down on the dome shaped collar at the base of the shifter. I used a big pair of channel locks to press down and rotate CCW. Popped right out.
Posted via Mobile Device

[rgunlock]

Had the same problems and questions when I removed mine. Here is a picture I posted on my thread that may help the next guy.

[FarmerSid]

Exactly what I was looking for. I gotta remove the engine and tranny out of my 51 tonight. Thanks!

[mr48chev]

Starterman99 is right on the "might be rusted up put some penetrating oil on it" thing. I had two of them that were so rusted I never did get the retainer pushed down.

[OrrieG]

I drove mine with the tangs broken for a few years. I was used to it but had friends who used the truck and got a little nervous when the lever came out shifting into fourth gear. One guy called all upset he had broke my truck, I talked him thru getting it back in and told him to always apply downward pressure when shifting.

[hodag]

Use a piece of wood, cut a hole in the middle of it. The wood should be 3ft long. Slide over the shifter. Put downward pressure and turn the wood. You should feel it release. When putting it back in repeat steps. Never loose the wood. You may have to do this again some day.

[dsraven]

I have removed a few of these that were rusty. what I do is clean the area well prior to doing anything so you dont get junk down in the hole, then I use a big box end wrench slid down over the shifter shaft and it pushes on the retainer. that cab be tapped a few times with a rubber mallet or dead blow to loosen up the ring. sometimes it helps to turn the ring when it does get loosened enough to push down. then, if the wrench trick didn't turn the ring, I use water pump style pliers to turn it and pull the shifter lever up to remove it all. I have also used a large pipe fitting that fits the ring better if a large enough wrench isn't available. some diesel works pretty well to help loosen things up, if you have a farm or something with diesel machinery, or some penetrating oil. soak it for a few days before you need to work on it. tap on it a few times between the initial soak and the day of removal and you will be surprised.

[Rickysnickers]

I curious why people seem to be responding to threads that are many years old, lately. The OP on this thread hasn't been here since 2020.....

[dsraven]

well, I don't look at the dates. I check the site to see if there are new postings and respond to the ones that I may have helpful information for. I had a method that works for me on this post so i responded. sometimes guys will read the new posts, like I do, and glean a little usefull info he/she can use or pass along.
like my wife says, "you got, I say, you gotta pay more attention boy!"
she watched too many foghorn leghorn cartoons, haha

[rgunlock]

Doesn't matter when the thread was started if it's a thread that comes up on a search for the topic. Personally, when it is me doing the searching, the more posts with info the better.

[leegreen]

as a site user I don't see a problem with adding value to an old thread. Nothing worse than reading a thread that describes a problem you have but leaves you wondering how the story ends.....did the suggested fix, part interchange or whatever it was solve the problem?

Maybe there are nuances to what is better for generating ad revenue to keep the site alive? But I read this thread now and probably never would have otherwise

[Chopped53]

Agreed. As a user, I see no problem with reviving an old thread if you have something new to say about it.

[mr48chev]

Proof once again that it serves well to scroll though the complete thread and read all of the posts or at least glance over them and in fact check the dates. Sometimes when you read thuough these old posts you find out that you already answered the question several years ago and as Ricky said, the OP hasn't been on here for years.
I don't have an issue with folks giving new and solid answers to an old question as I do when someone finds the old thread and tacks their question on to the long dead thread. For those of us who spend time making sure our answer is correct it is a burn when we spend time making sure that we have the correct answer for the OP only to find out that the OP asked the question eleven years ago and back on page eight is the new queston right below the last post form 11 years ago. In truth your question may never get answered at all as some just post answers and don't read through all of the posts first or at least scan the answers to make sure that the question has been answered correctly .

Simply if you have an honest question it is best to start a new thread with your exact question providing what info you have. Questons with the details in them get far better answers a lot faster.

[Rickysnickers]

Ok, firestorm created by me apparently. I didn't say it, but this was meant more in jest than anything else. I was just laughing to myself when I saw the date, that is all. Post away and add to any thread you like

[vintovka]

Originally Posted by Rickysnickers

I curious why people seem to be responding to threads that are many years old, lately. The OP on this thread hasn't been here since 2020.....

Things were better back then.

[mr48chev]

I've always thought that forums should have it set so that after 6 or 12 months of no posts only the OP can reopen the thread. If you go down the member list and check one post members, 90% of the time they joined to ask a question at the tail end of an old thread and may not have gotten a good answer to their actual question. Or as in this case to add their answer to the long dead thread. This time it just happens that this is one of those items that even those of us who have done the task a number of times have to stop and think it out about half the time.

If they start a new thread and ask their question they usually get solid answers the first time around from the folks who either have the knowledge or take the time to research to get the right answer or confirm what they know.

[leegreen]

A lot of forum etiquette like 'don't bump old threads' is rooted in the days of usenet aka newsgroups aka what we did before WWW. Bumping a thread meant paging through it to find the end and see what was new.

Forums such as this keep track of logged in users so you get that 'jump to newest reply' option. The content is also indexed by search engines and the new chant on many forums is 'use the search newbie'.
But we know the search is only as good as you ability to connect key words to the problem and one man's passenger fender is another's offside wing. So updating an old thread with new terminology or part numbers will be useful to the next guy with the same quest

So now, the ideal way to start a new thread is something like this:

I've got an X and need to blah blah
I found these older threads ____
But my question is ____

And as I stated before, adding new value to an old thread is always good. I would not have thought of a board with a hole in it for the tasc in OP, I'd have grabbed waterpump pliers and risked crushing it.


oh yeah, netiquete is not to go off topic /

[1project2many]

Originally Posted by mr48chev

I've always thought that forums should have it set so that after 6 or 12 months of no posts only the OP can reopen the thread. If you go down the member list and check one post members, 90% of the time they joined to ask a question at the tail end of an old thread and may not have gotten a good answer to their actual question. Or as in this case to add their answer to the long dead thread. This time it just happens that this is one of those items that even those of us who have done the task a number of times have to stop and think it out about half the time.

If they start a new thread and ask their question they usually get solid answers the first time around from the folks who either have the knowledge or take the time to research to get the right answer or confirm what they know.

Some of the forums I'm on will pop up a warning box when you try to reply to an old thread. You can still reply, but the warning is there. The forum software here may not have that option. I've been known to start a new thread then reference an old one in the new one.

As far as removing the shifter collar, I find it interesting how many people use big water pump pliers. I bought a pair of actual Channel Lock pliers for this exact job in the '90s and I still have it in the work toolbox.

[mr48chev]

I have the largest pair of Bluepoint channel lock plyers made and have had them for over 50 years. They have been used for everything in that time and are pretty well worn out. I've got a locked up 52 Ford F1 4 speed that I need to pull the handle out of and may put them to use on that. i think it is more rusted up than the OP's was as it it sat on the bare rolling chassis in a field for 30 years before I bought the chassis to harvest parts for another OT project that I have.

[burnin oil]

I always just use a screw driver on a 30 degree angle and smack with a hammer. Worked on every trans with this style of shifter I have come across. Using a dull or thick blade saves the ring from damage.