*sigh* I got to drop the Hurst shifter...

[moparedtn]

Had an issue the other day with the 4 speed in Fred (18 spline A833, rebuilt).
Had to back up and the darn thing wouldn't go into reverse; the shifter has
felt pretty sloppy since I had that mechanic replace the transmission and clutch
last year (and it shouldn't, since it's pretty dang low miles).

I go out to the garage today to begin the clean up routine for Spring and decided
to play around with the shifter and it's still acting really off, so I pull the boot off
and watch the mechanism - and see the entire shifter adapter plate wobbling
around on the side of the transmission tail shaft.
@^%%$&^....

Looks like I have to take the shifter off and do something with the adapter plate,
praying that the plate mounting holes on the tail shaft aren't buggered out.
Problem is, the previous owner "converted" Fred to a 4 speed and the sheetmetal
cut out of the floor pan that he did to mount the hump in the floor is seriously
raggedy and there isn't any room for my hands/meat cleavers to get in there and
remove the shifter bolts.

My question:
Can I just put a jack under the tail end of the transmission, temporarily remove the
trans crossmember, then lower the back of the transmission enough to access the
shifter bolts?
Will it drop enough doing things this way?

(I'd love to beat the hole in the floor with a sledge to get it opened properly, but
that's gonna take dropping the transmission, something I'm not currently in any
condition to do).
Thanks!

 

[R413]

Yes there is room underneath without lowering the trans, but lowering it will help gain room if you got big hands.

I don’t think the hole in the floor is big enough for any adult hand to get in there with the shifter in place,

 

[Jerry Hall]

No real need to lower the transmission when doing this from under the car. Sounds like someone didn't use a touch of loctite when they attached the shifter plate.

 

[4mulas]

Jerry has it. Had the same problem once. You should be able to tighten from underneath. Use loctite

 

[91r/t]

^^ Agreed 200% on the loctite. I had to battle the same crap once and it sucks taking all that off for those allens loosening up. I used blue loctite so it didn't completely lock on like the red does. I've seen some old allen heads stuck in there from corrosion so I didn't wanna weld them in with red then swear a few years down the road if I needed to remove that plate. I have also been able to slide my hand down the shifter hump hole a couple times to service some stuff too if that is an option......It is tight but it can be done with some swearing and patience.....and more swearing lol.

 

[moparedtn]

No, guys, I know all that jazz and yep, sure will use RED Loctite when I get at 'em eventually....

BUT the issue right now is I can't even get a box end on the bottom shifter to adapter bolt
because the PO did such a lousy job cutting the old floor out that it's damn near touching the
shifter bolt, dig?

Think jagged edge of floorpan in the horizontal, RIGHT next to the bottom bolt on the shifter -
forget about even getting anything up through there to the TOP bolt!

If I can drop the tail end of the transmission enough to access the bolts and get the shifter off
(I'm thinking maybe the exhaust might restrict that dropping very much without having to take
it loose at the header collectors?), you can bet your *** some floorpan modifications WILL
take place at that point.
Wish I had a cutoff wheel setup right now, in fact....

 

[Daves69]

If I can drop the tail end of the transmission enough to access the bolts and get the shifter off
(I'm thinking maybe the exhaust might restrict that dropping very much without having to take
it loose at the header collectors?), you can bet your *** some floorpan modifications WILL
take place at that point.

Sounds like the plan ya' need to try. The access was likely a problem for the re-install as well. If the 1 through 4 shifts were OK, mark the rod adjustments before you remove.

 

[Richard Cranium]

 

[Dave6T4]

Electric body saw might work to cut hole bigger. They are fairly small.

 

[CudaChick1968]

My hand fits. Too bad you aren't closer Ed.

 

[moparedtn]

My hand fits. Too bad you aren't closer Ed.

It wouldn't on this one, trust me. There's not even a wrench width's of space between floor edge and bolt.
But THANKS for the thought, anyways.

 

[moparedtn]

Electric body saw might work to cut hole bigger. They are fairly small.

I'd say it might indeed. I could always go after it with my Dremel, but those little cutoff wheels are brittle,
break easy and become lethal little missiles when they do!

 

[Nevada dan]

Best 20 bucks you’ll ever spend

 

[moparedtn]

Are the blades on those any tougher than for a jigsaw? There's another that likes to eat blades...

 

[Nevada dan]

you'll be surprised how good they cut , ive been using them for 30 years , they aren't as brittle as jigsaw blades and I've used hack saw blades in it too when I needed to cut through a boxed unibody rails

 

[Nevada dan]

I like to put the blades in upside down to get the trigger out of the way

 

[R413]

In that situation then yes drop it down, you have the right idea. Remove pipes is good. Also watch the fan to fan shroud/radiator clearance depending you have.

You will want to Re-check and adjust the linkage, it may not be right anymore after it’s tight.

The old home made 4 speed, yes cit it bigger. I use an electric die grinder with a cut off wheel, lighter Unit, and no running low on air and no air hose to get in the way of movement.

 

[Nevada dan]

these saws don't take much air my little compressor at home runs it fine and you don't get a face full of sparks and have to worry about your carpet catching on fire

 

[moparedtn]

In that situation then yes drop it down, you have the right idea. Remove pipes is good. Also watch the fan to fan shroud/radiator clearance depending you have.

You will want to Re-check and adjust the linkage, it may not be right anymore after it’s tight.

The old home made 4 speed, yes cit it bigger. I use an electric die grinder with a cut off wheel, lighter Unit, and no running low on air and no air hose to get in the way of movement.

Yes sir. Also concerned about the z-bar too....ok, maybe this isn't such a great idea after all.

 

[CudaChick1968]

It wouldn't on this one, trust me. There's not even a wrench width's of space between floor edge and bolt.
But THANKS for the thought, anyways.

I just did it yesterday on Billy's Duster, another hackjob four speed conversion. He had to take the Hurst handle off (for the third time lol) to heat it up and bend it enough to get it away from the driver's seat.