OldKarz

I have searched but most suggestions are no longer available . Can someone please advise on what methods (besides the shoe over the shifter method) works best? I remember a post by JohnZ, but can't find it either. I started to unscrew the shifter ball, but stopped as I was not sure if there would be any surprises when it released....springs ect...As usual any help would be much appreciated! Thanks, Lynn

Vet65te

Hi Lynn, I remember the old posts on this subject because the shifter rattle was bugging me too. If everything down below where the shifter is connected to the trans (or crossmember) is tight, then is should be the shifter bushings or lack thereof that's causing at least some of the annoying rattle. Take off the shifter ball and you'll find a spring underneath. Then pull up on the reverse lockout handle (T-handle).
There are supposed to be two plastic sleeves (bushings) in there but mine only had one and the replacement bushings available on the aftermarket all seem to be too thick to use. Then one forum member came up with a great idea to help aleviate the sound problem, a small thin o-ring placed down over the shaft before you reinstall the reverse handle. Notice the (overexposed) pic. I've slightly lifted the t-handle to show the location and size of the o-ring which now cushions the reverse handle. Did it make all the rattle completely go away, no but it sure helped. Worth a shot, right?

wmf62

i'm sorry, i don't remember what JohnZ's 'fix' is, but it could only involve 2 things, rebuilding the shifter or placing some kind of vibration isolation material around the reverse lockout.

there is a small spring, but it shouldn't 'surprise' you when you take the ball off. take it off and drive the car and see if it's the reverse lockout that is rattling.
Bill

65 vette dude

I tried Jonn Z's fix and it did help some,but the rattle was still there. I finally took the ball off and coated everthing with a liberal amount of wheel bearing grease. That stopped the rattle. That was about 6 mos. ago and i noticed that the rattle is starting to come back,so I guess its time for another lube job.

65 vette dude

I tried Jonn Z's fix and it did help some,but the rattle was still there. I finally took the ball off and coated everthing with a liberal amount of wheel bearing grease. That stopped the rattle. That was about 6 mos. ago and i noticed that the rattle is starting to come back,so I guess its time for another lube job.

OCS1667

You might try checking your drive shaft and make sure it is not out of balance. Be sure and check the bushing in the tail piece for ware, at the same time look over the slip yoke when you remove the drive shaft for ware.
If the above is not correct, this will cause vibrations and the rattling you are experiencing.
Dennis

mechron

vet65te, good memory (or more recent experience). another forum member was over yesterday (you know the guy-) and was complaing about the stock muncie shifter rattle, i told him a lot of them do that. it's been a while for me and i completely forgot about those nylon sleeves but do now remember them from back in the old days. if i rememer right the stock sleeves had a small flange on one end that would go to the outside. i also remember finding a fix at the local hardware store, i found split sleeves of the right size, they may have needed a little trimming to fit exactly right but the split would compress a little and hold the sleeve in place when pushed in.

BarryK

Here is JohnZ's rattle fix:

http://www.lbfun.com/warehouse/tech_...ttle%20fix.pdf

Here is another shifter rattle fix from an old GM service bulletin on the issue:

http://www.lbfun.com/warehouse/tech_...ter%20Buzz.pdf

Vet65te

Mechron, I think the difference is that you and I have had a head start on that new forum member when it comes to chasing down those creaks and rattles. The stock shifter in my coupe now only has one original bushing in it and I'll assume that since the aftermarket people sell them two to a package, there should have been two to begin with.
They do resemble the flanged clutch pedal bushings but the shifter bushings are 'flange-less' (pic attached).
The problem I found was that the replacement bushings are just a bit too thick to be installed. I even rolled some sandpaper over a dowel trying to sand them into submission but no luck. The first attempt had me rolling sandpaper around my finger. I think my fingerprints are just now starting to reappear. The o-ring helps a lot and like the other reply mentioned, I also slathered on a good bit of wheel bearing grease and the two 'fixes' seemed to help the situation but not totally eleviate it. Do you happen to remember when you bought those plastic bushings from the hardware store, what the application was?

mechron

vet65te, i.m going by memories from the 70s-early 80s, not just the vette but lots of GM cars with muncie floor shifts all used the same T handle arrangement. bear in mind, i,m thinking from a faded memory about things we did every day 30 years ago but have thought about it for a few hours before posting.

i'm pretty sure there was only one flanged nylon bushing that slid onto the shifter or in the bottom of the T handle-same place when it all goes together. a second bushing can't go into the top because the top of the T has that projection that holds the wire. the flange at the bottom of the sleeve would go right where your O ring sits and serves the same purpose.

standard practice for me when doing anything trans/clutch related was-pull the ***,spring,
T handle and if the sleeve stayed on the shifter-pull it off too, otherwise you might lose it. toss everything on the pass seat for reassembly.

as for the bushings above, those are the split sleeve hardware store type i was talking about. the stock sleeves were getting to be a PIA to get. we had an ace hardware close by that we bought hardware from that stocked those bushings in different sizes. i took a shifter and T handle in and just trial fit different sizes till i found one that fit just right. when i bought it i told them "order a bunch in that size, we'll sell them for you. that split will allow a little variation in dia. to fit so you are mainly concerned with thickness to get a good fit...

or i could be full of crap with a broken brain.

EDIT-additional info:
a funny story to share--i pulled all that stuff off the top of the shifter-the ball, the spring, then the T handle to check it out. i never noticed the nylon piece wasn't there. then when putting it back together as i did 100s of times before i just threw it back together.
BUT-i dropped the spring in first, then the T handle, then the ball-no spring pressure on the T handle... then the new guy gave me some self ownage. he watched me take apart and watched me put it back together. he said "didn't that spring go on top???" well i tried to fish the spring out of the shifter with an old time pic with no luck, he said "i work with delicate instraments. let me try, he fished that spring out in like 10 seconds, that was number two self ownage.

note to self:
don't go out partying on a friday night when you are going to look at a C2 on saturday morning, you may recieve self ownage.

OldKarz

After reading the replies to my rattle question, I decided to try the o-ring cure. After I found my box of misc. o-rings, I added the o-ring and ........no more rattles! Also, both of the bushings were still in place. Thanks vette65 for the pix of the fix!

Astrodokk

I don't have those nylon sleeves, or if I did, then mechron did something to them
I read the John Z fix and will wrap some electrical tape to the long pin that goes into the T handle housing. Also, since my boys play paintball, I used an O ring from one of their CO2 tanks and it fit perfectly! That should fix that forsaken rattle!
By the way, that "pick" I used to extract the spring from the shifter tube was Ron's Dad's tool, and it worked like a charm. Everyone should have one of those. It's a 6 inch, very slim rod with a tiny hook on the end. Pulled that spring out in a heartbeat. Now to get mechron to do my front springs too ha ha.

mechron

astrodokk, you have done selfownage to yourself by revealing your identity. .we just reffered to you as "the new guy", out of respect. i knew you would see this thread. the first thing you need to do is REPLACE THAT REAR SPRING, chome plating introduces hydogen embitlemt and , the ends of spring will break off, buy that 9 leaf cheap sping we were talking about, install it and you will ge good to go...

mechron

hey astrodokk, i see you're online. pull the T handle out and test drive the car (you are only disabeling the lock-out function) if the rattle is gone it's your T handle that is the problem. if the rattle/buzz persists it is slop in the lower linkage.

Chuck Gongloff

I have a 63, and those shifters are more prone to rattling.

I use the "O" ring trick. Pick up the "O" rings at the local hardware store for pennies each.

I've had original 63 shifters and repro 63 shifters. I've rebuilt shifters and they still rattle. It's the nature of the beast.

Many forget that these shifters rattled when the cars were brand new. It was a known problem back in the day.

The "O" ring works.

Chuck

mrruffhouser

Hurst's don't rattle and they work great.

drspencer

I have a '71 4-speed that buzzes/rattles.

I've taken the ball/T-handle apart several times, replaced the spring, etc.

I don't think these two nylon bushings are present in my shifter assembly.

Where exactly do they go?

Thanks

drspencer

Hi Chuck-Where exactly am I to place the O-ring?

Thanks

drspencer

Do I wrap electrical tape around the whole length of the rod, or just the lower end?

Thanks

OldKarz

Holy 8 year old thread...funny thing is I started it! I would suggest a new post.