Transmission linkage

[trwp72]

Question... How do you get the transmission shifter linkage connection under the hood to disconnect? When I bought the new steering column for my 84 "Baby" LTD... we had a heck of a time getting the column out, because of the shift linkage. We tried prying it apart at the connection, (where the plastic or nylon bushing is) figuring it would just pop apart... no go... we pryed and pryed, it would not budge! We ended up sliding the "bellcrank" off of the end of the shift linkage shaft... (It has a lever type setup that slides on the end of the gear shift shaft, under the hood.) This in turn has the connection joint that connects to the linkage going to the transmission...



Shift tube linkage... Any ideas on how to seperate this connection?


Here you can see how the shift lever came off of the end of the shift tube... But it was a bitch getting it off... we hooked the lever on the fire wall, and pulled on the steering column, from inside the car, sort of banging it on the side of the hole in the firewall, until it seperated. I do not think if I have to separate the shift linkage this way that it will go back on very easy... not to mention in such limited space to work... The shift tube is the small shaft.



The new column... leather wrapped steering wheel, and cruise and tilt on this one--- it even had the key in the ignition, so pulling the old lock set to put in my new lock set should go pretty easy... hopefully... (I bought a new lock cylinder, and had it keyed to match the rest of the locks... since all are the same on a police car....) Going back next week for all of the servo, etc. to hook up the cruise...

[JD's Toy]

i used a heavy duty pry bar and hammer to get them to seperate... thinking back i may have had my 350 lb buddy get under the car and lean on it a bit to get it to seperate there in your first picture.

metal did bend a little bit, but not too bad, and it eventually came apart.

dunno if that's the right way to do it, but worked for me!

[Lincolnmania]

pry like heck tom.......thexton makes a tool to get that linkage apart, but i dont have one.......sometimes melting the bushings works good, just make sure you have new ones handy first

[trwp72]

Just in case I break this bushing... any ideas on where to get new ones?

[Lincolnmania]

ford dealer
help section has them in an assorted bushing pack too

[1987cp]

Dunno if that shaft is the same diameter as the Panther-body shift linkage bellcrank, but when I replaced the missing bellcrank bushing on my P72 with a piece from the Help! kit, I ended up drilling it out slightly and heating it slightly in order to get it on.

[gadget73]

Those bushings are a real bastard to get apart. I broke the shift lever on my original transmission prying that arm out. I was able to get a new bushing at the dealership for like 5 bucks though.