Shifter rattle that is driving me crazy!

[ND67]

I have a shifter rattle on my 65 that is driving me up the wall. The little metal piece on the shifter that is pulled up to put the car in reverse rattles constantly. The only way I can stop it is to pull up and twist. It is a huge pain. Has anyone else had this problem? How did you fix? I’ve thought about some type of rubber washer but not sure this would solve my problem.

Any help appreciated.

ND67

 

[Midyrcoupe]

I'm with ya, man. My early '66 had the same problem. The early design has the shifter mounted to the transmission. The second design has the shifter mounted to a bracket that's mounted to the crossframe. Isolating the shifter from the tranny will reduce the vibration.

My wife nearly divorced me over this as it too drove her crazy. I changed my shifter mount to the later design (and bought a new shifter, but that was for a different reason). Now, my shifter is quiet and the wife is happy; life is good.

If you do not want to change your shifter mount, I have an idea that might work:

Unscrew the shift knob and inject some (not a lot) high-temp grease into the shifter body. This may be enough to keep the rod and spring from rattling.

Good luck!
-Michael

 

[vette-dude]

I had the same problem in my 62 which I think the shifters are similiar. I just used a rubber band wrapped around the shifter and against the T reverse lever to keep it from rattling. Temp fix but I think to fix it permanently I would unscrew the ball and find a small section of rubber vacuum hose to slip over the rod inside the barrel. Maybe even a couple of o rings might work if the hose can't be found the right diameter. Just a thought.

Randy

 

[ND67]

Thanks Guys.. I'll try some of your ideas this weekend.

ND67

 

[JohnZ]

I've fixed this rattle/buzz on several 65's. Unscrew the ball and pull off the spring and T-handle, and you'll see a plastic sleeve; put a couple of wraps of electrical tape on the sleeve and trial-fit the T-handle barrel over it until you get a rattle-free fit. Then get an O-ring that fits snugly on the "step" on the lever below the T-handle seating area, and re-install the T-handle, spring, and ball. The tape will stop the lateral buzz between the T-handle barrel and the lever, and the O-ring will stop the vertical buzz between the bottom of the T-handle barrel and the "step" on the lever; quiets them right down for about 25 cents and ten minutes' work.

 

[vettefinderjim]

Most plastic sleeves are missing

Great advice John.

There is a plastic sleeve that self destructs with age. they went out of the book in theearly 80's and if they are not being reproduced, then they are probably missing.

I like John's approach however. Put some WWII engineering on it. that's how we flew B-24's and won the war !!

Good old Kentucky windage.

 

[ND67]

JohnZ,

I ran home from work just to try this. Great advice! My shifter had no plastic piece, which probably magnified the problem. I taped the metal part (shifter) that the t-handle fits onto and put an o-ring on the step. Will the shifter get too hot for the electical tape? One thing I noticed is that the metal rod that goes into the shifter (part of t-handle) jiggles around as well. Should I worry about this, will it make noise? I didn't get the car out tonight but will keep you posted.

Thanks,

ND67

 

[magicv8]

It will make noise and all the things you do will die in the heat - especially the T handle rod - metal hooked to plastic in high temps - worse in cars with A-C.

 

[Jack44]

On long drives I just put a towel over it...

 

[magicv8]

solution to rattling

I just noticed that I did not include my solution to the rattle problem - an old Hurst shifter with a new GM look alike handle.

My car is not quiet, but there are NO rattles.