Measurement needed!

airbrushguy

During the process of restoring/painting the dashboard of my '49 Super Six 262-3spd od, I disassembled the column shifter and paid no attention to it's original placement. I now am reassembling it and have a somewhat clear idea about adjusting the shifter at the bottom of the shaft but I feel I need to know exactly what is the spacing between the shifter tube clamp and the back of the steering wheel before I move ahead to adjusting the cable clamp below.

Can someone tell me what the spacing should be in the area shown in my photo?

Thanks in advance!

airbrushguy

All I need is a quick measurement from a fully functional shifter...anyone?

Glowplug

At the top of the tube under the piece that the shift lever mount interfaces is a small "rivet like" piece that sits in a hole drilled in the tube. The mount that fits the top of the shift rod has a depression on the bottom into which the head of the "rivet" fits. When the screws through collar bellow are tightened the proper placement of the upper linkage point is set.

airbrushguy

Terrific, thanks Oldfarmer!

I put a short bolt in the hole with a head the size of the hole in the bracket bottom.

  Now one last question....here are two pics of my shift cable, bolted and unbolted from the end of the column. Should the end where the arrow is pointing be connected to a cable up the column?

Thanks for your quick, experienced response.

Nerve_Center

That square clip comes out and once the cable end "you indicated" fits inside the metal tube of the shifter shaft, you then clip it in place. You might need to pull the shift lever towards you to push the shaft down so you can get to it better. (Hopefully that end tube that the cable sits in hasn't dropped out as I cant see it in your pics).

airbrushguy

Do you have a pic of what the "end tube" looks like?

Nerve_Center

Not a good one I'm afraid. There is something like a 1/8 rod running up the shift tube with a keyed end. A hollow housing tube about the dia. of the inside of the shift tube keys to that and then has a slot to accept the cable clip. A similar part is in the top but connecting the lever to the rod so it's kind of similar both ends and stops the rod rattling around in the tube.

Glowplug

Picture from parts manual - note shows both versions of shift systems on same picture.

airbrushguy

Ok, I think I located the end tube at the bottom. It seems I didn't have the shift lever in and the rod was all the way up the top. As i progressed and found that the end up top has a particular hole almost at the top on it's side, I got the shift lever ball to go into it nicely. The top end of the rod has a slot in it which I used to turn the rod so the ball end of the shift lever could line up with the hole in the rod. What other purpose is that slot, because I noticed as I turned it clockwise, it got tighter in the column. I sprayed penetrating oil at it in case it was just gummed up.

I hooked the cable to the end tube, hopefully as you described but so far I cannot get the shifter to move up and down much in neutral. Seems tight.

Thanks for all the help so far.

Nerve_Center

Your 1st pic bothers me as it looks like the bottom of tube which would retain the clip in place is missing. It should just be a slot for the clip. However your other 2 pics show it installed correctly from what I can make out. You may just need to adjust the cable to get full and free movement in neutral. If not, with the cable disconnected you should have free movement around the lever pattern and the rod will move up and down the tube as you push pull on the lever in any position. With some pliers or vice grips you should be able to operate the cable freely with the box in neutral. If not, remove the box end of the cable and diagnose from there.

airbrushguy

Any advice about that slotted end of the rod up top that seems tight if I turn it clockwise? Is that normal or should it spin around freely when the shift lever is out? Thanks again

Nerve_Center

The slot up top (as too the bottom) uses a semi circular key to fit the larger piece to the rod. Being semi circular - when installed should give a round finish so the ends will slide in the tube freely in all positions.  See K21-28 in Oldfarmers diagram. It's not binding on the locating bolt you installed???

airbrushguy

Followed the directions here as well as the Hudson Procedure Manual, put it all back together and I still cannot get second/third gear. After I moved bracket down below toward firewall, I adjusted linkage on trans, could not really move trans ear much, just one click toward front, so I assumed it was in neutral. 

Put it all back together, still no second.....?

airbrushguy

Nerve_Center said:

 It's not binding on the locating bolt you installed???

That bolt goes into the steering column, it's about 3/8-1/2" long and head sits well in bracket depression. I don't understand how that would have anything to do with the shifting process....or is there something I'm just not getting?

airbrushguy

Still looking for an answer....

airbrushguy

Seems the cable attachment to the tube end is the problem....it isn't staying attached. My tube end looks like a fork-effect that was just ground in the end of the tube(looks factory) and then the cable has a horseshoe type clamp on it that slides over the forks. Am I missing something that keeps the clamp on the forks when the tube is pulled back.

Nerve_Center

It looks like that bottom piece which the cable clips into is broken as there isn't the slot for the clip to lock it into. They were die cast metal which can crumble easily if forced. While you source one make sure the cable moves freely and changes ok so you don't break the replacement mistakenly. Someone on the forum should have a spare.

airbrushguy

What is the correct name for the piece?

Thanks for your response

airbrushguy

If I can't get one, does someone have a pic of a good one so I could try to make it? How do I get it out, pushing from top or pulling from bottom?

Nerve_Center

Sorry. I don't know the correct name but if you take your gear lever out again you can slide the rod assy down about 2" where you take the semi circle key out and the end piece will slide out. They should be pretty common over there and people on this forum should be able to help you out.

Ric West IN

Did some study of my project 49 Super 6 .  My shift tube was also stuck.  A little penetrating oil and gental tapping with a piece of wooden dowel freed it up.  Hope these pics will help.

airbrushguy

Thanks Nerve Center, you've been a big help. 

Ric, that was so very helpful, thank you, photo number 4 is the exact piece I need. If you or anyone here knows where I can get one of these, please let me know. It is the only thing stopping me from taking my Hudson out after a long winter of working on it.

I'm going to use your pic to help with the search on my other post!

Nerve_Center

Ric's 4th picture is what it should look like and yours looks broken to me. I've probably got one from a 46 model but I expect it's the same as yours. Only problem is I'm in Australia so I expect it will be easier to find one over there. If not I'm happy to get one to you after confirming the dimensions.

airbrushguy

Thanks Nerve Center, I will wait a day or two in hopes that somebody closer has one. I will remove what is left of mine and get dimensions of it in the meantime. Thank you