[gtobird]

I'm rebuilding the original factory Hurst Competition Plus shifter in my 68 bird. I disassembled it a couple of years ago and had the parts re-plated and am now reassembling it. I took a lot of notes and pics before disasembly, so I would know how to put it together, but I still have a couple of questions. Again, this is an original factory shifter, not an aftermarket.

1.) There is a mushroom head "shifter select pin" in the shifter. The head depresses a stamped key. In my shifter, the mushroom head on the select pin has a notch in it where it comes in contact with the key. I can't tell if that is from wear or the notch was purposely machined into the mushroom head. If it's on purpose, then I'll just reassemble it the way it came out. If it's not supposed to be there and it's from wear, I can rotate the selector pin 180 degrees or replace it. Anyone know if the notch should be there or not? Sure looks like it is supposed to be there, but could be from wear. See the link below for the part I'm talking about. I see no notch in the new piece, but it could be rotated out of view.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/HURST-OEM-a...ty!53223!US!-1


2.) On the inside of the side cover plate for the shifter, there is an extremely thin piece of stainless steel about 2" wide by 1 1/2" (guesstimate on size). It has a hole that was piereced in if from the factory and evidently the hole lines up with a hole in the side cover plate. This thin piece also has two creases in it that create slight bends in it. My questions are what is this for and how is it held in place? Should I even put it back in? It looks to me like its in the shifter just to create a cushion effect for the sharp edges on a couple of the shim plates inside. Is it just a loose fit piece held in place by the side cover plate, or ???????????? I've only seen this on the factory Hurst Comp Plus shifters, not the aftermarket ones.

Regards,
OJ

[crashent]

A couple months ago I made 2 youtube videos on taking an OEM shifter apart and putting it back together, check out the links below...

The first one is taking it apart, the second putting it back together...
I used a 2nd gen. F-body shifter, but its close enough to a 1st gen. to be helpful...

I hope it helps... Crash

You can E-mail if you have any questions... crash_enterprises@yahoo.com

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EU9wj4vgdY&t=129s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNN10cxa9yg&t=35s

[gtobird]

Originally Posted by crashent

A couple months ago I made 2 youtube videos on taking an OEM shifter apart and putting it back together, check out the links below...

The first one is taking it apart, the second putting it back together...
I used a 2nd gen. F-body shifter, but its close enough to a 1st gen. to be helpful...

I hope it helps... Crash

You can E-mail if you have any questions... crash_enterprises@yahoo.com

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EU9wj4vgdY&t=129s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNN10cxa9yg&t=35s

Crash,

Thanks for the videos. They help very much. Now I know the purpose of the thin metal "Anti-Rattle" plate and how to keep it in place during installation. Can you tell me what kind of grease you are using to lube the shifter and where to buy it? I would have emailed, but I'm guessing others on this posting might like to know that too. Also loved the tools you made to install the $%@$%@$%$%%$ spring and washer. Took me about an hour to do that and many bad words.

Thanks OJ

[crashent]

O.J. The grease I use is Lucas Red "N" Tacky grease...

What caught my eye was "especially good for sliding surfaces"

I got it at Car Quest...

Hope this helps... Crash

['ol Pinion head]

Thank You Crash for the helpful video & information!

[gtobird]

Crash,

Thanks again for the tip on the grease. I checked the reviews on it and they were very good. Looks like a lot of people use it on rifles so it must be well trusted. Looks like a good choice.

Take care
OJ

[gtobird]

Just want to also let everyone know that I bought some of my Hurst shifter parts from the Shifter Doc.

https://www.shifterdoc.com/productca...categories.asp

I had some questions during reassembly that they promptly answered with an email reply. Some of the Hurst service parts they sell are very hard. The items I ordered arrived faster than expected.

Regards,
Joe

[rdl]

Interesting thread. Are there differences between the original units and the reproduction Hurst units? In particular, I’ve noticed a rattle in the shifter under full load in the new unit since installing it. Any thoughts?

[gtobird]

Originally Posted by rdl

Interesting thread. Are there differences between the original units and the reproduction Hurst units? In particular, I’ve noticed a rattle in the shifter under full load in the new unit since installing it. Any thoughts?

Hurst makes aftermarket shifters that are similar in construction to the OEM versions with respect to the internal shift parts and shims, though there may be some slight differences. To the best of my knowledge, the aftermarket shifters have bolt in style chrome shift levers vs push in for the OEM shifters and also shift adjustment bolts on the front and or back of them. Visually they do look a little different and some of them mount differently, but I'm guessing they shift just fine.

If Hurst is now making true "reproduction" OEM style shifters, I haven't seen those. With respect to the rattle, what kind of bushings did you use with the linkage? The factory units had vulcanized rubber inserts, but I plan to use metal bushings for a more positive type feel and less slop, which are often used for both OEM and aftermarket shifters, but I know they can sometimes rattle.

Perhaps Crash has other thoughts on the rattle since he knows a lot about this stuff.

Regards,
OJ

P.S. In my earlier post regarding getting parts for Hurst Shifters, I skipped a couple of words. I meant to say that Shift Doc has some "Hard to find" service parts. They took great care of my order and questions.

[rdl]

Thanks for your comments. After watching the video on YouTube, it occurred to me that the new shifter bolt-in format doesn’t use rubber insulators. It has me wondering if inserting an insulator at the shifter bolts would help?