salans7 Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 Upon pulling out the shifters from my T-19's to swap them, I took a look down in the shift towers and didn't like what I saw. This first T19 is supposedly a low mile 1987 variant from a Florida brush truck. I actually saw the truck it came from and verified the low mileage. I was told the T19 was swapped for a ZF5, which was the case. One thing to note, I was given a strange shift lever when I bought the transmission (I'm assuming this was due to the well-known issue of the upper half of the shifter coming apart). After research, I determined it was from a 1970's International pickup. They also had T19's, but I'm thinking it may not been a great fit for the Ford T19 even though it seemed to work since they were using it. I sold the shift lever prior to finding a T19 version, so no way to measure to verify. I'm thinking that may have caused the wear to the shift forks shown in the photo. It does NOT seem to affect shifting, although the shift lever does have about 2.5-3" of side to side swing in all gears, which I'd like to attribute to the shift levers and not the transmission as neither transmission feels "sloppy". Unfortunately that's too hard to tell with them out of a truck. This second photo is my spare T19 with unknown history (It is a 1983-1986 T19 judging by the one bolt hole for the T-case shift lever) although the extension housing has been TIG welded at some point due to a broken ear. I notice it does not have the little pin on the right side like the first T19. I assume that's the detent for reverse, but not 100% sure. I'm mainly just curious if somebody has removed it, or if this is a difference between a 1983-1986 T19 and a 1987 T19. This spare T19 goes straight into reverse unlike the 1987 T19 which requires the shifter go left then right and into reverse. I was intially thinking of just swapping shift rail towers, but since they both have issues, I'm trying to determine which one is the best or whether the best one still needs to be fixed. Finally, my spare T19 came with a shift lever, which is the double bend style that came on the Bullnose trucks. The other lever I have is straight and correct for a 1987. I would like to use this curved one, but somebody has destroyed the splines, and then threaded the end and stripped it too. I would REALLY like to fix this by converting the lever to accept a 3/8-24 shift knob, as that's what my transfer case lever is setup for and I would like for them to match. Any tips on this, such as welding techniques and how to keep it from coming apart at the top? Should I use a special type of bolt at the top (obviously something weldable)? The factory 1980-1982 levers neck down significantly in this area, so if they're not prone to breaking, it's likely not that big of a deal, but I'd still like to do it right. I'm not against sourcing a 1980-1981 lever and grafting them, but shift levers are upwards of $100 these days and that's alot of money to just cut one up. Thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 Shaun - I don't know about the transmissions, but have questions about the shift lever. What thread is currently on it, albeit stripped? It looks bigger than 3/8", but it is really hard to tell. If it is bigger then why not take it down to 3/8" and then thread it? Then, obviously, the question would be how to take it down to 3/8"? I'm sure I'm missing something easy and obvious, but I'm not seeing it. What I'm wondering is about using a slightly larger hole saw, maybe a 1/2", to go down over it. If a 1/2" is designed to leave a 1/2" hole then might it give a 3/8" plug with 1/8" on each side? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
salans7 Posted January 8 Author Share Posted January 8 Shaun - I don't know about the transmissions, but have questions about the shift lever. What thread is currently on it, albeit stripped? It looks bigger than 3/8", but it is really hard to tell. If it is bigger then why not take it down to 3/8" and then thread it? Then, obviously, the question would be how to take it down to 3/8"? I'm sure I'm missing something easy and obvious, but I'm not seeing it. What I'm wondering is about using a slightly larger hole saw, maybe a 1/2", to go down over it. If a 1/2" is designed to leave a 1/2" hole then might it give a 3/8" plug with 1/8" on each side? Unfortunately, the end of the shifter is hollow, so bringing it down to 3/8ths is either not possible, or the threads would end up significantly weak. It seems my only option is to either graft on part of an 80-82 shift lever, or weld a bolt to the end. I do wonder how far down the hollow section goes. That may hinder any hope of welding anything to the end if it goes down more than an inch or two. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 Unfortunately, the end of the shifter is hollow, so bringing it down to 3/8ths is either not possible, or the threads would end up significantly weak. It seems my only option is to either graft on part of an 80-82 shift lever, or weld a bolt to the end. I do wonder how far down the hollow section goes. That may hinder any hope of welding anything to the end if it goes down more than an inch or two. How about threading the hollow end and running a bolt in it with red Loctite on it. Then take the OD down to 3/8" and thread it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 Unfortunately, the end of the shifter is hollow, so bringing it down to 3/8ths is either not possible, or the threads would end up significantly weak. It seems my only option is to either graft on part of an 80-82 shift lever, or weld a bolt to the end. I do wonder how far down the hollow section goes. That may hinder any hope of welding anything to the end if it goes down more than an inch or two. '87 T-19 shifters had a spline and the plastic knob was pressed on. The stump from the shift tower didn't fit all the way up the square section at the bottom. As I recall there is a red plastic bush with a couple of bumps that fit into dimples, retaining it. Maybe the plastic was moulded in place like a GM 7niversal is fixed in the yoke? I got mine apart with a punch and torch so I could have the 'finger' welded back on and used some tenacious rubber sealant to bond it back into the upper stick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
salans7 Posted January 9 Author Share Posted January 9 '87 T-19 shifters had a spline and the plastic knob was pressed on. The stump from the shift tower didn't fit all the way up the square section at the bottom. As I recall there is a red plastic bush with a couple of bumps that fit into dimples, retaining it. Maybe the plastic was moulded in place like a GM 7niversal is fixed in the yoke? I got mine apart with a punch and torch so I could have the 'finger' welded back on and used some tenacious rubber sealant to bond it back into the upper stick. Thanks for the ideas guys. I'll measure out the hollow section and see if it can be tapped to 3/8-24. Didn't really think about tapping the inside for some all-thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted January 9 Share Posted January 9 Thanks for the ideas guys. I'll measure out the hollow section and see if it can be tapped to 3/8-24. Didn't really think about tapping the inside for some all-thread. If you can figure out what the thread, if you can call it that, is on there then we'll have something to go on. As for the inside, just tap it for whatever the bore currently is - but get a good tight tap. And get it as deep as you can so there's not a weak spot. If you don't have a finish tap you may want to buy one or make one out of your tap by grinding the taper off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
salans7 Posted January 10 Author Share Posted January 10 If you can figure out what the thread, if you can call it that, is on there then we'll have something to go on. As for the inside, just tap it for whatever the bore currently is - but get a good tight tap. And get it as deep as you can so there's not a weak spot. If you don't have a finish tap you may want to buy one or make one out of your tap by grinding the taper off. The thread is pretty mangled, so no good way to tell what it was sadly. However, I realized that these shift levers are hollower than I initially thought. There's more than enough room to tap the inside of the lever for some all-thread. I measured the hole using drill bits since I don't have a good way to measure that small of a diameter, but a 19/64 drill bit fits in there without much play. This isn't obviously a good indicator, so in decimal form, it's .296875. That's smaller than 3/8 at .375. So essentially, I would need to drill it to .3320 to tap it for 3/8-24. The closest bit size for that would likely be Q. But I would need to make sure that I have enough wall thickness to support that oversize, and that's where it gets a little dicey. Since the end was threaded, the walls are reduced, and may not be straight nor supportive. However, if I cut the lever back to what's left of the original splines, that will give me a much thicker wall, and won't affect the knob's distance to the driver much if at all. I don't have any letter drill bits, nor do I have a 3/8-24 tap, so I will need to acquire both at some point prior to attempting this. But from what I can see, it's looking like a go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 The thread is pretty mangled, so no good way to tell what it was sadly. However, I realized that these shift levers are hollower than I initially thought. There's more than enough room to tap the inside of the lever for some all-thread. I measured the hole using drill bits since I don't have a good way to measure that small of a diameter, but a 19/64 drill bit fits in there without much play. This isn't obviously a good indicator, so in decimal form, it's .296875. That's smaller than 3/8 at .375. So essentially, I would need to drill it to .3320 to tap it for 3/8-24. The closest bit size for that would likely be Q. But I would need to make sure that I have enough wall thickness to support that oversize, and that's where it gets a little dicey. Since the end was threaded, the walls are reduced, and may not be straight nor supportive. However, if I cut the lever back to what's left of the original splines, that will give me a much thicker wall, and won't affect the knob's distance to the driver much if at all. I don't have any letter drill bits, nor do I have a 3/8-24 tap, so I will need to acquire both at some point prior to attempting this. But from what I can see, it's looking like a go. 3/8-24 is real oddball for allthread. Probably better off finding a coarse/fine stud, in which case 5/16 drill is about a 72% thread (for 3/8-16)💡 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 3/8-24 is real oddball for allthread. Probably better off finding a coarse/fine stud, in which case 5/16 drill is about a 72% thread (for 3/8-16)💡 How about just using a 3/8-24 bolt and cutting the head off? Or, better yet, a 3/8-24 set screw. These from Amazon are pricey, but surely they can be found elsewhere for less in smaller quantities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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