sloppy squarebird shifter

[RobertZpianoman]

see article in classic car magazine #august 95 book. available at 1 800-227-4373 page #78.

or on line at Squarebirds- 1958 1959 1960 Thunderbird Shift Lever Detent Plate. to see step by step BIRD "columb repair" without the hassle of columb removal. get a magnetic screwdriver for the two # 4 machine screws holding your " signal slider" mechanism beneath the prd2d1l plastic indicator disc when doing this easy step by step repair with the battery disconnected of course.

[Gary Tayman]

I don't know if you are affiliated with the person who is offering this; actually I found it a month or two ago. There is also a detent plate for the 61-63 Bullet Birds.

My problem? I have a 64 Flair Bird, and it indeed can and does shift into reverse. If I park my car in the driveway, which has a gentle slope, I must be very careful when starting the car, as it can quickly jump into reverse just as it fires. I have to quickly hold the shifter up, and slide the wheel over, until I'm ready to move.

any chances of offering a plate for the Flair Birds?

[RobertZpianoman]

pull the cotter pin at brake reservour area end of shift linkage and remove the clevis pin going thru the fork that is attached to the shift link threaded shaft......(not the throttle/gas pedal link shaft in close proximity , ...) ... and turn the 1/2 inch holding nut on the threaded shaft facing you while holding that fork.. "to the right" ( so nut right , fork still position,,) to give you a loosened fork end in your hand for adjusting "lenth of shift link " longer to make link longer thereby making the link push the park pawl further into "home " position at the actual transmission below. , you simply turn the fork at the end of the shift linkage rod to the " left " ( facing you ) two revolutions...then tighten up the 1/2 inch nut to" left " to .. secure that adjustment with the fork facing the hole in the shift cam arm on the steering columnb put back in the clevis pin and then the cotter pin...now you have a longer shift rod and so when you go to "low # one gear ..it would be showing at least a (D one) on the plastic window indicator plate on shifter columnb in car...that plate is moveable but you got to pull the steering wheel with a puller (see service manual on that) any way it should do the trick also note . if you ever want a throttle rod to be longer same deal which would make your car shift into low at 35 mph instead of a quick second at acceleration from a bogged down third. manual states this is not a good thing to do as a long pin is put thru throttle kick down cam to line up all this link related shift activating times related to speed of car. my '58 is not same year as yours but the 352 c.i. and trans are simular all the way to 1964 in the galaxies , ( just a shorter water pump was used on the '64 s and a longer radiator top hose) ... fyi. fix your problem before you hurt your family or who knows!! thanks for reading this (hot day)...just trying to get thru the 109 temp. in tenn. All my "advice "works on my car but may not be to spec, in service manual when you get one of those some day,,. example dodge caravan's linkage was not why my van went into low at 65 mph in , las angeles 6 yrs. ago it had an improper setting on a switch which macco trans. shop did right "afterwards". what a surprise that was.

[Gary Tayman]

pull the cotter pin at brake reservour area end of shift linkage

You lost me right there. Are we inside the steering column, underneath the car, or working on the brakes?

[RobertZpianoman]

lift hood on driver side , bend foward , look down at engine ,look towards brake resavour at fire wall ..then below that resavour (where you would put in brake fluid some day), there in that area find the "turn buckle" is the correct term for this "fork " that I keep insisting exist at the end of your (shift rod) that would be the one 3/8 o.d. thick in circumference going down vertically towards gas pedal general area about a( foot and a half long which connects steering columnb "p a w l lever" from that steering columnb to the transmission below car. ) by way of this verticle rod. ....any way if your park pawl is well worn this e mail is not going to remedy the dangerous deal you have going on there. but if by making the rod longer on the threaded end... the existing select shift rod end"turn buckle (fork) located as where I know it will be there then it serves a purpose to say it extends the distance required to get the p a w l inside trans to mate with park catch hardware in trans.the whole thing took me 6 minutes to extend the shift rod 2 turns and walla I dont slip out of park no more.