Mine is doing the same thing. No mishaps yet but I definitely make sure to have one foot on the brake when I fire it up and I'm extremely nervous about idling in Park with or without the Ebrake on. If I had the bucks, I'd toss the whole damn thing and get an Ididit column, but alas, I don't. I, too am anxiously waiting thoughts for the experts.....

Randy

 

If you look at the picture you can see that there's a slight line dividing the low side (inner) & the high (outer) side on that tab. The problem is the high side is worn down almost flush with the low side. That high side tab is what fits into the oval slot shown at the right (top when installed) of the detent. Since it's worn nearly flush with the low side , shimming the detent won't do any good. the low side of the tab needs to fit into the shorter cut out arch shown along the bottom of the detent in the pic.

I did slightly grind the low side with a dremel to create a slight step again. I'm afraid to go too far & make a worse mess to deal with. Hopefully this will solve the problem. Otherwise, I think a new shift lever would be required.

I haven't checked yet, but I wouldn't be surprised if they aren't being reproduced and that most all used auto shift levers will have at least some similar wear. Hopefully ND will be able to let us know if any are available, or what other vehicles share the same part number.

I did remove the detent & clean all the dried grease off, and it had no visible signs of wear & looks exactly like the NOS part that 'tbm3fan' posted a pic of in another related thread.

 

Here's a pic of the cleaned up detent. You can see some slight wear between the oval slot & the large cut-out.



Here's a pic of the tiny bit of grinding I did to try to give a slight shoulder to the tab. It probably isn't enough to do any good, but like I said, I'm afraid to make matters worse.



The shift lever does seem to be made of steel. That leaves the possibility that welding could add metal that could be shaped to fix the problem. Alas, I have no welding skills at all.

 

I can tell you right now after doing a parts search the C5TZ-7210-A Lever wasn't found at any place as NOS. Numberdummy may have access to a few more places than I do.

 

GOOD NEWS!!!!

I reassembled my upper column & took the truck out for a test drive, and that tiny bit of grinding I did made a dramatic difference in the way the shifter lever holds it's position!

Of course as a result of my working on it, the shifter had slipped into "Reverse" as usual, and initially there was a bit of resistance shifting it into "Park" (probably due to the sharp edge left by the grinder), but after a short test drive and parking a few times, it does seem to be fixed. I'll keep an eye on it and post back here after more daily driving, but for now I'm extremely happy with the results.

I'll still be wary of trusting it, as I've been well trained not to over the years I've owned it.

For those of you who might be willing to try this yourselves, the toughest part of the job really was getting the 2 bolts under the shift collar on the outer column to stay in place while sliding the top collar that holds the turn signal switch into place. I used some stip caulk (asphalt type stuff) to hold the bolts roughly in place while sliding it on. Then I poked a scratch awl through the bolt holes to line the bolts up. It's a bit tricky to do while pushing down hard against the spring loaded column with the other hand. But if I can do it, anyone with basic hand tools can. The only special tool needed was a steering wheel puller.

I can't believe I figured this out, and may have even solved the problem. I was way out of my depth on this one. I only hope these won't become "famous last words" on this problem.

 

I'm getting ready to tackle the same issue on my '66. Hope the repair works. Seems like someone should reproduce this piece.

 

The insert plate can be reproduced pretty easy if you have one in good shape. Find a local water cutter and have them make up a few. They can us it as a pattern and lay out as many as you want on a sheet of steel. As for the other, handle, you'll need to find one at a scrap yard. The only thing holding the handle on is the pin. Later model handles will work. Can't remember which yr I got mine from but its all chrome. I'm assuming maybe a 70' model.

 

After looking at some of my parts trucks it appears the gates and shift levers are the same through 79. Like most posters, my gate seems fine, it's my shift lever that's worn. I have a couple out of late 70's trucks and they are the same with the exception of them being chrome instead of black like my original one.

 

jhooch, thus the reason I replaced mine. Chrome doesn't look bad, course I'm not putting it in a show as 100% stock.
Fritz

 

Update: I've been running errands for the last 2 days, with lots of stops. The shifter hasn't popped out of park even once yet.

It occured to me, for those of you who may way want to do this repair, that the shifter lever might be able pulled by driving the pin out and with out removing the top collar. There is a spring in the housing that keeps it engaged with the shift detent. I'm not sure if that would interfere with reinstalling the lever or not, but it might be worth a try to avoid pulling the whole top of the column apart. Just a thought.