I hear a drum roll in the background............

 

I hope that's all you hear. My luck you will hear an explosion soon.

Guess I'll tackle this in the next couple of weeks. Going to order the collar.

Anyone done this? I assume I'll have to remove the blinker assembly then fish the wires out of the column, and then somehow get them back in after installing the new collar. Any helpful suggestions would be welcome!

 

tie a string to the plug before you pull it out. Once you pull it out untie the string leaving it in the column. when you are ready to put it back in, just tie the string to the wire and slowly pull it back through.

 

Yep. A Strong string or something like that. How is your old switch? Does it not "cancel". Feel loose as a goose? Now would be the time to change it also. If you do then cut it's wires off at the switch. Temporarily connect some or all of them to the new switch's wires. Then use the old switch's wires to pull through the new switch's wires.

 

OP has failed throughout this thread to mention what year his truck is.

It doesn't matter with the shift collar, NSS or NSS selector lever, but it does matter with T/S switch, as there are two different types.

Serial number is the last 6 digits of the VIN

C9TZ-13341-C .. T/S Switch = 1967/68 F100/350, 1969 F100/350 before serial number G30,001 / Obsolete

GREEN SALES CO. in Cincinnati OH has 6 = 800-543-4959.

CARPENTER NOS OBSOLETE PARTS in Concord NC has 30 = 800-476-9653.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D0TZ-13341-B .. T/S Switch ~ 1969 F100/350 from serial number G30,001, 1970/72 F100/350 / Obsolete

GREEN SALES has 3.

CARPENTER NOS OBSOLETE has 791.

 

Thanks Bill for posting this. My Wholesale Parts Phone has been super busy. Have not had much time for the Forum today. As a matter of fact OP has a 1969 and I've not had the time to look the serial number change up again. You'd think by now I'd have it memorized also.

 

I knew the OP had a '69, because when I read post #1, looked at his "About Me" profile to see what year the truck was.

But it's not up to us the list the pertinent info, it's up to the OP.

The more the phone rings, the higher $ the commission check is!

 

Hey. Sorry... My truck is a 1969 F100 with a 429. It had obviously been sitting a while and was in pretty rough shape when I got it. Especially the engine. I did some work on the interior, cleaned, got all lights and gauges working and put in a new steering wheel. I've had it in a couple of shops since July 2013. Last guy put in headers, water pump, Cloyes timing chain, fixed up the radiator (it was being held in with rope!), and just fixed a bunch of little things. When I got it out of the shop a couple of weeks ago I was able to drive and enjoy it for a couple of days then the transmission went...

I don't need to repair any switches in the steering column. The only reason I mentioned the Neutral safety was because when what ever broke in the collar caused the switch to stop making contact with the arm. Neither is broken. Hopefully when I replace the collar it will push it back in place.

Here are a couple of pics of my problem child.

 

Well I had fun today. Bought a new collar yesterday (luckily there is a guy in Conyers Ga that stocks and sells vintage Ford stuff.) Got up early to give it a go. Kept the above hint in mind, and had watched some videos about old ford steering columns on Youtube. Best hint was about the T-bolts, if I had not seen that, I would still be out there trying to figure out how to get everything back together.

So, thought I was ready. When I got to the collar and saw it was only cracked, I could not figure out why it would not turn the shift tube... Well, looked closer, shift tube was bad too. The metal tab that the collar slips over had broken off from the weld. So, luckily, back to Conyers and they had a shift tube in stock. Replaced the shift tube, collar, shift indicator and a bearing. By far the biggest problem I had was putting the pin in that holds the shift lever to the collar. I don't know if I was not holding my mouth right or what, but wow what a pain! I ended up trashing one pin, and then got my Dremel and lightly hit the leading edge of my last pin to make it smooth. It went right in. Don't know what the deal with that was, but I got so mad I almost trashed my new collar.

All is well, except I had to remove the neutral safety switch lever from the old shift tube, and put it back in the new tube. Kind of a pain too. I guess it got a little bent or loose, because now I really have to push my shift lever hard left to get it to start. I'll probably put a small piece of tubing over it to make it bigger, and that should fix that.

All in all, not too bad of a job. If the pin issue had not come up, I'd be happier.

Not too impressed with the materials Ford used, or the replacement parts. Pot metal, and a cheap spot weld on a heavy use component. Come on, spend a few extra bucks and make this stuff a little more stout. I can see doing this again some day...

Thanks guys for your input and suggestions!

 

3/11/2014: I gave you the shift collar info.

 

I saw your post, but did not read it to say these are improved parts. Have they improved them? The originals that I took out of the truck were not very well made. Everything I've read says this is a weak area, and the replacement stuff is pretty much like the original. I bought my stuff from a place that only sells ford parts (if available) for restoration. Not sure if I can, or should mention the name, but they are in Conyers GA and the name is "_______ Classic Ford Parts. If the ones you referenced are higher quality I might bite the bullet and re-do, and have some cheap spares...

 

Just looked at my receipt. Same part number you referenced. D5TZ7228A.

Thanks again for your help!

 

I don't think you have to worry about upgraded parts. How old are they and how many shifts did your originals perform?

 

Hey. I know you are right . I wasn't trying to stir the pudding or anything. It was just an observation that I would feel better about taking the time to do this job if I had stouter parts to put back in.