BillyBob Work-in-Progress Log

TRUCK LINKS including vendor sites for old parts, custom parts, and tools as well as sites for classic car and truck organizations

STORE Operating in association with Amazon.com, books, recordings and tools can be purchased.

PLANNING for the restoration including project schedule and cost estimates.

WORK-IN-PROGRESS is the restoration of parts of BillyBob that I can accomplish without a garage.

PRE-RESTORATION includes log entries of minor repairs and and adventures between time of purchase and the time when I started restoration, a piece at a time.

JR'S KORNER JR's Korner is the history of BillyBob before I got him authored by my brother, Wm. C. Kephart.

9. Shifty Behavior Revisited

March 19^th 2001  Returning BillyBob to his barn after the successful turn signal installation, the shift linkage began tightening up! By the time I backed him into his bay, moving the shift lever was like torquing a lug nut! Since I had removed the "inside the cab" portion of the shift linkage on Saturday to paint the steering column, the first thing that flashed thru my mind was clearance problems with the dashboard and/or turn signal director clamp . . . Naw! It couldn't be that. Under the hood, the shift box was hot to the touch and the shift rods running down to the bellcrank, then on to the transmission were even hotter! I couldn't get under BillyBob in my office clothes, but I'd be willin' to wager that the transmission was hot too. The frontmost shifting fork appeared to be protruding about an inch more than it should . . . AARRRUGH! Good news is that BillyBob made it to the warehouse. It might also be good news that there were no bad noises coming from the transmission. One thing seems clear - BillyBob is out of action for awhile.

March 20^th 2001  Came up to the warehouse at lunch time with the creeper and the camera to try and get a better handle on the transmission problems. Comparing this picture with one from May 13th of last year shows the fork shafts in the same position, I think, so that's not the problem that I thought it was yesterday. I tried to shift BillyBob now that he was cold, and the linkage is still as tight as it was yesterday when I turned him off . . . not a good sign.

March 21^st 2001  Went up to the warehouse at lunch time again to troubleshoot the transmission problem. Disconnected the shift rods from the levers on the side of the transmission first. I can move the levers and the transmission seems OK . . . That's GOOD! I still can't move the shift lever at the steering wheel . . . That's BAD! Disconnected the upper shift rods and swivels from the shift levers of the shift box next. I can move the rods freely so the problem is not at the bellcrank assembly on the side of the bellhousing . . . That's GOOD! Can't move the lever in the cab . . . Thats BAD! Finally, I disconnected and removed the shift box. The shift box levers move freely . . . That might be GOOD! Still can't move the shift lever at the steering wheel . . . That's still BAD! Also, none of the above explains why the shift rods and shift box were hot to the touch. Have to bring the steering wheel puller up from the Krash Lab before I can continue.

March 24^th 2001  Pulled the steering wheel and removed the jammed shift lever assembly. Took the assembly and the shift box back to the Krash Lab. As long as I have this linkage apart again, I'm going to refinish the parts that are starting to look a little shoddy. Tried to take apart the shift lever assembly and failed. The pivot saddle which is threaded to fit in the support knuckle is frozen tight in the knuckle and it shouldn't be. I can't for the life of me figure out how this happened. I broke a cheap phillips head screwdriver that I had placed thru the support knuckle screw holes for leverage before I gave up. I guess a vise and some MAPP torch heat are next.

March 25^th 2001  Stopped at the warehouse on the way in to pickup the Vise and MAPP torch. The vise was enough. It gave me the leverage I needed to separate the pivot saddle from the support knuckle. The threads are spalled about half way down. I am at a complete loss as to how this could happen. When I work on computers, one of the first diagnostic questions is "What changes were made to the system just before it went south?" It's a probing question for cause and effect. Sometimes its merely coincidential that something fails just after you make a change. Then, you're really screwed up 'cause you spend a lot time chasin' your tail.

The only change I've made recently anywhere near the shift linkage was putting a rubber insulating pad inside the new turn signal director clamp. I thought I had enough clearance with the shift lever, but it was tight enough to scrape some paint off the shift lever. Was this slight pressure sufficient to cause damage to the threads? I don't know, but I'll be replacing the rubber insullation under the clamp with rubber tape when I put things back together.

April 5^th 2001  Been workin' on "Plan B" for "Backup". Not knowing how long it would take to locate the "pivot saddle" part, I started looking for alternative methods to get BillyBob back on the road. While searching the eBay Motors website for three-on-the-tree gearshift linkage parts, I found a "Dutch Auction" for fifteen new-in-the-box Mr. Gasket "Daytona" three-speed aftermarket floor shifters. I bid on one and ended up getting it for $8 plus $8 shipping. It arrived today at the Krash Lab. A "Mini Nibbler" (#28012) from Eastwood to cut the floor sheet metal also arrived (at bottom in picture).

April 11^th 2001  I've contacted a couple of other ole truckers who are parting out stovebolts for the "pivot saddle" part. Jay Baker (ChevyLikeaRock), a fellow "Old-Chevy-Truck" maillist member, was in the process of getting some trucks that had the part, but they weren't in his posession to part out yet. "Mother Trucker" of Stovebolt.com Forums fame and Tucson Arizona, had the part. We agreed on a price and the parts arrived today at the Krash Lab (gearshift shaft, support knuckle and pivot saddle). A little cleanup and paint and BillyBob will be back on the road again. I was glad to find a replacement part so quickly, thanx to M.T. Modifying BillyBob for the floor shifter would have been a temporary solution, but would have required some modification to the transmission shift forks - Either the center section of the cab floor or the tranny side cover would have had to come out to accurately file a notch in one or both of the shift forks. The Mr. Gasket floor shifter can now go into inventory in case I need it in the future.

April 15^th 2001  Easter Sunday and Tax day - Christ and Antichrist. Yesterday while finishing up the oil cannister refinishing work, I submerged the support knuckle and pivot saddle from M.T. in a bucket of carb cleaner for an overnight soak to remove grease and paint. Today, I fished those parts out, washed them and threw them and some other gear linkage parts and bolts in Eastwood's "Vibratory Tumbler System" (catalog #43204) with a little water and the green cutting media for a little more cleaning. In the meantime, I used Eastwood's Tin-Zinc Electroplating System (#10049Z) to plate four replacement cotter pins for when I put all this stuff back together next week. All "inside the cab" gearshift parts and the shaft on the shift box were sanded, cleaned, preped and painted with Rustoleum "Grass Green" enamel. In the afternoon, I switched to red dry polishing media in the tumbler and added the plated parts to the others already in the tumbler.

April 21^st 2001  Goin' slow today . . . picked up a flu bug on Wednesday and just went over the hump with it yesterday. Feel good enuf to work on BillyBob tho'. Started out putting the gearshift back together with the new "pivot saddle". I notice slight differences between BillyBob's pivot saddle and support knuckle and the one's sent me by M.T. The parts I got from M.T., I think, are from an older truck. They are "beefier", but the basic geometry appears to be the same. The "buttons" that fit in the holes of the pivot saddle and engage the ends of the "wishbone" spring were too tight a fit for the new pivot saddle. Also, the wishbone spring ends were too short to engage the buttons properly. These were parts I'd gotten from LMC and they worked fine with BillyBob's old pivot saddle. I went up to the warehouse and dug up the buttons and spring I had gotten earlier from Jim Carter's and disgarded. These parts worked much better with the new pivot saddle and I got a good, positive assembly that wasn't too loose this time. Put a small amount of mult-purpose grease on the threads inside the support knuckle before screwing it onto the pivot saddle this time. This pic shows the re-assembled gearshift as well as the old pivot saddle with the LMC spring and buttons.

Had more problems up at the warehouse (what else is new?). Connected the shift rods to the tranny without incident and installed the shift box and re-attached the shift rod swivels to it, then attempted to install the re-assembled gearshift lever assembly and that's where "the wheels fell off". The shaft from the shift box was about ninety degrees out of alignment! I had accidently knocked the shift box off a shelf for a two foot drop last week when I was bumpin' around in the close confines of the storage shed and now my sins were coming back to haunt me. I removed the shift box again and removed the top. An oblong shaped lever that is supposed to ride between two c-shaped forks had slipped out of position. I spread the forks and put it back into alignment. Now, everything was hunky-dory again. Everything else went back together without much further trouble. I was ready to fire BillyBob up for the first time in five weeks. Connected the battery, set the parking brake, pumped the gas, pushed in the clutch (just in case the tranny wasn't in neutral), and hit the starter button . . . ~!@#$%^ Darn starter still isn't engaging correctly everytime. Messed around with the starter for a sec and tried again. A little crankin' and a few more stomps on the gas and BillyBob sputtered to life. Good thing I had the hood up 'cause oil was gushing out around the top of the oil cannister I re-installed last week. I tightened down the top until it stopped leaking.

When I got BillyBob down to the Krash Lab, I pulled the steering wheel, turn signal director and gearshift assembly again. I was not happy with the fit of the support knuckle. It was a newly manufactured replacement item I had bought from Jim Carter sometime back. It's made in China and the fit is horrible. The steering wheel mating surface was too small in diameter and the support screw holes were not countersunk enuf . . . As a result, the screws wouldn't go in properly and were holding by only a couple of threads. Also, the gearshift shaft was rubbing against the bottom of the dashboard from riding too high. I took the Chinese support knuckle off and tried the support knuckle I had gotten from M.T. Good old original equipment - it fit perfectly. I'll paint it another day. With a little bit of machining, the Chinese support knuckle will be servicable, but I'd really like to bounce it off the Chinese Premier's forehead.

Well, that's that. I'm still not sure what caused the thread destruction in the old pivot saddle and support knuckle, but judging from the gouges in the shift lever from contact with the turn signal director clamp, that's what I'm goin' with for now. I removed the rubber strip from under the clamp and made darn shure there was clearance this time. If BillyBob is ever converted to floor shift, I'll put the rubber back under the clamp. Still don't know why the shift box runs hot, 'cept maybe its proximity to the exhaust manifold. It's great to have BillyBob back on the road. I can sympathize with those stovebolters up North who put their trucks in storage for the winter and can't wait for Spring. Now I can get back to working on the parking brake project.

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Issued Saturday April 21, 2001

Updated Friday May 12, 2017

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