After a long search, I've finally found the elusive F 150, T170 three speed OD trans for my flathead powered 32. The funky stock shift lever has to go, and replaced with Early Ford style swan neck. Who has done this, and how did you splice it together? I don't want screw it up, or have it break down the road. Did you use an overlapped welded splice, a sleeved butt welded splice, or a threaded splice? Or something else, entirely? Pics would be a plus. Thanks!
Sleeved.....with holes cut to fill in weld....Tig it...to keep it clean looking Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
Agreed. Sleeve is a good idea. Be sure to slightly bevel at the parent metal joint, leave a root space and weld the parts together before sliding on the sleeve.
Do you trust your welds? If so a butt weld should be fine. Just bevel both ends and weld it, a sleeve shouldn't be needed.
If the shaft is thick enough you could drill down the middle of each piece, put a solid rod in and slide the top half down over the rod and then butt-weld as mentioned above.. Then dress the weld and paint or chrome....
Years ago, my friend bought an old Ford pickup with a 4 speed transmission that the previous kid owner cut the shift lever short for a more "sporty" look. Not enough leverage to shift good. To fix it, we got a really long bolt, cut off the head and just clamped it to the old shift lever with two hose clamps. Still worked well years later when the truck was sold. Remembering this, when I spliced my shifter, I staggered my cut when I welded it together.
This ^^^. I lowered my Harley so I had to shorten the jiffy stand. Cut it in two, removed an inch, tapered both halves, butted them together in the vice and welded the bejeevies out of it. Ground it down smooth and chromed it.
Heck I've even cut and welded brake pedal arms and haven't had any fail with years of hard use. I can't imagine a decently welded shifter not holding up without being sleeved.
Cut, bevel, crank up your heat and butt weld it. I butt welded broken hammer drill bits and the bits broke again, but never at my weld.
Grind a taper on both ends , leave a small space between the ends . Fill the gap up with weld . Weld it up sand ( better end finish than a grinder ) it down and never look back . This the way pipe welds are completed that pass 100 % X-ray tests .
I've done old Hurst shifters, cut, butt weld and plate it on both sides with 1/8" x 1" stock. The boot hid the spliced part.
If you were to replace shifter rod what size and diameter rod is best? Reason is I have to have bends in shifter to keep from hitting my leg and cutting off and replacing with rod is the way I'm going.
Both of these were butt welded to a T5 stub, with a ground bevel of course. There's two things in life where penetration is important, welding is one of them.
A good weld should not be concerning. I live near the Space and Rocket Center here and saw some fantastic welds that they use on rockets and space associated equipment. If a weld is good enough for NASA then its fine with me..
I originally said sleeve due to a lot of folks are not skilled in welding....me personally? ....yes, butt weld via TIg Sent from my Venue 8 3830 using Tapatalk
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