Lancia meet 2024

[Ron Avery]

I just returned home from the Lancia Club event on the West Coast in Sonoma, California. The car ran great all the way up and during the event except for the last day, the shifter refused to engage reverse or fifth. The consensus is the bushings that I had replaced last year are not the problem, but the plastic white bowl that fits inside the car under the shift lever that has probably disintegrated. Had to flatbed the car home which was grossly expensive. I have since upped my AAA mileage for towing to the maximum of 300 miles once the parts are delivered. I will attempt the repair.

 

[Rupunzell]

Nice video..

The plastic ball in the shifter is known to dissolve rendering shifting into some gears not possible at all. At one point, Monte Hospital and others offered a much higher quality non-plastic replacement.

Did Neil Pering attend this event?


Bernice

 

[Ron Avery]

Oh ok, thanks

 

[johnph]

Yes, I had breakfast Sunday with Neil and Elsa.

 

[davidb]

Two things. In addition to new linkage rod bushings a new P.U. vertical
rod bushing (goes in the top of the rear x-member) helps. I just
installed a new shift rod, support cup & rubber bush. Eurosport parts.
Shifting went from loosely goosey to ULTRA TIGHT. Too tight IMO.
Dunno how many miles it’ll take to loosen things up. At my age (I’m
weak) it’s a REAL bitch to shift! I’m very unhappy w/the repair result.

 

[Dean Scharer]

If you are going to fuss with the shift mechanism you should go ahead and make the modifications to go to HEIM joints. It’s pretty inexpensive to do and prevents a lot of future headaches.

 

[Ron Avery]

Two things. In addition to new linkage rod bushings a new P.U. vertical
rod bushing (goes in the top of the rear x-member) helps. I just
installed a new shift rod, support cup & rubber bush. Eurosport parts.
Shifting went from loosely goosey to ULTRA TIGHT. Too tight IMO.
Dunno how many miles it’ll take to loosen things up. At my age (I’m
weak) it’s a REAL bitch to shift! I’m very unhappy w/the repair result.

Thanks,
That is who I ordered my parts from. Interesting, the cup part on there site is white.

 

[Ron Avery]

Two things. In addition to new linkage rod bushings a new P.U. vertical
rod bushing (goes in the top of the rear x-member) helps. I just
installed a new shift rod, support cup & rubber bush. Eurosport parts.
Shifting went from loosely goosey to ULTRA TIGHT. Too tight IMO.
Dunno how many miles it’ll take to loosen things up. At my age (I’m
weak) it’s a REAL bitch to shift! I’m very unhappy w/the repair result.

Also how long does the install of the shift lever and plastic cup take to complete? I know the center consul needs to be removed to gain access.

 

[Ics19]

the cup part on there site is white

I think the orange part above is the vertical bush?

Shifting went from loosely goosey to ULTRA TIGHT.

The white cup looks a similar design to the X1/9 part and red "rubber" grease works ok for that and the ball assembly - did you use any grease as I guess there could be some friction otherwise?

 

[lanciahf]

Hi Ron
The orange one fits in the cross member for the vertical shift rod.

I bought my shifter parts from Darren Cooksey

 

[davidb]

Getting the rod back thru the bottom of the new shifter’s hole is awkward.
Getting the three bolts caught thru the top ball retainer plate is one of
those “three hand” jobs. It’s under spring tension so pushing the
shifter down, while catching the bolt threads is tuff. Yes I lubed
everything. White lithium or silicone grease - I forget. As I said I’m
disappointed w/the stiffness - movement. I’m not Hercules. Bummer.

 

[Ron Avery]

Thanks, for the info.

 

[lanciahf]

David maybe the shifter is assembled wrong? I didn’t have any problems refitting the shifter back in the console.

 

[davidb]

Lancia hf: I’ll double check my install. Something is DEFINITELY not right.
It should NOT be the way it is = so tight as to be “un-shiftable”. I thought
there HAS to be some dimension issue w/the EUROSPORT parts - - - “I
shoulda bought Monte Hospital parts”, blah, blah. I think it’s me - NOT
the EUROSPORT parts. I’ll recheck my install. This is V. frustrating. Thx.

 

[Rupunzell]

Scroll down on this MonteCarlo web page, there is an drawing of the shifter assembly from lever to transaxle.

About the cars – The Lancia Montecarlo Consortium

lanciamontecarlo.club

Change over to rod ends (heim/rose joins) is a good thing, do know not all spherical rod ends are created equal, some are excellent others are junk. Properly done, this once and for all fixes the shift linkage problem. There is more to converting the control rods to spherical rod ends, there are bushings at the top and bottom of the force transfer rod. these are often neglected and are made of flexi material that die. No matter what the condition or how good the control rods are if these bushings are not properly addressed, shifting will persist and not so good at all.

Removal/install of the shifter assembly should not be difficult, if it is, there is a problem in the rod or else where.


Bernice

 

[RobM]

If you are going to fuss with the shift mechanism you should go ahead and make the modifications to go to HEIM joints. It’s pretty inexpensive to do and prevents a lot of future headaches.

As long as I've owned my car (12 yrs?), I've thought Heim joints are the way to go. I'm surprised none of the vendors offers a Heim joint upgrade kit. I am somewhat overwhelmed by the idea of figuring out the needed parts myself.

 

[Dean Scharer]

If there was enough interest I would consider selling sets.

 

[mikeroten]

question would be: what's the cost and complexity of install?

 

[Ron Avery]

Scroll down on this MonteCarlo web page, there is an drawing of the shifter assembly from lever to transaxle.

About the cars – The Lancia Montecarlo Consortium

lanciamontecarlo.club

Change over to rod ends (heim/rose joins) is a good thing, do know not all spherical rod ends are created equal, some are excellent others are junk. Properly done, this once and for all fixes the shift linkage problem. There is more to converting the control rods to spherical rod ends, there are bushings at the top and bottom of the force transfer rod. these are often neglected and are made of flexi material that die. No matter what the condition or how good the control rods are if these bushings are not properly addressed, shifting will persist and not so good at all.

Removal/install of the shifter assembly should not be difficult, if it is, there is a problem in the rod or else where.


Bernice

Cool link, love all the info and photos. A 164 S v6 transplant would be my dream!

 

[Dean Scharer]

question would be: what's the cost and complexity of install?

The install is straightforward if you have a lift or decent access in the area near the fuel tank. Much easier than trying to replace the bushings! As for cost, probably in the vicinity of $150 or so. I have to aquire the heim joints themselves and round tube stock. The stock is cut to a length corresponding to the existing linkage and then I tap threads to enable adjustments. Not complicated, but it does take time and resources. Having done my share of bushing replacements though , I can’t stress how much easier and reliable these are!