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Gear shift spring clip has gotter the better of me, looking for pointers


peterschop

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As you know, the gear shift lever is made of two pieces with a couple of rubber bushings, washer, C-clip and a spring clip. Mine had not been assembled correctly so I took it apart to reassemble in the correct order. My problem is when I tried to put the spring clip on the bottom to lock everything together, I could not get it to go in. I spent the better part of an hour trying to put the clip on. I tried to put one edge in place and work it around with my fingers with no luck. I tried to hold it with pliers but could not hold onto it. All I ended up with was frustration and sore finger tips. I had to walk away. Does anyone have any tips to make this a little easier?

 

I shamelessly borrowed this picture. You can see the clip I am talking about. It goes under the rubber bush, inside the lever.

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I use a fairly large, flat bladed screwdriver. Get one end of the clip into the groove of the shifter, then shove the off side under the shifter handle using the edge of the screwdriver. Try it on the bench ( if you can ) to get the hang of the method.

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Good luck, and be patient... You'll get it.

Ed

'69 Granada... long, long ago  

'71 Manila..such a great car

'67 Granada 2000CS...way cool

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Much MUCH harder to do, with the shifter in the car. I'd actually remove it from the car and do it on a bench. I've fought this fight....and will no longer attempt it in the car.  Agree with zinz above. If your shift lever doesn't have a small notch cut in the edge of it (see your original photo) you might want to make one with a small file / dremel, etc. Makes starting the clip and compressing it w screwdriver a little easier, from my experience.

Paul Wegweiser

Wegweiser Classic BMW Services

Nationwide vehicle transport available

NEW WEBSITE! www.zenwrench.com

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Success! After another hour and a half, it finally popped in. I thought about taking the lever out of the car but I was to lazy to get out the jack and stands, crawl under and pull the linkage clip and so on and so forth. I did use my modified screw driver. I also put the clip in the vise and give it a twist. By doing that, I could start one end up in the seat while the other end was out. Another problem was to keep the bush above the seat. I was able to apply downward pressure by placing a board on top of the gear shift and pushing down with my shoulder.

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Glad you got this, I fought with it the other night, out of the car.

 

Sorry to hijack this, but how do you get the chrome outer piece (the one with the slot) separated from the rest?  Even out of the car, I pulled, I used a pick to lift the rubber piece, I swore, etc but no luck.  I didn't want to get too cave man on it and break something.

 

Any one with the proper way/hints?

 

Thanks

 

Allan

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