Noisy vibrating shifter

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dartman59

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Last summer I converted my three on the tree to four on the floor. Got everything new from Brewers; everything fit perfectly and works great. Using a B body pistol grip shifter with std rubber boot/bellows. The only thing is, I get a really annoying rattle/noisy vibration when accelerating. It sounds like shaking marbles in a coffee can, and it really bugs me. If I hold the shifter and push it forward or back just a little, it takes up any slack and the noises are tolerable. I've got all the right bushings in on the shifter arms (steel ones, not nylon). Any tips?? I've never lubricated any of it (except of course that the shifter mechanism [Hurst] came pre-lubed--but then it's not the Mechanism that's rattling...).
 
Is the shifter housing rubbing the body anywhere?
 
I don't think so, although I think the stop screws may be close to touching the sheet metal hump. If they were touching the hump do you think that would make a difference?? Seems like it would ...
 
I had a Competition Plus in a Chevelle do that once. The harder I accelerated, the worse it got. I could put my hand on it and make it stop. It ended up being the linkage rods needing new bushings and spring clip retainers. Once I replaced those, it shut it right up.
 
What you are describing, RRR, is exactly my experience. But there's nothing to replace because everything's new! Maybe I should substitute the nylon bushings for the steel ones ...
 
What you are describing, RRR, is exactly my experience. But there's nothing to replace because everything's new! Maybe I should substitute the nylon bushings for the steel ones ...

I don't know if that will fix it or not, but FWIW, I never use the nylon bushings. They cannot take a lot of hard shifting.
 
When my'68 Chevelle driveshaft went under the rear axle and bounced down the Pennsylvania turnpike it got a teeny bend. Gear shifter rattled till it drove me nuts.
 
If it is the linkage rods I have seen two kinds of retaining clips used.
A hair pin shaped clip on many factory Mopar shifters & a circular style clip.
The hair pin style will rattle and the circular Hurst clips hold the rods with spring tension
to prevent the rattle.
If it is the shifter box itself it can be tightened up by removing the main sleeve pivot
and shortening a small amount. This allows the box to be pinched tighter while mounting and will take up slop that will cause the rattle. Be careful doing this. If overdone it will be to tight to shift.
 
When my'68 Chevelle driveshaft went under the rear axle and bounced down the Pennsylvania turnpike it got a teeny bend. Gear shifter rattled till it drove me nuts.

A drive line vibration is a real possibility too. Certainly be worth investigating.
 
Well, I do have a nasty driveline vibration that I have yet to figure out, so maybe that's the real problem. Thanks for that suggestion RRR--funny how I never put the two together in my mind. I've spent quite a bit of time getting my pinion angle corrected, but that didn't quiet things down. Went from a poly trans mount to a rubber one--that helped address the symptom but not the cause. I'm wondering if my driveshaft is too short (slip yoke too far out) or bad front u-joint (already replaced the rear). The Victory driveshaft and all components are new ... Driveshaft balanced... I'll be glad when I get to the bottom of that issue because it drives me nuts.
 
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