Ah crap! Busted my Inland mechanism - thanks Bryan!

[bull]

I got a little rowdy shifting the Inland from 1-2 yesterday and snapped a stop tab off one of the mechanism levers. It's cast steel too so probably not worth trying to weld. They should have made them out stamped steel. So now I have to make a new lever, spend $200 on a used Inland mechanism or cough up $300-$500 for one of those Hurst to Inland mechanisms (which I don't want to do).

[birdsandbees]

Just don't make shit like they use too!!

[bull]

Just don't make shit like they use too!!

But this was made in 67. It lasted 48+ years.

[A383Wing]

I have some used mechanisms here....let me dig them out and see if I can get you the piece you need....I'm scheduled for surgery tomorrow, so it probably wont be until the end of the week until I can get out to the garage to look.

Bryan

[John_Kunkel]

or cough up $300-$500 for one of those Hurst to Inland mechanisms (which I don't want to do).

What's your fabrication skill level? I've looked at the Inland/Hurst conversion shifters and it looks like it'd be easy to replicate.

[A383Wing]

I found my bucket of Inland units...got about 5 plus some extra parts....need to know exactly what you are looking for

Bryan

[bull]

or cough up $300-$500 for one of those Hurst to Inland mechanisms (which I don't want to do).

What's your fabrication skill level? I've looked at the Inland/Hurst conversion shifters and it looks like it'd be easy to replicate.

I had a former welding instructor of mine weld it up for me but it turned out a little funky. He said the material was pretty difficult to work with, even after preheating it he said it kept wanting to blow out. He got it welded but had to fill pits and gaps with silver solder. Not sure if I trust it. The stuff seems like pot metal where it broke which is baffling to me. The spot where it broke looked very porous.

I found my bucket of Inland units...got about 5 plus some extra parts....need to know exactly what you are looking for

Bryan

I'm working on a PM as we speak... It's the middle lever in this stack of three.

[bull]

I'm also courting the idea of making three new levers out of stainless. A guy I know who has helped me fabricate various parts for the Charger suggested making new ones out of heat treated, laser-cut flat bar but then I suggested stainless so I wouldn't have to (or want to) plate it. We shall see. At any rate I will post my results here later.

[A383Wing]

I'll go through my bucket-o-parts here and see what I got for ya....will do it tomorrow, providing we don't get washed away up here

[bull]

No kidding. Put it in your pocket and if/when we get washed away we can try meeting out in the Pacific while clinging to floating debris.

[cavemanno1]

Bull!

Can i ask you why you dislike Hurst shifter?Is it just to stay original?

I have an inland you know but I'd love to have a '70 pistol grip with console.If money wasn't tight i would.

[bull]

I don't dislike the Hurst, although my only real experience with one was in a 74 Hornet 3-speed I had for a while.

Yes, originality is one reason I keep it, another is that I believe the Inland has gotten a bad rap: http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,103314.0.html

It was worth it to me to look into the problems they had and look at ways of fixing those flaws. I am a proud Inland advocate.

[A383Wing]

  me too

[bull]

I'd like to give a big thanks to Bryan Ashcraft, aka A383Wing, for giving me three original Inland shifter levers so I could get back on the road. Well, once spring shows up or maybe a nice day here and there.

As mentioned before I had a retired coworker of mine try welding the piece up for me but the metal was junk, probably from the factory. I also had a machinist friend of mine look into copying the levers, possibly in stainless but he said it wouldn't work for this application. He was also the one who told me it had probably been incorrectly heat-treated when he looked at the edges of the metal where it had been bent. Several small cracks were there and at the break it looked as if the metal had crystalized and become brittle, it looked a lot like pot metal inside (see first pic)

Anyway, Bryan was nice enough to send me all three levers and I de-rusted them and had them plated in black zinc before putting it all back together and installing. I probably should have media blasted them so the zinc would sink in a little better but they look nice and I didn't see any cracks in the bends like mine had. I'm hoping this setup stays in one piece for a long time.

[A383Wing]

yer welcome buddy...take me for a ride in the car sometime

[bull]

Yeah, no problem.

[cavemanno1]

Curtis,can i ask why the stainless steel wouldn't work for your application?
I have an inland shifter as well,that's why I'm asking,so if this problem comes up i know what's what!

Thanks

[bull]

Curtis,can i ask why the stainless steel wouldn't work for your application?
I have an inland shifter as well,that's why I'm asking,so if this problem comes up i know what's what!

Thanks

I took my shift levers down to a guy who does a lot of metal work for me and he basically said that stainless is not really good for that application. He said that it obviously would not corrode but it is hard and could fracture or break much easier than a mild steel..

[bull]

yer welcome buddy...take me for a ride in the car sometime

It didn't rain today and the streets dried up so I took the Charger out for a quick test drive. Everything works fine, your old shift levers are back in action.

[A383Wing]

It didn't rain today and the streets dried up so I took the Charger out for a quick test drive. Everything works fine, your old shift levers are back in action.

glad to be of service