PIA Lightening rods

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PaulB1965

Not-quite-so-new-guy
Jan 2, 2019
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I am also putting a different shifter in my Hurst . I have talked to several people who all have had problems with the shifters . I will keep them to go with the car if I ever sell it though
 

69hurstolds

Geezer
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Jan 2, 2006
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They need a tuneup probably. If everything is adjusted right and nothing is broken, those shifters work fairly well.

Just don't try to force something or you will stretch cables and/or break stuff.

If you can get the search function to work, there's some good info about how to adjust the shifters if you're so inclined.
 
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PaulB1965

Not-quite-so-new-guy
Jan 2, 2019
42
6
8
They need a tuneup probably. If everything is adjusted right and nothing is broken, those shifters work fairly well.

Just don't try to force something or you will stretch cables and/or break stuff.

If you can get the search function to work, there's some good info about how to adjust the shifters if you're so inclined.
ok thanks :) mine wont do anything when the buttons are pushed down , the buttons actually wont go down
 

69hurstolds

Geezer
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Jan 2, 2006
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Here's a repost of something I posted the other day for someone else having issues. It may help you. Keep in mind, you need to diagnose what the heck they're NOT doing in order to figure out how to fix it. The LR's are somewhat simple once you figure out how they actually are assembled and how they work, but if you just go in with a hammer and chisel, you're going to fugg it up.
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That cable stretch/out of adjustment has damaged many a Lightning Rods shifter...LR's are tough, but you can break them. And good luck with finding parts. If yours is broken, talk to 88hurstolds . He used to rebuild these for folks, not sure if he's still doing that anymore. He's pretty much an expert on them.

DO NOT FORCE ANYTHING. DON'T. As mad as it can make you, if you try to bang it out of position, you may break a detent, or stretch the cable, etc., and end up with a mess on your hands. Unless your mechanic is fluent in LR shifters, I wouldn't trust them with any attempted repairs. Your dime and your time, but I personally wouldn't do it.

Try this. With the car off and parking brake on, and in a place where you can get under the car- if you can get it into Drive, see if the other rods work. If they do, you likely have a shifter to transmission cable stretch/adjustment problem. This is the most common issue with these shifters. If it's difficult to press the button down in Drive to get it out of Drive, then you need to get under the car and get a helper here to speed things up, or you'll be crawling in and out from under the car. There's a slot in the transmission lever that needs to be in DRIVE when you are in DRIVE at the shifter. If it is there, loosen the adjustment bolt on the trans lever. Hopefully you'll have enough adjustment there to do this. Then either have the helper press down the button or you'll need to crawl out and do it. If the shifter is in the right position to easily press the button down, then tighten up the cable adjust bolt and it SHOULD work. This may affect the backdrive rod to the shifter column if you still have that part for reverse lights and column lock. You might have to adjust that rod again to ensure when the shifter is in park that the column will lock.

That's the issue with these LR shifters. EVERYTHING you do to them may knock something else out of fine tune. And the LR's do not like being out of alignment, even a small amount. The stars need to be aligned (as well as your detent cross rod or whatever that alignment pin is called that the shifter rods ride on) for the shifter to operate smoothly. 95% of the time, it's a cable adjustment keeping you from experiencing LR shifter bliss.

I always need to ask this- do you have the CORRECT LR cable? It is used for the 83/84 Hurst/Olds as well as 78-82 Corvette. That's why it has a short part number. It's no longer made by GM, but there are aftermarket ones available if you can't find a new, NOS one at a reasonable price. Don't buy a used cable unless you totally don't have one. There's a reason it got replaced, right?

It's possible, but unlikely, the plunger rod "cable" inside the shifter tube may be out of adjustment. There's an allen head set screw on the "ring" for adjustment. UNLIKLELY this is your problem. Very unlikely. The Drive detent is the "tallest" one if you were to look at the detent positions. It's tall in Drive, to ensure the shifter isn't accidently pushed out of drive, because Drive allows the cross pin to line up a hole for the middle rod to have it's button pressed and moved.

And as for lubing anything on the shifter, I'd stick with graphite only. WD-40 or oil-based stuff only attracts dirt. And if you don't believe that dirt can build up on shifter components, take off your top plate and look inside after 30+ years.

Look down inside and see if you can watch what the detent is doing when you shift it. Is there noticeable wear on the detent/pin? If so, this isn't helping matters either. But you may be able to file off any burrs if that's what's hanging you up even if it's adjusted properly.

Good luck. And I mean that. Seriously. LR adjustments aren't for the weak-willed. :)
 
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69hurstolds

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Jan 2, 2006
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Wish you hadn't have done that. Did the retainer slip down? If it did, it won't allow the pin to push down past the detent and you'll never get it out of park. Or out of Drive. It's a finesse thing doing adjustments on those LR's.

See if you can locate the "dent" where the set screw was originally placed and see if you can get it back to that space. Put the button back on and try it again to see if it will push down the detent tab far enough to clear. Likely that retainer needs to be pulled back up a little if I were to guess. It's so hard to determine without looking at it. Again, never force anything on these rods. Everything should operate smoothly or something is wrong. Yanking and pushing/pulling on crap is never a good idea. Sometimes those buttons are a bit tight, granted.
 
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Jimmy

Greasemonkey
Jan 25, 2016
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In case you did not know If you need to move or drive the car before you have time to work on the lightning rods you can disconnect the cable from the transmission and shift the car from the column if need be.
 

PaulB1965

Not-quite-so-new-guy
Jan 2, 2019
42
6
8
In case you did not know If you need to move or drive the car before you have time to work on the lightning rods you can disconnect the cable from the transmission and shift the car from the column if need be.
what do I do , grab the collar and turn it as if it is colum shift ?
 
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