Bill Crowell
Well-Known Member
The heatshrink to use is NAPA part no. 727618: 1/2" diameter black Belden heatshrink. Half inch is the smallest tubing that will fit over the clamping area of the park lock cable.
Patched the early TF park lock cable with heatshrink
- Thread starter Bill Crowell
- Start date
-
Bill Crowell
Well-Known Member
I'm sorry to report that the park lock cable is still leaking ATF.
So I thought I'd buy a new park lock cable. A friend told me that Pat Blais, dba Pat Blais Transmisisons and T'Flite Patty, of Marysville, WA (a specialist in old TorqueFlites) had old NOS parts like that, so I wrote him. He replied about 3 times, asking details about what was wrong with the old park lock cable, and when I told him, he took the time to tell me about this repair method that he came up with, even though it meant I wouldn't be buying anything from him! Manischewitz, what a nice guy!
"Bill,
Ive heard of people using heat-shrink tubing to seal up a leaky cable but it does not appear to be effective.
As long as the cable outer sheath has not come un-raveled you should be able to sleeve the cable to stop the leak and protect the cable from future damage. We developed this technique a few years ago to deal with leakage and so as not to have to replace the cable. It requires disconnecting the cable from the pushbutton mechanism; picture attached shows the bracket holding the upper end of the shift cable at the pushbutton mechanism. Generally the pushbutton mechanism can be removed from the dashboard with the cables attached and the entire mechanism lowered onto the floor for the cable removal. A wire spring-clip fastens the upper cable end to a pin on the lever which moves the cable in or out. The 2 fingers clamping the cable ferrule will need to be spread just enough to allow removal of the cable from the bracket; the fingers are a bit prone to breaking off if spread too far so care must be exercised. Once the cable is removed from the mechanism it should be fed out through the hole in the firewall to allow easier access for it to be sleeved.
We recommend sleeving the cable from the cable ferrule at the Torqueflite all the way to the firewall using a piece of 3/8 fuel hose. Attach a piece of light wire to the upper cable end and make sure it is a bit longer than the hose. Use an aerosol can of silicone spray lubricant to coat the sheath of the cable and the inside of the fuel hose. Thread the wire through the fuel hose and pull the cable through the hose until the lower end of the hose reaches the cable ferrule at the Torqueflite. Slide the hose onto the ferrule as far as it will go easily; use 2 small hose clamps to seal the hose to the ferrule. Remove the wire from the upper cable end, feed it back through the firewall and re-assemble the cable to the pushbutton mechanism. The hose/sleeve will retain any fluid leaking from the sheath and the fluid should not be able to exit the upper end of the hose."
I'll bet this method works really well! I'm going to try it.
Hey, I think Pat Blais is the kind of guy that we should all support.
So I thought I'd buy a new park lock cable. A friend told me that Pat Blais, dba Pat Blais Transmisisons and T'Flite Patty, of Marysville, WA (a specialist in old TorqueFlites) had old NOS parts like that, so I wrote him. He replied about 3 times, asking details about what was wrong with the old park lock cable, and when I told him, he took the time to tell me about this repair method that he came up with, even though it meant I wouldn't be buying anything from him! Manischewitz, what a nice guy!
"Bill,
Ive heard of people using heat-shrink tubing to seal up a leaky cable but it does not appear to be effective.
As long as the cable outer sheath has not come un-raveled you should be able to sleeve the cable to stop the leak and protect the cable from future damage. We developed this technique a few years ago to deal with leakage and so as not to have to replace the cable. It requires disconnecting the cable from the pushbutton mechanism; picture attached shows the bracket holding the upper end of the shift cable at the pushbutton mechanism. Generally the pushbutton mechanism can be removed from the dashboard with the cables attached and the entire mechanism lowered onto the floor for the cable removal. A wire spring-clip fastens the upper cable end to a pin on the lever which moves the cable in or out. The 2 fingers clamping the cable ferrule will need to be spread just enough to allow removal of the cable from the bracket; the fingers are a bit prone to breaking off if spread too far so care must be exercised. Once the cable is removed from the mechanism it should be fed out through the hole in the firewall to allow easier access for it to be sleeved.
We recommend sleeving the cable from the cable ferrule at the Torqueflite all the way to the firewall using a piece of 3/8 fuel hose. Attach a piece of light wire to the upper cable end and make sure it is a bit longer than the hose. Use an aerosol can of silicone spray lubricant to coat the sheath of the cable and the inside of the fuel hose. Thread the wire through the fuel hose and pull the cable through the hose until the lower end of the hose reaches the cable ferrule at the Torqueflite. Slide the hose onto the ferrule as far as it will go easily; use 2 small hose clamps to seal the hose to the ferrule. Remove the wire from the upper cable end, feed it back through the firewall and re-assemble the cable to the pushbutton mechanism. The hose/sleeve will retain any fluid leaking from the sheath and the fluid should not be able to exit the upper end of the hose."
Hey, I think Pat Blais is the kind of guy that we should all support.
OK- I may have to call this guy. However, this car I am working on is a friend's, and he has a floor shifter, not the push button shifter on the dash. Still, it does use the external park lock. I'm going to order the clamp bolt for the park lock ***'y, because the one in his '65 is stripped. It does not hold the cable end adjustment properly. It leaks from where the cable goes into the park lock ***'y- is that the location where this fix is for?
-
