This note is for John Blair, and anyone else with an interest in the subject.
Hello John,
I finally got around to installing the shift extender for the Cortina
transmission in my 62' 4/4. The project was delayed because when I first
installed it, the one-foot shaft of the shifter was positioned right beneath
the edge of the dashboard with the shift knob even with the toggle switches
(could only use 2nd and 4th gears).
Ultimately I decided to cut the shaft down to about 5 inches and rethread it
for the knob. It works fine and even Joyce can get into reverse gear now
(albeit using two hands). The shifting is quite stiff and needs a bit of
muscle, which is no surprise with such a short throw.
The remaining chore is to fabricate a suitable cover-up for the mechanism.
I've nylon-tied some vinyl "naugahyde" to it for the short term until I can
observe some other cover-ups or come up with a bright idea of my own.
One drawback to the new arrangement came as a complete surprise. I had been
accustomed to tucking my left foot under my right leg during long highway
stretches to avoid resting it on the clutch petal. This resulted in my left
knee poking over the trans tunnel. Now the left knee rests up against the new
shift extension and after several miles the vibration transmitted from the
engine starts to become really annoying. On a hundred-plus mile trip I can see
it becoming outright painful.
Any suggestions for long-distance driving positions?
Your etc.
Joe DeLuca
Sparta, NJ
'62 4/4
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