Midyear Muncie shifter rattle
 

We just did a shifter rebuild on my 1965 but the handle still rattles. Has anyone ever packed the hollow shaft with fiberglass insulation or some other material to stop this?

Lithium grease?

A friend had a 64 (327/365) with a rattly shifter. He used to pack grease in it to keep it quiet for a while.

I almost bought that car from him; wish I had.

The stock shifters are prone to rattle if there is some wear in the transmission. If the transmission is in good shape with good bearings and installed correctly, rattle will be little to none. Also driveline balance, etc. Which can be isolated from rattle in the driveway or rattle going down the road.

The original trans was just COMPLETELY rebuilt as was the shifter. The engine is an aluminum head 383 with a 1970 grind LT1 solid lifter cam so there is a somewhat normal engine vibration. The rattle is in the hollow handle and of course transfers to the reverse shifter claw.
Years ago there were plastic bushing they offered to remedy this which I installed but they did little to nothing to fix it.
My question is has anyone had any luck packing he hollow shaft with anything other that grease? Grease would make a mess as it would eventually leak out the bottom all over the shifter body and trans onto the ground.

If you feel grease isn’t the answer for you, I love this product called CRC SP 350. An industrial spray lubricant.

I am only suggesting a lubricant, because you said everything is new and rebuilt….

Just because everything is 'new' or rebuilt means little. Did it rattle before? Did it always rattle? When did it start? The shifter rattling is indicative of something else CAUSING the rattle. damping the shifter is a band-aid, not a cure.

:iagree:

A loose, worn, misaligned, or perhaps bad bushing.

Spray lube would do nothing but exacerbate the rattling. The suggested band-aid of packing some heavy grease under the boot, between the the shifter stem and whatever it is hitting, is like wrapping your fragile dishes with bubble wrap to protect them from banging against each other. OP reports that some vibration with that engine is normal.

So it seems like some kind of shimming would be appropriate. Is the shifter box worn/wallowed out? Maybe replacing it with a new "tighter" shifter box would be the answer?

Hurst Competition Plus.

If you mean that the reverse "t" handle is rattling what I did was wrap some duct tape around the shaft just enough to allow travel but take up the space and not allow metal to metal contact. Worked like a champ for me.

Turn up the radio.

:iagree:

As requested:

Now we're back on track.:rofl:

I wouldn't normally post advice from that "other place" but this link has some wisdom from the venerable (and late) John Hinkley, arguably the most knowledgeable person on midyears one can name; his thoughts:
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...post1572782167

Thank you. This seems like it MAY be the fix.

In addition to the internals of the original trans being completely rebuilt the below items were used:

https://www.corvettecentral.com/c2-6...f%3fcount%3d36

https://www.corvettecentral.com/c2-6...f%3fcount%3d40

AND I HAVE JUST ORDERED THESE

https://www.corvettecentral.com/c2-6...f%3fcount%3d40