Manual Shifter Slides Down into Tunnel

[duffelpud]

I recently purchased a '68 250sl that has the manual trannie.  I immediately noticed that the shifter assembly slides down into the drive tunnel, like a pin or something has fallen out.  How do I access this area and what might be the probable issue?

[IXLR8]

Hi--

The shifter is held in the shifter plate by two convex nylon bushings. On cars of this age. The.bushings have likely turned to powder.

The shifter plate is located beneath a nylon cover plate bolted to the tunnel.

As long as you are going in, I'd suggest you renew the bushings-- also nylon--where the stiff lever is attached to the shift rod AND the bushings where the shift rod attaches to the transmission. These are located trough an access plate on the top of the transmission tunnel about 12 inches or so toward the front of the car from the shift lever access cover.

A bit of a pain, but the bushings are relatively inexpensive.

Joe

[duffelpud]

That is great advice.  Thanks for it!  Any leads on the best deal for those parts - is there a 'repair kit' that someone carries?

[Peter h]

Hallo

here some pictures from the very nice webside of my friend Wolfgang , sorry but only in German.
http://www.beetle.homepage.t-online.de/Schalthebel%20faellt%20nach%20unten%20Mercedes%20Pagode%20W113.htm

Peter

its interesting to look over all pages

[IXLR8]

Hi--

All the usual suppliers carry these items--Miller's, K&K, Buds, AutohausAZ, etc.

Most suppliers post exploded parts diagrams so you can identify the specific items that you need.

Joe

[Jordan]

In addition to the bushings I would recommend replacing all the rubber as well, since you are in there.  If the bushings are shot its a good guess the rubber has lost its elasticity after all this time.