Ok I have a 72 car that originally came with a C4 and a floorshifter, since I converted to a 5 speed I no longer have the Ignition lockout rod connected anymore. This is the rod that only lets you take the key out of the ignition when the transmission is in park. Is there any way to remove this or should I just wire it up so it doesnt move anymore? Its getting to be a pain to pull into a gas station, shut the car off, pop the hood moove the lever back to neutral position and then remove the keys from the ignition.
Mine has a black plastic collar I built to hide the hole where I cut off the shifter. My tach being clamped to the column and collar holds the column in what used to be the park position.
even though it was a floor shift car the colar on the column still spins. It just doesn't have the provision for the shifter on it. if it doesn't turn off just grab the portion of the column just below the ignition and turn it counter clock wise.
Hi Markso, just so you know how this Lock Rod was intended to work, from the Factory designers, so that you have good info to make your choice: (here is some info I posted in another recent thread about this topic) The Intended safety purpose of the "Transmission Column Lock out Rod", used with the Auto floor Shifters, was to prevent the transmission gear selector, from being moved out of the Park position, when the ignition key lock is in the OFF position. So in other words, it was designed to prevent an unattended child, or an adult, from accidentally shifting the car out of park, and into neutral, with the car turned off, and/or the keys not in the ignition. Without it, a car could start rolling down a hill. So it's for locking the transmission, and not the steering wheel. The steering wheel has a separate lock pin, actuated by the keyswitch. It's true, that the Lock Rod allows you to remove the keys, when in Park, on a Factory setup, but that is a "Result" of the opposite of it's original purpose. When it's all hooked up according to the Factory setup, your tranny cannot be accidentally moved out of Park, when the keys are out of the ignition, and because of the whole system being interlocked mechanically, of coarse, you can't remove the keys until you put the floor shifter in park. here is the thread where we talked about this recently: http://mmb.maverick.to/showthread.php?p=816103#post816103 I hope this helps.
Darren and Clint, you are thinking of the collar inside the cab, no the linkage is actually in the engine bay. Scroll down on this link till you find the C4 floor shift linkage there is a column lock rod shown. http://1bad6t.com/Maverick/repair/clutch_transmission_03.html Cactus Grabber gave a very good synopsis of its original intended function, but now because I no longer have the provisions to use it with my current transmission it has become a burden. I guess the question is this. Is there any ways to remove the lever or lock the lever on the column in place in the engine bay or am I going to have to dissasemble the steering column to do it?
Markso, Thank you for the feedback.... ...the other members that have commented are correct also though.... You may have never noticed...but on the factory Steering Column, part of the upper collar on the steering column, moves in tandem, with the linkage "Ear" in the engine bay. The auto-trans column-shifters, and the auto floor shift columns do this. Here is a good link that has an exellent writup showing Mustang Monthly details: http://xtremecarzone.com.au/index.php?showtopic=745 And you "can" secure the ear in the engine bay if you decide this is what you want for your Maverick, just giving you more info, to make a better informed safety decision. If you decide to secure your "ear" in the engine bay...the only unlikely unsafe result, would be that someone could turn off your engine, and pull your keys out, while you are driving down the road, and your steering wheel could then lockup...which could be deadly.
