I am building a car for someone and changing to buckets and console. Shift cable ordered from The Parts Place Inc comes in and at a quick glance, looks to be too long. I continue on my project build and finally get to the shift cable installation. I tried to install it with the correct mounting trans shift cable brkt mounted on the trans stud from Mike Garrison at www.mrbuick.com and it is not even close. Used his products before and never had a problem. So, I removed the "new" cable and compare it to an original I have with the "correct" barrel mount and adjustable sleeve hole. Imagine my surprise that the original is 29" overall length and the distance from mounting points with "U" clips is 17.5". The "new" one is 32" and 19" respectively. This "new" cable is not even close. I spoke to two other people and they had the same problem. I contact PPI and told them of the problem. I believe the man's name is Joe. He said he has been selling them for 4 years and I am the first to call to state a problem. Hmmmm, I think they have not sold that many. I continue to tell him due to the excessive length, the cable makes more of a bend then necessary which causes "rough" operation if you can get it to fit! Our conversation continues and I tell him I have been working on the Buick Skylark/GS models for 20 years and never encountered a repro/replacement part problem like this. I then tell him the cable will "not" work period! He insists it will. I then tell him the closest "original" cable I have found is the 70-81 Camaro/Firebird cable. Believe it or not, the overall lenght is 29" and the distance between mounting points is 17.5" Hmmmm, amazing! I then proceed to tell Joe that he should stop selling the cable they carry now and sell the one for the Camaro/Firebird. He tells me the cable they sell is a "replacement" cable and is correct for GM A-bodies, F-bodies. I don't think so. I have a couple Olds Cutlass models with floor shift consoles and the "new" cable is not even close for that model either! So, Joe proceeds to tell me cable #546946 is "listed" by GM as the replacement cable. Uh huh, I bet! I find that very hard to believe. I would appreciate some feedback from members here if they have encountered the same/similar problem. I have a feeling that I am not the only one who has done this swap and encountered the problem. Duane Heckman or Jim Weise, let me know if you found the proper cable from another supplier. I would like to get the right part.
CABLE Hello George, 1968-72 all "A" bodies with long console and a 400TH used shift control cable #1383520 of which discontinued 10/99 and NEVER changed part numbers. #546946 does not show to be a good GM part number. 1970-81 Pont-Chev F bodies shift cable #498467. David
PP corrected the problem after our "discussion" and I sent pics of an original w/all measurements. www.mrbuick.com sells the correct trunion and trans pan bracket.
my parts are absolutley correct. They were made from a real stage 1 I use for my examples. (then I bolt them back on)
try Brothers Automotive in kansas for a correct cable, they are top notch and develop and produce a lot of stuff for 442 olds and have good stuff..good people too.
