So I decided to rebuild the factory Hurst shifter in Jen's Mustang. Its always felt a little loose and balky. So I took it out after work yesterday, blew it apart and soaked it in mineral spirits. Found a bunch of worn parts. It was dirty and grimy with all kinds of gop (technical term) in it. Pretty typical. But what separates this factory equipped Competition Plus shifter is that instead of the common "pit pack" style shifter bushings, there are these large brown hard rubber bushings pressed into the levers that hold threaded trunions that hold slotted shifter rods. The brown bushings are no good. They shrunk over time and there's a lot of play. Combined with all the other play and looseness added up. How hard can it be to get a set of new shifter bushings right? Evidentially, pretty hard! NOS bushings are non existent. Pete Serio, the Hurst shifter guru made a correct reproduction a while back but the supply has since been exhausted and there are no plans to make another run in the foreseeable future. The Mustang/ Ford vendors sell a "reproduction" bushing but its nothing more than a current Dorman 74040 that they repackage and charge $59 for. They obviously have never tried installing them. The issue is that the Dorman part is rock hard plastic that doesn't have any "give". Probably fine for the application its made for but not for a Hurst shifter. The originals are a little pliable. So I tried pressing in the Dorman part and its a no go. The lip on the Dorman part basically gets sheared off by the hole in the shifter lever when I try pressing it in. So what the application for the Dorman number? Get this- a 1990's AOD kickdown cable bushing. OK, I get the OE number that the Dorman replaces and I go to my Ford dealer and they just happen to have 3 of these things left. I start squeezing them all at the counter. Parts guy is looking at me like Im nuts (yeah, used to that) . They're a little pliable, thats a good thing! I go home and they press in and fit like a glove! Incredible! So the bushing for the most popular shifter on the planet that goes onto the most popular car on the planet is literally almost impossible to get. And Ford, re-used that very same bushing 20+ years later in a 90's transmission and didn't tell anyone! The rebuild on the shifter will take me 20 minutes, I have literally hours into researching these damn bushings!
Fred, its like your inside my head! Im going back to the dealer tomorrow and ask him, "exactly how many of these can you get me?"
Go for it! Could be a hit on eBay. You could try dropping the Dorman parts in some boiling water to soften them up for install.