Steering column selector dial?

[agouge]

My plastic selector "pointer" on the a '71 F100 column has broken off so now I cant tell what gear its actually in very easy. I see that two screws hold the clear plastic P,N.R,D2,D1 plastic piece in place, but I need to know how to get in there to replace my broken pointer that is behind it. Any help or tips is appreciated.

Thanks,

Andy
agouge

[fordman]

there are two types of pointers. one is made to the shift collar. those are the earlier model type i think. the others have a slot in the shift collar. to get to it you tear down the column to get to the shift collar. and then sldie out the old one and put the new one in. once you have the steering wheel off you need to pull the tss up and out of the way the best you can. then there are two nuts that you loosen to get the first collar to come off.once it is up and out of the way enough also you just replace the plastic pointer. have fun with those two nuts they are fun to get to lock back into place.

[FORDification]

Here's a picture to illustrate the difference between the two, as fordman explained. The one on the right has the pointer pulled out of the slot a tiny bit for visual effect. If you've got this kind, you simply need to remove the steering wheel to replace it. Otherwise, you've got a bit more disassembly to do to replace the whole shift collar.

[agouge]

Thanks for the great info and pics. Worked out good for me. Thanks,

Andy

[agouge]

Also...what holds the clear plastic pointer in place on the right side. I know the left side that actually has the pointer part slides into the slot like on the pic above, but what about the clear plastic tail? Can I epoxy it in place? Let me know what originally holds the other end in place on this side .

Thanks Much,

Agouge

[fordman]

in the above pics. the one on the left side is made onto the collar. the one on the right just slides in with no glue or anything. i guess you could put some sort of glue on it before you sldie it in if you want to.