Gear Stick Repairs

[Lionelgee]

Hello All,

Background: I recently picked up a gearbox that was fitted to both Australian civilian and military use International trucks in the 1960-70s. For some unknown reason a previous owner cut off the gear stick at about third of way up gear stick length from the bottom of the shifter housing. This means about 2/3rds of the gear stick is gone. The chance of getting a replacement new, or new old stock, or just the gear stick off an old donor gearbox is very slim.

Possible Solution: Would it work if I levelled and squared off the current butchered cut at the top of the gear stick stub then drill a hole down the stub's centre and cut a thread into it. Then track down a similar gauge piece of round bar and drill a hole and cut a thread into it. Then get a length of thread rod and screw the two ends of the gear stick together. I could use a wider diameter drill to form a small step on each end of the gear stick that could allow one end of the gear stick to have a collar welded around the thread. The other end of the gear stick could be epoxy metal glued and allowed to cure once the two pieces of gear stick are threaded together. The combination of weld one end and epoxy glue the other end might help ensure that the gear stick would be firmly held in place. After that I could cut down a piece of steel pipe to form a sleeve that forms a significant overlap well past either end of the join, then put a ring of weld around top and bottom of the sleeve. Would the combination of these steps leave me with a functioning gear stick?

Alternatively, in Australia does someone have a spare International Fuller T-34 gearbox. This is a 5-speed gear box where 5th gear is an overdrive - that they are not using and would like to sell? They reckon you don't know the answer to something unless you ask!

Kind regards
Lionel