Pulled out the shift linkage, which has been prone to stick in fourth gear after long stretches on the highway. Here's the joint between the shaft attached to the shift lever and the part that reaches back to the transmission:
I've put masking tape and a mark on the shaft, because the setting of the various parts is critical. There's a many-step process to go through in order to re-set the length and orientation of the shaft, and this tape will allow me to skip that.
Removed and sitting in the shop, you can see the new boots and what's left of the old ones. The piece on the right-side end is called a "shift lever" and is upside-down in this shot. When installed, it sits upright, with a nylon ball fitting inside the cup (which is pointing down in the photo). There is a boot that covers the cup/ball assembly, but that had split. Due to the design, any leakage of the shift lever boot allows moisture to accumulate in the cup, which is made of pot metal, and corrodes easily. I couldn't get a shot that does justice to the pits inside this shift lever. The design seems destined to have problems. So, in the future, I will check this regularly after I install the new shift lever - !@#*&^ 55 more dollars - which won't arrive until February. Until then, I'll re-install the old lever, with the interior polished as best I can, which will make a looser fit with the plastic ball (itself worn and being replaced), but it should be OK for testing the new engine.
If you have a manual trans with this arrangement, I'd carefully check the boot now and annually.
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