A couple of weeks ago I lost the ability to shift and discovered it was a broken shift collar. I have a column shift to a C4. I figured I would have a tough time finding a new collar but after a little searching on the internet I found one on www.rockauto.com for $19 (I see the price is now almost $22...hmmm?) . It ends up this collar was used for many years on Ford trucks, Econolines, Broncos, and Falcons and was (maybe still is) produced by Dorman (part no. 83242) and sold in the "Help!" section you see at some auto parts stores. Ford part no. D5TZ 7228-A.
I was also getting a lot of binding from the homemade, solid shift linkage I had made using the half of the old Ford-o-matic linkage that attaches to the column and the other half that came with the tranny, probably for a floor shift. I'm sure this was what was putting stress on the collar and caused it to fail.
I decided to make something similar to a Lokar brand linkage using Heim ball joints with studs. My first attempt was a 1/4" stud using all thread but I decided that looked a little wimpy so I went to 3/8". I also decided to cut threads on some rod stock instead of using the all thread to make it look less homemade.
It's shifting smooth now! I won't get into the details of the swap but it took about 5-6 hours to replace the collar and put on the new linkage. Here's a few shots showing the broken collar, my old linkage, first attempt (1/4"), final linkage (3/8"), and how it looks installed. Feel free to ask any questions if you need more details and I'll be glad to answer.
