[IndyAnne]

Sorry the following photos are not so great. The iPhone doesn’t do macro yet – or maybe there’s an app for that. I’m hoping to show how I am attempting to repair the shift indicator with acrylic I picked up from Lowe’s this morning, and Proweld I picked up from the hobby shop.

Proweld is labeled for acrylic, lexan, Lucite, Plexiglass, butyrate, and styrene. It’s also labeled as super-fast, and gives super strong joints. I think it might be really bad for you, and that makes it a good idea to do thish project in a well-ventilated area if you are my age and want to hold onto your brain cells and avoid cancer. Other than the dangers of the product, it sounded perfect when I was shown some options at the model train/car/airplane shop (Hobbytown).

What is broken in my Shift Indicator is the little hook that holds the cable that is attached to the steering column, to indicate where the shifting of the transmission is located. Of course, having driven North American GM vehicles often in over 35 years, I can count the usual stops and do ok. But, c’mon -- It’s a project! -- something do-able in a short time while waiting for the Butler game to start.

Usual disclaimer for my puttering with these little time-wasters: I think I might be able to pick up one of these components of the instrument cluster at Trucks Plus here in Indy (I don’t work for them, I just think they have a good selection and I haven’t found any business that compares to their qualities of nice, helpful, and very cheap for my budget, which, at the moment, is scant due to unemployment.). They usually have what I stop in for, like the missing contact for the horn, and a little vacuum hose connector, and a little this and a little that. I’m sure they enjoy (?) the way I nickel and dime my way through the interior of this truck, because they know when something big happens, I’ll be back for that, too.

I found the Shift Indicator very easy to remove from the cluster. It is box-like, and has a little spring that connects to the same plastic bracket that the cable attaches to from the opposite direction. The spring is present, quite rusty, though. I will give it some oil while I have it out.

The bracket that comprises the indicator needle moves along a track. On the left side of the little box, the same side as the spring, an opening makes it easy to get the bracket out, just a little careful bending of the box to free up a little point on the bracket that keeps it in the box. I’m very careful with these parts because they are plastic and old, and I’m sure it would not take much to crack everything.

I cut a little rectangle of Acrylic out (the thickness is in one of the photos on a label), just a couple of hairs wider than the existing arm that once ended in a little hook. The hook was originally made by cutting a channel in a curve that ended in a hole where the spring also attached from the opposite direction. The curve and hole were like an upside-down comma that the cable entered from the top left of the arm, and held its place in the hole shared by the little rusty spring.

Using my fly-fishing forceps, I clipped the acrylic blank to the existing broken arm of the bracket. Later, I learned that this was a mistake. The forceps were too strong and might have caused a stress fracture in the blank. Or, I might have caused the crack when, after I whittled down with the plastic cutter blade, then used my glass breaker pliers to finish the job, unlike the instructions on the card that came with the cutter, “using your thumbs.” I didn’t realize this until after I had applied the Proweld. So, heedless of the little tiny fracture, I clamped the parts together with the forceps and dabbed the Proweld along all of the sides. Just like the bottle says, the liquid wicked in between the pieces and melted/welded the pieces together, dry and strong by about a minute. Will this very fine little crack come back to haunt me?

Next, I brought out my Dremel and some tiny drilling and engraving bits, then I put them back away. My experience in the past in working with acrylic has taught me that polymer parts can really let you down when you apply high speed cutting, if you're an amateur with little practice, like me. I think I want to try to use heat, something like a really hot small unbent paper clip, because I don’t have specialized tools. I have to make that upside down comma, which is going to be tricky. I’ll get back here later and post the results. Meanwhile, I’m letting the plastic weld cure, and I’m going to take the Trip Odometer out on an errand and see if I fixed it.

More soon …