I've been trying to remove the end piece of my shifter and have tried pulling it out and un-screwing - no luck. I even tried un-screwing and pulling at the same time but the damn thing doesn't want to budge. Has anyone tried and successfully taken one off a '64 before? If so, I'd appreciate some guidance on this. I attached a picture of it below.
It's been awhile, but as I recall the shift levers on the GM cars I had, from '59, '61 and '65 Pontiacs and '63 and '66 Buicks, seemed to be one-piece, including the stylized end.
Look for a pivot pin. It will probably need to be driven up from underneath. The pin will be in the painted collar that rotates when shifting to different gears. The chrome lever usually rotates around that pivot pin when you pull it toward you before you shift out of park. It's hard to see in your picture. Vice grips and hammers can do irrevocable damage to pot metal parts before you realize what went wrong. Be careful if you want to reuse the column. It's very easy to ruin a perfectly good column.
My 66 Ford Galaxie had one like this. It swivels and you would think it screws on or has a pin or screw holding it on. It didnt. I had to cut it length wise on two sides to remove it. It seems to have been pressed on the end of the shifter rod with what looked like "barbs" holding it on and in place to swivel. Hope this helps. Larry
Thanks for all the info guys. I checked for set screws but couldn't find any. I think the only way to get it off would be to actually cut it, which I don't to do. I'll see if there any other ways of pulling it off. Thanks again.
the plastic ones are molded on and the metal ones have a press fit snap lockring in them sometimes you can pry them off, but you got to be careful. I have never been able to "pull" one off. I generally cut them off and make a custom one on my lathe.