W124 Shift Knob R&R
 

Am I crazy? This u-shaped piece at the bottom end of my shifter (shown facing up in the picture) comes off, right? I'm swapping shift knob, ad I need to reuse the u-shaped piece on the replacement shift knob - but for the life of me, I can't get it off. I've hit it with penetrating oil and and impact wrench - no dice. Any ideas?

At this point I'd consider just buying a replacement part, but I can't find a part number for the thing. I've got a pretty good-sized project on hold because of this little thing...

I may be wrong, but looks like the stem of the shifter is held in place by a locking hollow bolt that screws into the U- shaped yoke.
It is probably held in place with 45 or more foot pounds of torque.
I think the slot at the base of the shifter stem is there to allow you to index the shifter stem when it is mounted in the base of the yoke.

Mount the yoke in a vise(with aluminum jaws).
Use a crowfoot flare wrench (14 mm is my guess) and a breaker bar to loosen the threaded hollow bolt from the base.
You should then be able to disassemble the shifter stem from the base.

Again this may just be my WAG, as I've not taken one apart myself.

Yes you are on the right track. Got to break that nut loose. The rod threads into the U-shaped piece.

Also that rubber piece is still available and it's not terribly expensive. I would look and see if you can get a new one while yours is apart. It's what separates the inside of the car from the road.

You are absolutely right - gosh, I feel dumb! I didn't realize that was a locking nut and I stupidly ket cranking harder and harder on the yoke (only stopping when the shaft started to flex). I flipped it over and put the yoke in the vise and voila! The locking nut broke loose and the yoke unthreaded by hand. I don't even need a cheater bar - just a regular old open-ended wrench (maybe the 24+ hours of WD-40 made a difference, I dunno). Thanks!

Thanks for the tip. I was thinking about replacing the rubber boot (it's cracked on the other side), and possibly also the plastic shift surround (part of it cracked, although I tink it would go back together just fine).