Shift Rod Install 6218 Hydromatic Transmission

[mcguirjf 0]

Greetings, I recently purchased my first garden tractor, a Simplicity 6218. I know its not exactly new, circa 1982? It came with all the accessories available, rototiller, snow thrower, seeder, bagger, roller for $300. It needed the card cleaned, battery, shifter rod replaced, and new transmission input shaft. Right now I'm putting the transmission together and have hit a snag. I can't get the new shifter rod into the transmission case. The shifter rod uses a split pressed in bushing. Does anyone know how to install this thing. My local dealer suggested freezing. Please let me know how to do this.

[mcguirjf 0]

I gave up and reused the old bushings.