Shifter jammed - help!
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 483
Likes: 1
From: Livonia Michigan
Shifter jammed - help!
When I bought my '64, the guy warned me this would happen; said it was characteristic of the stock shifter; had something to do with the reverse lock-out. Said to just line up the two "bars" on the side of the trans & I'd be all set. Well, that worked the first 2 or 3 times, but now it's really stuck. 
Won't go into any gear; when I let the clutch out it just stalls. Is there another cure? Is this really characteristic of these shifters? Or is it the trans itself? 3 weeks till the Dream Cruise 
- any suggestions appreciated 
Thanks
Gary
Won't go into any gear; when I let the clutch out it just stalls. Is there another cure? Is this really characteristic of these shifters? Or is it the trans itself? 3 weeks till the Dream Cruise - any suggestions appreciated Thanks
Gary
Melting Slicks
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 2,460
Likes: 5
From: Wheaton IL
Jack the side up and pop all transmission levers into neutral. Your transmission is stuck in two gears and the mainshaft cannot turn.
Your shifter is either super sloppy or not adusted right. When I put my new muncie in, I set the adjustment very quickly and got it "close".. Well I locked up the tranny and had to jack my car up on the side of the road to pop it out.
All you need is a piece of metal or wood of proper dimension to align the neutral gates for each set of gears... 1-2, 3-4 and reverse. I bought a $3 piece of aluminum stock from ace and ground it down to the correct dimensions... don't have them handy sorry.
Brian
Your shifter is either super sloppy or not adusted right. When I put my new muncie in, I set the adjustment very quickly and got it "close".. Well I locked up the tranny and had to jack my car up on the side of the road to pop it out.
All you need is a piece of metal or wood of proper dimension to align the neutral gates for each set of gears... 1-2, 3-4 and reverse. I bought a $3 piece of aluminum stock from ace and ground it down to the correct dimensions... don't have them handy sorry.
Brian
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 483
Likes: 1
From: Livonia Michigan
Sorry to be so ignorant on the subject - "pop all transmission levers into neutral"? 
Thanks - I think I saw a JohnZ post on the dimensions for the guage, but nothing about un-jamming
Thanks - I think I saw a JohnZ post on the dimensions for the guage, but nothing about un-jamming
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 483
Likes: 1
From: Livonia Michigan
Originally Posted by Vette-66
Use to have the same problem, its a bummer... and it never happens to you inside the garage...
Hurst fixed that problem (original is in a box now)
Hurst fixed that problem (original is in a box now)
You may be getting a call if I don't get this working by next week
Safety Car
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 3,596
Likes: 8
From: Grosse Ile MI
Originally Posted by C2IT
Sorry to be so ignorant on the subject - "pop all transmission levers into neutral"?
Like Allcoupedup stated, "Jack the side up and pop all transmission levers into neutral". It may take a little force to move the levers to the neutral position. Then move the shifter handle to the neutral position and see if you can run thru the gears, including reverse. If you can run thru all the gears OK, then line up the neutral gates using the gauge. If you don't have a gauge, you can get it pretty close just by the feel of the shifter handle by moving it right to left thru the 3 neutral gates.
Don't forget to pull up on the T-handle so the reverse gate will be included in you check.
One thing puzzles me though. How did you lock-up the trans in the garage? Just curious because if the car won't move at all, you are in two gears and one of them could be reverse. I have seen instances when you move the shift handle out of reverse, it slides out of the reverse lever slot without moving the rod and the lever on the transmission, leaving the reverse gear engaged and resulting in the transmission being locked up.
If you get everything lined up properly and you still have a problem I would suspect that your shifter is worn and wil need rebuilt or replaced.
If you have any questions feel free to PM or e-mail me. Good Luck
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Melting Slicks
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 2,460
Likes: 5
From: Wheaton IL
If you're looking at the transmission from the driver's side there will be three levers, two pointing up and one down
left, 3/4 gears. these levers point up. Pointing about 45 degrees to the left is 4th gear, about 45 degrees to the right is 3rd gear. Straight up and down is neutral for those two gears
middle, 1/2 gears. these levers point up. Pointing about 45 degrees to the left is 2nd gear, about 45 degrees to the right is 1st gear. Straight up and down is neutral for those two gears
right, reverse .. this lever points down. can;t remember the neutral position for this but pointing to the right is reverse. I think straight up and down is again neutral.
To get the transmission out of the locked state (and your shifter too), make sure all levers are in the neutral position.
Brian.
left, 3/4 gears. these levers point up. Pointing about 45 degrees to the left is 4th gear, about 45 degrees to the right is 3rd gear. Straight up and down is neutral for those two gears
middle, 1/2 gears. these levers point up. Pointing about 45 degrees to the left is 2nd gear, about 45 degrees to the right is 1st gear. Straight up and down is neutral for those two gears
right, reverse .. this lever points down. can;t remember the neutral position for this but pointing to the right is reverse. I think straight up and down is again neutral.
To get the transmission out of the locked state (and your shifter too), make sure all levers are in the neutral position.
Brian.
Safety Car
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 3,596
Likes: 8
From: Grosse Ile MI
Originally Posted by Allcoupedup
If you're looking at the transmission from the driver's side there will be three levers, two pointing up and one down
left, 3/4 gears. these levers point up. Pointing about 45 degrees to the left is 4th gear, about 45 degrees to the right is 3rd gear. Straight up and down is neutral for those two gears
middle, 1/2 gears. these levers point up. Pointing about 45 degrees to the left is 2nd gear, about 45 degrees to the right is 1st gear. Straight up and down is neutral for those two gears
right, reverse .. this lever points down. can;t remember the neutral position for this but pointing to the right is reverse. I think straight up and down is again neutral.
To get the transmission out of the locked state (and your shifter too), make sure all levers are in the neutral position.
Brian.
left, 3/4 gears. these levers point up. Pointing about 45 degrees to the left is 4th gear, about 45 degrees to the right is 3rd gear. Straight up and down is neutral for those two gears
middle, 1/2 gears. these levers point up. Pointing about 45 degrees to the left is 2nd gear, about 45 degrees to the right is 1st gear. Straight up and down is neutral for those two gears
right, reverse .. this lever points down. can;t remember the neutral position for this but pointing to the right is reverse. I think straight up and down is again neutral.
To get the transmission out of the locked state (and your shifter too), make sure all levers are in the neutral position.
Brian.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 842
Likes: 0
From: Palm Beach Gardens Florida
St. Jude Donor '09
HARD to BELIEVE
Shifter would jam ,especially in between Reverse and nuetral GEARS.After replacing shifter , I found a dime and a penny (they were all dinged up from getting jammed in the shifter. No more change on console.
No more change on console.
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 483
Likes: 1
From: Livonia Michigan
Thanks for all the help, guys! Finally had a chance to get under there & fix it last night. It was the reverse lever that I was missing. 
Haven't tried to do any adjusting yet, but at least she's rolling again 
Haven't tried to do any adjusting yet, but at least she's rolling again
Pro
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 553
Likes: 67
From: Somewhere in NJ
In case you didn't know, there are 2 sets of holes in the shift levers. You can adjust the leverage for short throw, high effort or longer throw, less effort.
Kind of like the steering knuckle/tie rod arrangement.
Kind of like the steering knuckle/tie rod arrangement.
