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My '65 seems to have a later trans- #3925661.
Anyway, the shifter has greater resistance between neutral and 4th gear than anywhere else. Almost feels like the linkage is rubbing somewhere but I can't find anything.
Any ideas?
Is it a big deal, or should I ignore it?
I really don't want to drop the trans- I'd have to pay to have it done.
You don't have to drop the transmission to get under the car and observe the linkage operating while a friend shifts gears. You never know. I drove my 67 Chevelle for a year with the linkage bumping the tranny tunnel going into third before I looked it over.
Somebody had put the shifter rods on backwards -- I didn't even know you could do that.
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Do the above and disconnect the levers and see if the binding is in the trans or the shifter. if it's the shifter they're pretty easy to rebuild. There might be a little corrosion on the lever that engages fourth. If it moves free.....trans problems.
Do you feel the resistance when the car isn't rolling or after it's rolling or both?
Resistance is always there -rolling, stopped, engine running or not.
I thought it was the shift rod rubbing the tunnel insulation, bit I scraped the insulation away and there was no change.
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If nothing is rubbing, and the trans is hard going from neutral to fourth with the rod removed and moving the lever by hand, more than likely you have a slider that has some gnashed teeth, as a result of speed shifting and missing third gear.
I'll just put this out there and you can do what you want. My original Muncie in my '63 had a grind downshifting into second; it was also heavy shifting into second; really noticeable when the car was cold. I swapped out the fluid with fresh Amsoil GL-4 lube and after about 300 miles it all cleared up. I'm just sayin'
I removed the rod and operated the lever by hand but the results were inclusive- hard to get my hand up there.
I did notice the rod is putting a side load inboard on the lever . This doesn't seem right. Shouldn't there be more freedom?
Anyway, I still feel the increased resistance going into/ out of 4th.
I meant to say inconclusive.
I'm not sure I could feel any difference when moving the lever with the rod disconnected between neutral and 3rd vs between neutral and 4th. Tough to get my hand up there.
If there was a difference, it was not great.
I didn't check the feel of the shifter with the rod disconnected. I can do that tomorrow.
I disconnected the rod and roughly measured the torque required to move the lever from neutral to 3rd and from neutral to 4th. Not a great difference- roughly 50 inch-pounds each way. With the rod disconnected, the shifter feels OK.
The side load the rod puts on the lever has me concerned. Since it is a C-3 trans, maybe I have the wrong rod. Trying to locate a C-3 rod but no luck so far, and I'm not sure what rod (C-2 or C-3) I have in there now.
Anyone have a C-3 rod laying around? I tried the C-3 forum but got no replies yet.
Also, not sure what year shifter is on the trans. How to tell?
Last edited by davekp78; Jan 18, 2016 at 03:06 AM.
How is the rod putting a side load on the transmission lever? The stock shifter linkage uses a threaded clevis fitting which is aligned with the lever. That's actually probably better than the Hurst threaded rod blocks that pin into the side of the lever as far as applying linear loading. I forget what the connection at the shifter looks like - it's been 30 years since I've had a Muncie shifter. Is the shifter arm reasonably precise in the case or does it have a lot of side play in it? Having difficulty thinking of how it could be applying a side load on the transmission lever.
Does your linkage look like this? Transmission year makes no difference in this unless somebody has buggered something.
Yes, it looks like that as far as I can tell from underneath.
Why are there two different parts for the 3/4 shift rod? (65-67 vs 68-76)
From the pictures in the catalogs, they seem to be slightly differently shaped. Maybe the wrong one can be causing the side loading on the 3/4 lever?
Let me clarify the side loading symptoms:
When I remove the G clip from the swivel, The swivel won't come out of the lever without creating some slack by loosening the adjustment nuts. Even then, I have to pull sideways very hard to get the swivel out of the lever hole. Seems to me it should be freer (more free).