I'm a new owner...trying to get familiar with the car. I have a 1978 pace car, 4 speed manual. I drove it the other day and when I got home; I tried to back it into the driveway but my shifter got stuck. It is stuck in 1st gear. My question is... is the transmission in my car top loaded or side loaded?? And how hard will this issue be to fix? ?

 

It is side loaded.
Is the clutch releasing?

 

Yes the clutch releases. Just stuck in gear. When i try to put it in reverse it stalls out. So do I need to undo the arms underneath. Use an Alan wrench?

 

I'd bet that the shifter rods need adjustment. There's a reverse rod adjuster that can slip out, if the bolt holding it from the back, but it will let you 'try to get into first. Since it can't do both mechanically, it stalls, just like what happened to mine. Same symptoms. It may be a different cause, but you're going to have to get it into the garage to check that out.

And it's going to take more than an alan wrench...

 

Considering labor is about 90$ an hour. ..how much you think it will cost me in all to get the work done??

 

You pay yourself $90 an hour? I can't afford to pay myself that much. Get under there and take a look. have some one in the car move the shifter while you watch (not running), move the shift arms with a pair of pliers to get nutural.

 

Eljay, you are funny. Lol. I was going to take it to a mechanic to have them do the work. I'm not much of a mechanic myself. But I guess if i like old cars I need to know how to do my own work and save some money. Get my hands dirty. Lol...ok I will take a look. I was told by someone to jack it up and look on the driver's side by the transmission. ..one arm is vertical and the other slanted. ...The slanted one is the one that needs adjusting...does that sound right?

 

If you're going to jack the car up, make sure you have a good pair of jackstands before you even get underneath it. The reverse rod is the shorter of the three. There's one each for 1-2, 3-4 and R. Each one hooks up to it's own arm on the stick shift and at the other end, a rotating tab on the side of the transmission.

The tabs need to be all be all aligned straight up, to be in neutral. And the shifter rods follow suit, having to be aligned themselves with the gap in the shifter cranks on the shifter itself. You should really get yourself a Factory Service Manual for your Corvette, before you even attempt this. It is not as easy or intuitive as I make it to be.

 

I went through this. it would work a while and the nut would work its way loose and kink up again.
yeah if you look at some picks of your trasmissing you can visualise how easy it SHOULD be to fix.
Meh, my mech needed a 12 pack so he tacked the nuts with a welder. easy enough to break free to work on later but they wont slip now.
My hands were just too big to get up in there anymore.

 

I like the weld tack on the nuts. Great idea and thanks for reminding me, that I used Loc-Tite last time I did this.

 

Beer payment !!! Easy on the pocket book right there

 

Well if anyone is in the charles town west Virginia area, who wants to fix the problem, I would gladly buy them a 12 pack plus give them some cash.

 

Search is your friend.

Getting the linkage stuck with the reverse and first gates is not uncommon. It doesn't happen often, but it does happen, and usually when you are dressed up and/or it is raining out.

Here are some links that are helpful.

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...uge-lenth.html

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...djustment.html


I was looking for some in photos, but couldn't find any. Here are some photos that give you an idea of what you are looking for under there.





These are Hurst shifters, so if you have a factory shifter, they will look a little different. But basically, the three arms out of the bottom of the shifter should all line up if you are in neutral. Have someone in the car with you under it. (WARNING - Have the car well supported on jack stands or on a lift or something. )

If they are not, then you can move the levers until they do. This may be hard if you have one stuck somewhere. Odds are the first - second arm is not going into the neutral slot when you try to shift into reverse. This means you are locking the transmission gears against themselves and that is why the engine stalls.

You may have to adjust the linkage. There are various methods used. Some have threaded rods to the arms and there is a nut on each side of a pivot block. Others use a threaded pivot block that must be threaded forward or backward to adjust after you remove the pivot from the lever arm. The two above have examples of the pivots that thread on the rod and are located on the shifter arms.

Below is examples where you move the locking nuts to slide the pivot along the arms.




You'll figure it out when you get under there.

Hint: take a digital camera under with you and take several pictures. This way, if you get into trouble, you can refer to them to get back to how it is or to post and get more help from us.

 

Thank you guys for all of your help. This definitely sounds like a job for someone that knows what they are doing. Unfortunately that is not me. Lol. I guess I will take her to the shop and have a mechanic look at it. Again thanks for all the useful information.

 

You are talking a job that some guys have done in the past on a scissors jack on the side of the road and you are going to take it to a mechanic who may charge you as much as $100 to $150?

You really need to decide about having a classic car. This kind of stuff can happen at any time and at any place, and unless you like to keep a flatbed driver in boat money, you should figure this stuff out for yourself.

You could have just jammed the linkage from a sloppy shift, and once you reset them by hand, they are good for another year or 10 or until you get sloppy with your shifting again.

If you did stick it in 2nd like is typical, then you will only have 2nd gear to get to the mechanic. Once you try to shift to 3rd, you will jam the transmission and stall the engine.

The car will leave there one of three ways:

1. On a flatbed
2. In 2nd gear only
3. Like normal after you pull the linkage back into the neutral gate (all shifter lever arms down together.)


Go run around on Friday and Saturday nights and find the cruise nights. This is one place you can get a lot of help.

Not far from you is a place called Summit Point. There is a race track there, and every racer there is capable. You help them out, they will help you. Racers always need crew, of any shape or size or mechanical ability.

 

Jack that bad boy up and take a look, that's the way to learn. Get a friend to move the shifter, and all the excellent advice given above will make sense.
It's pretty tight up in there, take a flashlight

 

Yeah I know where the track is...still haven't made it there yet. I work 4 jobs; kinda hard to do much more of anything else. I will jack the car up and take a look. I guess I will have to buy some jack stands. Hopefully I have all the right tools.

 

If you are going to do this, I'm going to repeat what has already been said - please use a solid jack and jack stands. Make sure the jack stands are on level (solid) ground and are carefully placed under the car's frame (not the floor pan etc.) If you are not sure how to do this, please find a friend that knows what he is doing to help you. If that's not possible, take it to a shop and pay the money.

I have lost a friend due to his car falling on him. It can and does happen. We want you to be here to enjoy your Vette.

Adam