Well, this afternoon I was driving north on Rochester road on my way home and came to a stop at the intersection at South Blvd and Rochester Rd. While I was waiting at the light, I put the car in neutral to give the foot a rest from the clutch. Well, when the light turned green I couldn't get the Vette into 1st. So, I thought big deal, put it into 2nd and check it out when I get home, right? Wrong. I couldn't get into 2nd, 3rd, or 4th (Muncie 4-speed), but it would go in reverse. Damn. So, now I'm sitting in the middle of Rochester Road with traffic flying by at 55 MPH... YIKES! I turned the car off and when it was off I could force it into 1st, so then I started the car and limped into a parking lot...it sure didn't feel right going into the parking lot. The clutch/plate sounded and felt okay...no grinding or "crunching" and it sounded like the clutch was engaging. At first I thought that maybe the syncro for 2nd was going because it felt like it was sticking in 2nd right before all this happened,but obviously it's more than that. Well, a flatbed towed my '70 vert to Bill Fox Chevrolet (thanks Hagerty Insurance! ) where it's sitting in the service lot. I usually like to work on my car myself, but with no lift in the garage, it would be a little too much of a PITA to drop the tranny. First thing in the morning I have to go in and talk to the Service Manager.

Any ideas???

 

Yep, welcome to the world of worn out shifters...Or if your lucky, the rod adjusters or shifter arms are loose. What happened is when you shifted into neutral, the trans. stayed in gear. You then put it into first, and were in 2 gears at once. Don't let the dealer charge you for a trans. rebuild, check the linkage first. G/L

 

There is NO way the car could limp anywhere if it was in two gears at once. It DOES sound like shift linkage problems.

 

I know that, DUH..He said he tried to put it into first, it wouldn't go cuz it was probably still in second. He was lucky it didn't go into first, if it did, it would have been in two gears, and locked. He stated that he limped it in second gear.

 

Thanks! I stopped by to talk to the Service Manager this morning and he introduced me to the tranny specilaist who will be looking at my car. The tech was an older fella' that told me "...shucks, I've been working on these since they were new..." So, that gave me a little bit of comfort. Also, the Service Manager had it moved into the garage first thing this morning, even though there are others in front of me. He said that he just didn't feel comfortable leaving it out in the lot, so that was cool. We'll have to wait and see what they say and I'll have to take it from there.

 

hopefully it is just the linkage. ask him if he has heard anymore on the M22 5 sp, I read that it is a pure drop in with no mods.

 

Yep, loos shifter linkage, nothing more. I picked the car up this evening and it's running fine.

 

I am sure that makes you feel much better than having to worry about a rebuild or a new tranny.