I tried different adjustments and it gets stuck in gear or between gears when drive it. On the lift it shifts into all the gears, until I try to drive it. I have to get under the car to move the shift arm on the transmission with my hand to free it up. I've adjusted the linkage so the levers at the column are even with each other and in neutral. The transmission is rebuilt and I converted it to an open driveshaft. I'm going nutz. Any ideas? Or the correct way to adjust the linkage?
I assume stock Ford trans and everything. Adjustment should be simple...each gear lever has three positions. Each handles 2 gears and neutral. Remove the connecting rods. Click through each of the trans levers to identify the center neutral position. It should click...if no clicks you may have had the detent clicker springs die on you, in which case things might drift. Get both of those into neutral, then get the two levers on column into neutral. Adjust the connecting rod lengths so that they exactly match the pins on the levers, done.
I was real careful when I installed the springs and ball for the detent. Plus they were new. I'll double check how it feels. Thanks
Here's the other pic I meant to post, just in case. With new springs down there, detents should be rock solid at the bottom at least unless wrong adjustment of rods is stopping movement before it clicks.
I had the same shifting problems with my 40. It is equipped with a 49 Mercury overdrive but the parts are interchangeable. My transmission was supposedly rebuilt for me but I had trouble from the start. I was constantly having trouble shifting and especially get locked up between gears. After a season of dealing with this we pulled the trans and found several problems. Chief among them was the that the little pin was missing in the detent system. We were able to buy a kit from Van Pelt sales to fix that problem. we also decided to swap the mercury arms out for some 40 type we had on hand. The fork detent were also worn enough that we thought they were may not be engaging properly. These are the new replacements. The car has shifting beautifully since. Now if I could just get it to quick leaking........ Good luck, I hope you get it fixed so you can enjoy your ride!
Thanks. It seems like the detent is working. I found the adjustable linkage is very loose and needs new bushings top and bottom. I'll replace these and readjust before I tear into the tranny.
Yes, we had all new bushings and spent a lot of time trying to adjust the problem away because the transmission had supposedly been rebuilt by an expert. Turned out he passed over several worn parts that we wound up replacing internally. We learned a lot in the process but it was a lot of work to get that trans in and out of the car. I hope yours turns out to be the bushings.
39 guy has the way to start looking at problems.....Back in the 50's I had the same problem with 40-48 Ford column shifts I usually put a stronger spring in the top of the shifter tube where the tube fits at steering wheel end....Fords always use to jamb and would have to get out and pull the shift levers up to ... even....always was a pattern to change first to second...lift the stick up and let the spring push the tube down before changing into second..some reason Chevy you could just push it straight through
Thanks you guys. I should get the bushings tomorrow. When I converted it to an open driveshaft I saw that everything looked good. It was rebuilt by a very reputable guy that's been doin it for many years. He passed away shortly after he rebuilt it. I'll keep you updated.
Update, I replaced all 4 bushings and readjusted the linkage. It felt better, but still wasn't right. I tried putting the gear shifter in all the gears one at a time. In Second gear I looked under the hood and saw the shift arm at the column was hitting the back of the head at the fins. The engine was built by Flathead City in Oregon. The heads he used had higher fins. I ground down the fins at the contact point and almost fixed everything. Next I found at the top of the column where the shift shaft goes into the top of the column was sticking when I pulled up on it to get first and reverse. I lubed it and now it works awesome. So I had 4 things wrong with it. 1. Linkage Adjustment 2. Linkage bushings 3. Hitting the left head fins 4. Lubing the shift shaft. Here's a picture of the head after I made clearance. I want to thank everybody for their input. I hope it helps someone else too.
Can you pull this side cover off without removing the tranny? Yes, a bit of fussing, but quite do-able.
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