After some stop and go traffic last week in my '47 Chevy Fleetline, I suddenly had the transmission pop out of first gear from a dead stop. This has happened a handful of times in the 2 years I've owned the car and chalked it up to me not having the shifter all the way down. (This car has an older vacuum shift bypass and the linkage has some slop in it, but I've racked up about 2,000 miles without a problem.) My wife & I drove it to a show last weekend without any problems. I didn't think anything of it and parked it for the rest of the week. Today was sunny and 69 degrees, so I wanted to get the old Chevy out and take it to work, but it was a no-go. I got 1/2 way down my street and the shifter spit back at me with a violent >POP<. I tried stopping and slowly starting three times. It seemed to get worse each time, so back into the garage he went. Linkage felt like it always did and would shift into first just fine, but once the clutch was applied, bang. I intend to crack open the shop manual (and a few of these ) after work, and see what I can see. Do you guys think this could be a simple linkage adjustment or likely something worse? Parts Background: Motor mounts were new in 2011, and so was the clutch, throwout bearing and pilot bushing. Gear oil looks good, maybe a little low but there. First gear was always a little noisy and even with the clutch in coasting with the lever in first, you could hear gear whine. Second and third are fine, as is reverse. BTW: I have a '46 transmission that I can clean up and swap in if need be. I assume those are similar in design? Thanks as always in advance for everyone's input.
pull the side cover (after draining fluid), turn the "u" shaped shifter forks 180 degrees, re-install cover, should work as new; one side of those forks gets worn. ..probly no need to unhook shift arms if you got room.
UPDATE: Its fixed! The problem wound up being not only the loose selector arm, but it was worn as well. The sloppiness prevented to fully engage first gear so pulled it, and then removed the shift selector arm from my spare trans. Here's the side by side comparison. Both are aftermarket vacuum shift bypass arms from a kit, probably very old. You can't really tell, but the part of the arm that slides onto the transmission selector shaft was really worn out, and the keyway on both arms are pretty marred up. But the arm from the spare trans (top) seemed to fit snug and once tightened down gave me a nice, smooth shifting linkage. I also liked the welded-on extra 'washer' on the section where the linkage attaches. After swapping them, the shifting was the tightest and smoothest we've ever had in this car. My wife & test pilot Sarah made sure it worked well, and we're back up and running again. Just wanted to share in case it helps the next guy or gal. Thank you all again for the advice and happy motoring!
Thanks monkeyspunk!! I have the same problem, and was thinking it was that arm, as it was also loose and sloppy on the shaft. It didnt feel right when going from 1st to 2nd. Off to my spare trans and see what it has on there. I only found out about the vaccumm shift replacement after looking at my manual and it did.nt look like what I had!
36roadster- best of luck. Hope it turns out to be something simple for you. If your spare won't work, there's places that still sell new vacuum shift bypass kits with new arms. https://www.chevsofthe40s.com/detail/21425/Gear_Shift_Conversion_Kit_Converts_Vacuum_Assist.html $150 is a little steep for what you get, but they're available. Cheers,
I had a similar problem on my 47 Chevy. Same transmission as yours. Finally pulled it out, opened the cover and saw what looked like a meth addict's mouth in there. Teeth broken and chipped all over the place. I guess a PO didn't quite understand what a clutch was. I finally decided to just go with a rear end swap and T5. Rear end is already pulled out from car, now I'm just waiting for some dollar bills to fall into my wallet before I can start buying the parts I need. LOL
LOL @ Meth addict's mouth That T5 and rear swap will certainly make it more highway friendly. Will a T5 and truck shifter clear the stock seats ?
I don't have stock seats. I have some weird faux bench seats from some kind of 80's Cadillac. The shifter will clear. That's why I have an angle grinder, welder, big hammer and a foul mouth!
Thanks for the picks in the follow up! Any chance I could get a photo of your Shifter linkage configuration? I'm about to replace some bushings to tighten up my shifter in my 48 Fleetline and I think it would help to see some other's properly configured setups. Thanks again!
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