Stuck in Gear, new trans stuck in 5th gear Options

[astronomerdave]

I just bought a newly rebuilt side shifter to upgrade my '72 tail shifter. Upon initial assembly of the shift linkage I had the trans in N, let the cabin shift lever find its place left-to-right (which was mostly upright), held it centered front-to-back, and tightened the bolt on the forked part under the shifter plate.

I shifted into R, backed out, then 1, and took it for a test drive. 1-2-3 no problem. But I couldn't find 4th gear; it looked like the shifter wasn't moving over far enough. So I figured it was just a simple shifter adjustment. Back in the garage I loosened the adjustment bolt, moved the shifter over a bit, and re-tightened.

Sitting stationary in the garage I checked R-1-2-3-4-5 and then it was stuck. I couldn't move it at all at that point. (I actually thought it was stuck in 4th but now that I look at it, it could be 5th.)

I removed the linkage and tried grabbing the little input shaft arm right on the trans but I cannot move it. There is a little bit of front-to-back play but not enough to change gears and no up-down movement.

The questions:

1) Should this be possible and how is this possible to get stuck in gear?

2) Can I remedy this at home?

The place I bought it offered to pay for shipping both ways so they'll take care of me if I have to do that. They suggested I first try to remove the two nuts securing the cover around the input shaft on the side and move some kind of fork in/out of some kind of detent. Not being a transmission guy I don't quite understand what I'm looking for. Plus, as I suspect, if the shift arm can't move whatever it is, how can I do this with my finger? I did remove this and pulled out the input shaft with its attached three-tanged arm, but not sure how to proceed now.

Thanks...

[ClayPerrine]

The side shifter fork for the 4-5 gears is mis-adjusted. This is common in our transmissions after a number of years of wear on the intermediate plate. If you use the book setting of 3 MM, there is enough play in the shafts due to wear to allow the side shifter to pop out of the fork and end up in no man's land. Then it is jammed, and won't go back in to the fork without removal.

You can fix it temporarily by taking the side shifter console out, and using a screwdriver, pop the shift fork back in place. The reinstall the shifter console. But it will happen again.

The recommended fix is to lower the clearance to 2MM, as specified for the clearance for the R-2 shift rod. This will resolve it permanently.

I also recommend that you use a cut down trans case to adjust it, not that delrin POS jig... the delrin jig is sloppy, and you can't be sure you have things right unti it is in the car. With a cut down tranny case, you can mount everything, and install the side shifter console. The adjust everything to work right, checking as you go along.


Bottom line to fix it... you have to pull the gear stack and lower the clearance between the 2-3 shift rod, and the 4-5 shift rod to 2 MM.

Good Luck!