Hard Shifting Options

[lsintampa]

75 2.0

I can shift into all gears, but shifting is hard...

What I mean by hard is that I need to put some muscle into getting the car into some of the gears.

1st - grinds just about every time I try to get it in.

2nd - easiest to shift into

3rd - hard to engage

4th - harder to engage than 3rd

5th - hard to engage

Aside from that, there have been times that it was equally hard to get it out of a gear.

New bushings - adjusted shift pattern I think correctly.

Car is new to me and has only been running (motor rebuild recently) maybe 400 miles since the rebuild. I did have the tranny axle seals replaced - but that's about all that's been done to it.

[Dr Evil]

Only adjust the clutch first. The clutch should start to disengage about 1/4 to 1/3 of pedal travel. If you are putting it to the floor to get it to disengage, that is an issue of too loose of a cable.

Why does R grind? Because 1-5 have parts on them to synchronize your shifting into them. This will cover up, to some extent, any issues with the clutch not fully disengaging. However, R does not have any synchronization hardware. It is a straight cut gear for the slider to engage. If there is any clutch drag then your transmission parts are still spinning in neutral and when you go to select R your spinning hardware will abuse each other (grind). Any grind from full stop, shifting from neutral to R is diagnostic of at least a need to check the clutch cable.

Part of examining the clutch cable is to also examine the clutch cable tube in the center channel. It is welded at that firewall, and at the front of the tube under the shifter on the drivers side of the center tunnel. If the tube is loose, your clutch pull will be significantly reduced and thus you can not fully disengage the clutch no matter how much you adjust the cable.