My 71 stocker has a new trans. It shifts nicely through all gear, note still breaking in, so it's tight. But what i notice is when setting at a light, and pushing clutch down and going into first it can be hard to get it right and sometimes I have to double clutch to get into first so I don' t get a grind. All new bushing down to the rear tail...is there a correct way to make adjusting under tunnel inspection panel.

It's a 914 thing we all experience sometimes, been one of the more popular Post subjects. In short, the best solution is, when coming to a stop down shift to second and then to first, before stopping and keep the clutch peddle down until the light turns green.

Also, the shift linkage bushings ware out and may need to be replaced. The one in the fire wall is the one that I think is potentially the major one to replace that helps the most. My 74 is a side shifter but your's may still be a rear shifter which is a little harder to get right with the adjustments for clean shifting I beleive.

I always shift to first while still rolling. If I use neutral, I shift to third then first.

You may need to adjust the clutch...

--DD

My new box did a little grinding. Readjusted the clutch cable and it's performing much better. In fact, I'm going to tighten it up another notch soon.

How fresh?
Who built it?
Something sounds wrong for rebuilt

I Agree tighten the clutch first.
But something is off.

Habitually sitting at a stop with the clutch pedal depressed causes premature and extensive wear on the crankshaft thrust bearing, as well as the case. If they're even available, oversize thrust bearings are probably expensive, and I've never seen one for a T4 engine. We usually just toss the case. The same holds true for most engines, and I've seen failures in Hondas, Mitsubishis, Hyundais, Toyotas, VW and Audi inline engines, and Chevys. Another specific problem in 914s is accelerated clutch cable wear and tube damage.

The Cap'n

+1 on doing the simple, easy taking a couple of turns on the clutch adjustment, watching closely that you just begin to get engagement with the pedal about 1/3rd of the way up from the floor. This can also be checked with everything at operating temp by sitting in neutral foot off of clutch, then press clutch to floor, count 1,2,3 and 4 and shift into reverse. If no grinding, then clutch is OK.

That said, the first gear synchros and dog teeth condition are all different. I have the extreme pleasure of driving two Dr. Evil rebuilds every week. Standard procedure for me at traffic lights is in neutral with foot off of clutch. Kermee has a wonderful first gear, clicks in easily with a firm hand every time no matter what. Buttercup has a balky position on the synchro that sometimes just won't cooperate, other times drops in just fine (BTW she has the Rennshifter complete unit--wonderful).
So....standard procedure for Buttercup is to always shift into first while still rolling just coming to a stop. Then, at the stop with foot on clutch, shift it into neutral, back into first, then to neutral & take foot off of clutch to wait for the interminable light to go green. Nine times out of ten she drops in just fine--the tenth time it's just a second gear start, (which for that engine is a piece of cake.)

John

www.aztransaxle.com did the rebuild, I am going to adjust the clutch and c how it goes from there, thanks for all the input, much appreciated. Oh, when rolling to a stop, I have no problem going into first gear. I do agree about not keeping clutch pressed down while waiting for green light. Sounds like I'll have to adjust it out a little more.

What oil?

Did the itemized receipt show a new slider/synchro?

As Cap'n said, sitting at a stoplight with the clutch pedal depressed is bad news bears for the crankshaft bearings. Same holds true for when you start the engine and turn off the engine. All three of these things should be done with the car in neutral, and your foot off the clutch pedal.

As for the first gear crunch thing. My car did it horribly when I got it - I had to wait a good 5 or 6 seconds before shifting into 1st after depressing the clutch pedal. And despite the dumb ass PO (scotty boy) saying he'd adjusted the clutch cable...he obviously hadn't. It needed tightening....alot of tightening. It's much better now, although I still need to rebuild my pedal cluster to fix it completely.

But I have a similar situation as wndsrfr's 2nd car, where sometimes the synchro just won't cooperate. Usually what I do is come to a stop in neutral, foot off the clutch pedal. Once stopped I shift into reverse then 1st, then back to neutral, foot off the clutch and wait for the light. When it turns green it almost always slides into 1st like butter.

Out here in the LA area, you'd better be anticipating that green light and be ready to move quickly when the light changes, else the idiots behind you will either honk or hit you in the rear

yep, new slider/synchro. the owner at aztransaxle says he uses a basic 85-95 gear oil.

its gotta be the clutch adjustment (small chance but not likely the clutch cable tube is contributing)

There is a small bushing under the throw out bearing fork if it wears too much or cracks it sort of changes the geometry of the throw out action and makes it really hard if not impossible to adjust the clutch exactly right. It's a whopping 3 bucks from Pelican, but of course you have to pull the trans.

with the age of all our cars and the number of times flywheels have been resurfaced, I found my 1st gear / hard to shift at times only at a stop issue was cause by the throwout fork hitting the side of the trans with a full pedal depress, causing the clutch to still slightly drag. . It worked fine for 2nd thru 5th and 1st as long as I was still rolling. . and sometimes at a stop. . sort of an adventure when the light turned green. . . . . . It wasn't until i got a friend to push the pedal with me under the car to see what was going on. .
I pulled the trans last week and it took a .100 washer to shim the pivot ball out and get the geometry back to normal. . and suddenly the pedal feels a lot easier to push and it goes down a lot smoother. .

I adjusted the clutch and it doing better. I put a Delrin (Black) - Heavy Duty pulley a couple years ago, works great. what's the life on a pelican clutch cable, mine's about 5 yrs old, but no fraying by the pulley. do they stretch after awhile?

Oh yeah they do. When you find yourself adjusting it more frequently, it's time to have a new one ready to go in.

New parts can make stuff suck for a while, too. Simple steps:

Does reverse grind AT ALL?
- If yes
* clutch too loose and dragging. Tighten and try again.
*If flywheel machined, put any old washer under the pivot ball as mentioned. No need to measure. Any washer will work. Put teflon tape on threads as with 2 washers it will leak.

- If no
*Did you get new parts? They can be stiff and uncooperative at times. Give it a little time.
*Are all of your shift rods, bushings in good order? Rectify what is not.
*Were the internal shift rods adjusted correctly? Many do this wrong. It is most important. Any monkey can swap parts.
*Sometimes, I dont know why, they still have issues. A close analysis of your 1/R stuff would answer this. Measurements would be needed. The synchro band is likely culprit.

Well, drove the 914 to Prescott, sat at red lights for a little while, and the adjustment improved a lot. shifted to first much easier going from neutral clutch out while waiting for light to change. Thanks for all the advice 914 world. Also goes into reverse without a grind.