After waiting 2 years to get my car to me,and another year sorting issues, replacing the clutch etc. I'm down to needing first gear. I have 2nd through 5th and reverse. I've read every thread I can find about shifter adjustment. Most pertain to side shifter transmissions but usually say that the process is similar, just different adjustment points for a tail shifter.

Can anybody tell me how to get 1st gear? Unlike other cars I've owned, it grinds when trying to get into first. The other cars I've owned might grind but you could "push past" the grind and jamb it into gear.It's almost like there isn't enough shifter throw to get it into 1st gear. I've replaced the ball cup bushing at the base of the shifter and have all the other bushings to replace the whole set. I've inspected the others and they don't seem wasted.

I've tried putting it into first before starting the car and it's the same issue. Shifter doesn't have enough throw.....

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

sounds like either a clutch adjustment or a synchro/slider issue.

I'm sure the good Dr. Evil will have some thoughts.

If you're getting 3rd and 5th it's probably not a shifter throw adjustment.

How about reverse?
If you can't shift into first or reverse it could be a broken clutch tube weld inside the tunnel or at the firewall. See if the clutch tube moves when you depress the clutch.

I have reverse. I also have gears 2-5

Personally, I'd see if I could adjust the shifter to see if I can get it in gear at all. If not possible to get it into gear, its in the box.

I have a similar problem, but mine will engage first - it just pops out when I give it throttle.

I narrowed it down to something in the box by disconnecting the linkage completely, then manually putting the lever on the box into first. Then I started it up and gave it gas. When it popped out, I knew it was the box. Might be something you can try as well.

There comes a point after you have ground it a lot that it won't go in any more, no matter how hard you try.

Remove the setup, look at the dog teeth and I suspect that you may have ground them to a point that the have bent over at the top edge.
This mKes it physically impossible to get the two gears to engage.

There are several fixes, but the simple fix is get a new set of dog teeth.
There are other parts that also need to be replaced in many cases.

It's a weekend project, leave the trans in the car, remove the muffler and the rear trans cover....it all gets fixed right there.

Read the pelican article to see pics and know what parts to look at for wear.

This is the fix!

And resolve to keep your clutch adjusted correctly in the future...

--DD

Thanks for all the responses. I haven't been grinding 1st gear for an extended period of time, just enough to try and test drive it. I've only driven the car a 1/2 mile since I've owned it. The clutch is new and is adjusted correctly. I think it's time to chuck the tail shifter and upgrade to a side shift transmission. I called a friend and he has 2 pf them so I'll be picking them up on the 26th. I have everything for a conversion except the shifter.

Thanks again,you guys are so helpful......I love "the world"!

Remember the engine cross bar is different from the tail shift to the side shift also.

I bought the side shifted engine crossmember and linkage, I'm working on a shifter now.

PS my whole family is from Duluth! ......I'm from Kalamazoo

Ok so George,Thepaintedman, inspired me to tear into my transmission. The pictures show what I found, looks like I need a new first gear slider and dog teeth??? Are the parts I need going to be the same out of a side shifted transmission?

I was also wondering how to get the gear off that is still attached to the transmission. Looks like the large nut in the center needs to come off but I don:t know how to remove the speedo drive gear to access the nut.

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Looks pretty bad. Dog teeth and no doubt the slider are bad (you should show a picture of the other side of the slider). So where did all that metal go? The whole gear box should be gone through. You will need special tools to do this repair. Send it out would be my suggestion

I bet you are at least able to work outside most days.
After a look at your photos I would suggest a complete tear down. You may be lucky, but first completely failed, so how far is second? You may get lucky with the higher gears, but looks like the new transmissions are a good idea. Good luck!

I am in Discovery Bay and I have a few boxes of spare parts from a few trans we tore down for a clinic. You are welcome to come and dig through my parts bins for anything you need! PM me if you are interested!

all is not lost; you can repair 1st/reverse slider with limited disassembly; you will have to remove that gear stack, and it looks like you're halfway there. read the Birdboard's write up to help get you going in that direction

http://www.pelicanparts.com/techarticles/9...anny_repair.htm

Yea, I realize I'm cobbling it together for now. I'd like to try replacing the first gear parts to buy some time. I don't want to invest money in this trans because I'm real close to a side shift conversion. In the mean time I'm riding my motorcycle 50 miles each way to work in the fog and freezing my butt off. I just cracked open the core and the parts look better. I'll pop some pix this afternoon.looks like the speedo drive gear is held on with a roll pin?

I got the parts out of my core transmission. They look a lot better to me, let me know what you guys think. The last picture is a picture of the slider that came out of my current trans.Click to view attachment Click to view attachmentClick to view attachmentClick to view attachment

That slider looks useable, clean it up to be sure. The teeth are done. How is the band? Looks possible good in the pic of the original one. That would be weird, but may have led to you issue. Maybe the band and block on the inside failed.

no; you need a deep 30mm drive socket AND an air impact gun to spin off that speedo drive gear. it looks from your donor, you can cobble together enough parts to get you a working first gear.

You will need to lock the trans in 1 and 5 to hold the shafts from turning while you use the 30mm deep socket on the bolt. Should be about 80-90ft/lb. Dont lock the gears if the stack is not in the case and not in a jig. The shafts will pull apart and you will chip a tooth....ask me how I learned that one.

I just grabbed a few of the dogteeth in my stash and found two extreams to show you.

As you can see the one on the left of both these photos I would consider not usable. The ones on the right would be passable but still not ideal.
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Both are shit. Sorry. The wear on the better one is still too much. Like trying to pick up a turd by the clean end.

The profile pic, while well done, is not useful as the teeth wear from the inside out so you dont see anything on the outside profile until it is all done.

You should have one good set attached to one of your spare gears, no?

I guess I wasn't clear, I wouldn't use either but if you are looking for better or worse you have to choose the one on the right.

I was trying to show that even the ones he showed in his photo's have issues.

Ah, then yes

I have another question. I'm ready to button up my transmission but in looking at the picture below,(stolen from OU8AVW's thread), the short shaft on the upper right that holds the counter gear came off of my trans, attached to the rear housing. It seems impossible trying to line up the fat washer with the half moon cut out to line up. Should I tap that short shaft out of the rear housing and tap it into the trans, or should it be attached to the rear housing?

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Dude, stop! Do not remove the shaft. That is not the correct way to do it at all.

Place the tranz bell housing down, you may want to put some wood under it so it sits vertical. Place the notch washer down, the flat bearing on top, the reverse gear, the bearings and spacer inside of it; bearing-spacer-bearing. Then, make sure they are all lined up by looking inside the bore. Drop the tail cone on slowly. The usual hitch is that the flat bearing moves, but you can push it into place with a screwdriver. It is stupid easy and what you posted above is just way wrong.

I hear ya. I only asked because I saw the pic with the shaft on the trans. The problem with your method is getting the car to balance on its front bumper since I'm doing it in the car.

I was going to try grease on the washer in question to hold it in place