I’m sure this has been covered before but I was not able to find what exactly was of help. I read in one post I should have about 1/8” of up/down travel on the cable to suggest proper tension. I have adjusted it in and out and everywhere in between to no avail. With the engine running I am not able to put the car into either first or reverse without grinding. I do not see any movement of the clutch housing inside of the tunnel, so I don’t think that is the issue. I have a brand new cable installed and other than trying to get the car to move,, this is far as the cable has been used. I can see the arm pulling in and out on the transaxle as well when depressing the clutch. Anyone have an idea of what I am missing here. Looking for suggestions.

Are you sure that it isn’t a shifter alignment issue?

Can get 2-5 cleanly?

I am not able to get into either 2nd or 5th. I have not adjusted the shift linkage by any set method. It feels like it easily finds the gears but will check the proper method to adjust the 914 transaxle. I’ll Keep you posted.

Before you do anything else I’d ask someone to push the clutch in while you watch the throw out arm movement. It doesn’t take much movement to engage the clutch.

On thing at a time...

Let us know.

Which gears can you cleanly engage with the motor running and idling? Everything except 2&5? Tail or side shift? What kind of shape are the linkage bushings in? There is no pat or simple answer to your problem without more info. There are a lot of 'could be'.

I asked my wife to double check as I watched the movement for the throwout. Looks like it moves about 3/4 of an inch maybe a little further in and out. About what I would expect from working on other cars in the past. I also checked to see if my shift pattern was set up correctly. With the engine off, if I pull the shifter towards my leg, to the left I can get it into reverse and first and as I push it forward slowly from first it tends to automatically slide over to allow for second gear. From there, I can pull it down to third push it up and over to fourth and down to fifth. As mentioned I have not followed any pre-determined manual for adjustment just kind of like I had done with other cars in the past mostly British. To me, it feels and seems correct. I would think if I had the cable adjusted properly it really shouldn’t matter what gear I’m trying to go into it should go without grinding. The only thing I can think of at this time is I’m trying to make two large of an adjustment at a time. If someone says oh yeah you only turn the nut a quarter turn each time to adjust I would say I’m definitely missing the point. I can feel the difference in the puddle with adjustment and thought I had it right from that but didn’t work. So still at a loss and appreciate suggestions

There's a spring loaded plate in the shift lever assem (you can't see it until the shift assem is removed from the car) that pushes the lever over and out of the 1/R plane. Effectively blocking out 1/R and serving as a guide for 2/3. Start the engine and put it in the gears. All of them. How many grind?

Just to clarify it’s a 1974 1.8 L with a side shift transmission. I had pulled the shifter out cleaned everything and all parts looked fresh a few months back So I didn’t replace anything there. I had replaced the shifter grommet for the shifter rod to fit through the fire wall, so no play in the rod. I will pull the back end to double check but as remembered it appeared decent, no wear but can’t recall the fit.

Double checked shift pattern, both set screws and the fit of socket and ball at tail end of shifter. Everything appears in order. With that said, I know I’m missing something for it not wanting to go into gear while the engine is running.

Sounds to me like the cable is just too loose....tighten the nut one full turn, start engine in neutral, depress clutch & count"one thousand, two thousand" and try to select reverse. It should just "snick" and go in. If it grinds, tighten the cable another full turn. Your new cable needs some use to settle itself so may need to be overtightened a bit for a while. Use reverse as it doesn't have a synchro to add resistance to the gear selection process. For me, my 3 transmissions have what I'll call a "bitchy" first gear synchro and will drop in nicely if the car is just rolling a bit but will refuse if sitting still so don't expect too much from using first as your test....

So I may be making too large of an adjustment and going from one extreme to the other. I’ll try turning the nut fewer turns but keep thinking I won’t have any gear teeth left if I finally do get it adjusted. Thought it would be much simpler than this too find the elusive sweet spot for the cable.

The clutch and shifter on these is wildly different than a MGB or TR6, like it was designed by a Martian in comparison. You need to leave your British car knowledge at the door (spoken as a guy who likes British cars and has several)

If you can get cleanly into 2-5 then the clutch cable is fine and your shifter alignment is off.

The only thing that comes to mind is how the cable itself is run. On the old and new cable, for that matter they have on the outer housing an extra piece of rubber sheath about three inches long that envelopes the cable housing. The old one slides up and down the length while the new one does not move. I assume it is used as extra protection where it runs through the engine support mount. My question, since the new one does not move and does not fit through the engine mount support hole, would it have an effect if it were up against the front of the engine mount instead? I have a picture attached which shows that is how mine currently sits. The extra rubber piece shown is between the engine support and the fire wall side of the engine support. Is this my issue?Click to view attachment

I changed to a new clutch cable this winter and I have it adjusted to where there is no thread showing rearwards of the throwout bearing arm so it needs to be quite tight to function for me but then with cars this old they are all individuals now.


I think you could try this if my brain has woken up yet.
Make sure you have space infront of the car, then pull the fuel pump relay or coil to dizzy cable and put it in second gear, depress the clutch, bump the starter briefly...does the car lurch forwards? then you need to tighten the cable more.

This may be helpful as to what to check to see if the clutch is correctly setup.

https://www.pelicanparts.com/techarticles/9...ch_replace3.htm

Did you get this sorted?

I finally resolved my issue. I believe since this car sat for 4-5 years prior to purchasing it, the clutch had rusted to the fly wheel... how I remedied it, I jacked the cars rear wheels about 2” off the ground, put the car in 5th gear, with clutch pedal depressed started the car, wheel were turning so I slowly would press on the brakes let clutch out, depress and eventually I noticed I when I let the clutch out the wheels were no longer turning unless I let the clutch pedal back out. I now need to properly adjust the cable to get to where the pedal feels right. Will work on the adjustment later today.
I appreciate everyone’s comments and suggestions. I know when others comment, there is concern and commodore amount fellow enthusiasts. Thanks all.