shifter adjustment

When I rebuilt my gearbox I made tooling to lock the shift rods in place to line those pieces and the shift forks up perfectly . . . . well it's not actually those pieces . . . it's the pieces they slot into and can adjust except for one of them . .. read on.

Once you lock the shift rods at the neutral detent position, you lock down piece number 21 . . .. it doesn't have any adjustment like 20 and 22 do . .. . 20 and 22 pinch on the shift rod, 21 "shoulder bolts" onto the shift rod probably due to clearance issues in there. So I lockdown 21 and line up 20, 22 and all the shift forks at that position with my tooling holding the shift rods solidly in the neutral position.

I think the manual showed using the shift ball detents themselves as locks but there still seemed to be quite a bit of movement even when detented which is why I made up some tools.

Just sharing what I did which was way easier with the gearbox sitting on a stand upside down. .. . I probably wouldn't mess with it if it shifts okay.

Sean

 

If you drop plate assy #2 with all the pivots on it I think can get it to it with a crows foot or wrench. One PITA I can think of is they'll be nothing holding the shift rods in place while you try and move it over after you loosen it . . . . the balls and springs that were held in by the sump cover detent the rods at neutral . . . then there's another internal set of detents that prevent both rods from being moved simultaneously. Maybe if you engage another shift rod in gear the internal detent mechanism will hold the shift rod you need to adjust firmly and accurately enough.


Good luck.

Sean

 

Make a tool that's a replica of the side of the tranny cover that has the holes for the detent balls & springs. You can then either use it to hold the balls & springs in the detent notches, or make up dowels that are held in place of the balls & springs.

The tool doesn't have to be metal, it can be a good hardwood like maple, oak, cherry, hicory..., or a hard plastic like acrylic, delrin, nylon...

luckydynes,
Was that your tranny rebuild thread that had a lot of good pix? If so, could I get a CD with the pix on it? I'll be rebuilding Pizzaman's tranny this salt season, & they'd be a big help.

 

If not, it might be mine... PM me if you need them

 

DavidDriver
You've got eMAIL.

 

No that wasn't my thread but happy to pass on what I did.

I'm about to tear into another gearbox I have. There was something that just didn't seem quite right when I was trying to lock the rods in place with just the detent . . . maybe it was that the shift rods could still rotate a bit and because it was a complete tear down I was lining up everything. . . not just the one piece. Here's a pic of some of the tools I made. The pins have a taper on the end which locks into the shift rod. The block on the right just snuggly fits into the pieces that PAD is lining up. Might be a bit overkill




Sean
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

I like those tools. The solid locking is a great idea.

I was just going to replicate that section of the sump cover & make a mold so I could supply the tool. I think instead I'm going do design a tool similar to yours & offer that one.

I've had a suspicion for a couple of years that the infamous balky 2nd gear while cold in these trannys is a marginal alignment and clearance combination that goes away when the trans. housing expands as it warms up. There may be a hydraulic lock element, but it just doesn't feeel like one. With the 3 rods locked solidly in position, and the ability to free up any specific rod, it should be possible to finally figure out exactly what's going on.

Umm, BTW, how does 2nd gear behave after you finshed your alignment?

 

1st to 2nd is fine even when cold . The stiffer motor mounts made a difference in the way the whole car shifts and feels also.

When you really get in there you can see the alignment becomes real critical for the internal detent mechanism that stops 2 rods from engaging simultaneously. Also making sure these detent pins are free in the bores.

I'm getting geeked up to get into another box

Sean

 

Part #19 should be (easily) removable (to allow that spring and ball to come out); parts #16 are not, and the bottom ends should follow the same stair-step down pattern as the balls in this photo:
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Not really (without some serious disassembly to remove the shifting rods) -- other than making something hook-like that can reach up thru the tube ID to top surface of the tube to pull it back down. You should only have one that is wrong place as the center one should be about flush, one recessed, and one protruding down into the hole pocket on the pan. This photo shows the positions of the three #16 tubes:
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Here's another photo that might help: