1953 Chevy 210 (3 on tree)stuck in 2nd gear?

I just got my second project home which is a 1953 Chevy 210 with 235 and 3 on the tree. I pulled into the driveway still in second, parked,and went to shift into 1st (car not running) and noticed I cant get it out of 2nd gear at the shifter. I know the clutch is good because I started it again, and pulled it up about 10 feet and parked again after realizing it wasnt going to shift. I cant get any other gear or neutral. Any advice on what I should be keying in on? Possibly linkage or is the trans locked from possibly being worn and 2 gears tried to engage at the same time?? Thanks in advance -Red

 

straighten out the shift rods on the column under the hood. (emergency brake applied!)

 

I would pull the shift rods off the trans and manually move the levers. If there good it's a shift lever problem. You may have a damaged shift fork or the detents may have broken or fallen out of place in the trans.

 

Worn out linkage, joints, mechanism. Normal for old Chevys. Work the levers by hand. Will probably loosen up. Probably a good idea to carry a big screwdriver 'till you get things tightened up.

 

The shift rods from the trans to the steering coloum are miss aligned. Hope this helps.

 

Give both lever arms a yank so that they are both sitting horizontal. I used to have to do this in my truck when it had the 3 on the tree. Be shure to swear at them.

 

I got under the hood and moved the shift levers by hand and it moved through all the gears nicely (even reverse)with no binding or resistance. I had too much play/slop in the handle and it was binding up but not when I moved them by hand under the hood. I dont believe it can be fixed since it is worn with over 50 yrs of use, so I will see about finding a replacement. Thanks for all the info and help!!

 

Check the motor mounts . If the engine moves around it can jam the linkage too.

 

LOL! been there done that a thousand times. i finally got pissed and went for a T5. it was getting dangerous having to get out of the truck in traffic to align those shift rods and if you were on a grade, it'd put tension on the gears making it impossible without pushing on the truck. the Chebby engineers should be shot for that design...

 

it's not the years, it's a bad design. i had a 72, Pontiac Ventura with a 3sp on the tree and 200,000 on the odometer. never had a lick of trouble with the shifter. it's a POS. do a T5 conversion.

 

If you want to keep the 3 speed just put a floor shift conversion in the car. Lots easier than a trans and rear end swap! Or find a shifter box in a salvage yard, one that's in better shape than yours. They don't all hang up like that.
A trick you soon learn is to give the shifter a wiggle in Neutral before going through the gate from the Second-High position to the First-Reverse position, or vice-versa. That ensures that it's all the way out of the previous gear before you try going for the next one. It won't hang up between Second and High, or even First and Reverse, because they are on a common link.

 

I second the wiggle technique. Works everytime.