3 speed problems no nuetral

hey guys got good news and bad first the good got the car (1950 ford shoebox) out of the garage on its own power.the bad i cant find netral what do i do revese works and first as well. already changed the colum bushings. need help should i pull trans

 

The linkage probably need adjustment.. column linkage is a pain in the ass.... did you undo the linkage? or can you undo the linkage for neutral?

 

yes it is adjustable took the car out for a spin today engine sounds cool but the trans shifts hard car also dies out on me and wont start until the silinoid cools or you hit it. its almost impossible to down shift. locked up the wheels when i did in middle of the road. got it back home safely do you think it still needs an adjustment?

 

come on guys little help . i got extra 3 speeds i could use but dont want to do it if i dont have to.

 

Yes adjust the damm thing. Disconect the rods at one end or the other. Put the trans in neutral [make sure it is] ,put both levers on the collum even with each other pointing straight to the center of the car . Then adjust the rods so they will fit without moving any of the arms/levers. Shift lever should point to 3 o'clock in neutral.Sounds like it's not all the way out of one gear when you are trying to select another.

 

cool man thanks ill do that now! latezzzzz

 

Is there the possibility that the bearing is froze or galled up? the one inside the front inpuit shaft the rear tail shaft fits inside it. We once reassembled a ford three speed without a tailhousing gasket just silicone. It jammed the tail shaft and inpuit and would not spin freely in netural. OldWolf

 

Do like John Evans says, but block the wheels so it cant roll, and make sure you can move the trans levers without bind before you hook up the rods to the column.

 

didnt block it but i rocked it back and forth while in neutral took all linkages off and set in neutral (where its supposed to be) but it doesnt fall in. got it to fall a couple of times in neutral but as soon as i set it i couldnt find it any more. weird . scratchin my head with this one

 

If you are talking about the gear selector at the top of the column ("not falling in") when you go from 1st to 2nd. then you probably have a problem at the base of the column. Are you sure the trans is not in neutral when the selector is half way between 1st and rev.?

Nothing "falls in" at the trans end of the linkage. It sounds to me like your selector arm is staying in the first and reverse arm at the base of the column. The two arms at the base of the column where the rods connect must be parallel to each other in neutral for the gear selector to move up and down smoothly between the 1st and reverse arm and the 2nd and third arm. If one arm is higher or lower than the other arm at the base of the column, adjust the rods until they line up. At that point the selector arm at the top should move up and down smoothly and it will "fall" when you hit neutral as you shift from 1st to 2nd. When it falls it picks up the 2nd/3rd arm.

Put the arms on the trans in neutral, adjust the rods so that they slide into their respective holes WITH the arms at the base of the column parallel to each other.

 

Input shaft is frozen to pilot bearing so input is still spinning when engine is running acts like no clutch

 

how bout the colum it self? the top lever goes up and down freely and doesnt move the shifter next to the steering wheel. the bottom lever does move the shaft and the shiter up and down. if you hook up the links then it does control the gears. is that normal or is ther a broken pin or washer that needs to be replaced or rebuilt. noticed that before when i replace the bushings on the levers i pulled it towards me and was like was doin its own thing after that. i remember when i pulled the top lever it move the colum

 

bttt

 

Yep Normal for the shift lever in the car only to be moved by one of the under hood levers wheh the rods are disconnected.

 

cool man thanks i cant find netral and if it is there its such a small window that when i do get it in it hard to find it again. is neutral a gear that would grind down? so it dont catch or engage ?

 

there is no specific gear that is the netural gear. With a three speed the clutch drives the inpuit shaft which in turn drives the cluster gear. your shift levers the front one is 2nd and third the rearmost is first and reverse. jack the car up. Get under it and remove the rods from the steering collum. now move the levers both to the netural position. get in and start up if you have netural it is a linkage problem. if not you tranny needs work. If you dont understand these simple instructions you should get someone knowlegdeable to check it out for you OldWolf

 

Maybe this will help

http://www.flatheadv8.org/columnshift.pdf

 

thanks 4tl8ford that helps alot thank you to every one i am understanding every thing you guys are saying and doing all you are saying im just trying to best describe what is happening when i try all of your suggestions. thanks againnnn

 

Have you shifted the trans without the linkage hooked up?
This may or may not have anything to do with it but a mis adjusted clutch can screw up how a car or truck shifts sometimes.

 

yup no dice just going to pull it out fuck it

 

i think it works put the rear in the air messed with it and got lucky. its not perfect but it works adjusted the clutch as well so it pushes deeper the throw out bearing.ill keep working on it cause i can hear gears grinding when its in neutral and i have to play with shifter a bit so itll stop.needs a little more adjusting. thanks again guys i was really starting to hate my car....................

 

If the engine is running in neutral and you try to select first or reverse it WILL grind normally. Put it in 2nd or 3rd first before trying low or rev., that will stop things turning and should then go in quietly unless the clutch is draging bad.

 

Have you had the trans apart?

It's easy to get the 2nd-high internal shift fork installed backwards and that will hang things up.


If you did and if you have the trans on the bench to make repairs, try the trans in each gear by turning the input shaft by hand and see if things turn easily.

Be sure and check reverse as well.

 

Some other questions:

Was the car working okay before you adjusted the linkage?
Give us some more information on what you did to the car before you had this problem.
There could be several things going on, the linkage or the transmission.

 

no this engine and trans came out of a running 51 ford. it sat for a year or 2 then i got it thinking it would be reliable. i checked the trans before i put it in by select each gear and spinning the shaft and checking that was no wobble in the shaft. i took out the old engine cause it was tired and wouldn't make compression. so the links were never touched or adjusted

 

i know what you mean thanks i do this with my mustang and falcon

 

so with the linkage removed from the trans you can find netural ok?

 

yup weird hugh still got it in the im going to drop it and see what happens if it fucks with me again im just going to pull it out for sure .........

 

so with the trans in nuetral you try and install the linkage and one of the linkages pulling the trans into a gear?

 

yup after i did it with car up it worked but when it was on the floor i could not find neural because i would rock the car or push it and it was like it was in gear. shit i even started the car thinking it was in neutral leting the clutch out it would move forward. so ill get it down and hopefully that helps