hey gang, i'm REALLY new so bare with me. bought a 52 F-1 with a 302 and toploader 4 speed in it from a '69 mustang. i've NEVER driven stick before this, i picked up the basics pretty quickly but given my inexperience, i don't have much basis to know whether it's me or the tranny that's causing a couple trouble spots, so looking for your input. 1) starting in first is a BITCH. you've REALLY gotta rev the engine when going into 1st from a stop, i stall it out ALOT. even when i don't, the engine feels like it stalled but has a couple slight shudders as we start rolling then comes back. 2) no problems in second or third. fourth is fine when i'm accelarating. ok when i let off the gas and coast. as soon as the coast decelerates at all, it slips out of gear. thoughts? i'm also really having a tough time with down shifting but that i think is probably more me than the trans, i just don't know what i'm doing and keep grinding when i try to throw into a lower gear which is probably too low for the speed i slowed to. braking to fairly slow and gettinginto second seems to be my top option right now. thanks!
Sounds like you need a little more experience behind that toploader, the rear end gears are possibly too tall and the tranny needs a freshening up, syncros and such. Nice ride
yeah i would say a little more experience and that the syncros may be slightly wore ! you'll catch on soon enough ! theyre great transmisions and pretty bulletprooof
If it slips out of high gear as soon as you let off the gas then I think you might need to replace the synchronizer. That would be really aggravating to drive. First gear start off sounds like its your problem. Practice. The clutch might need to be adjusted to give you more release if you are grinding when downshifting. Those are my thoughts, I have more but they involve food...
Those "shudders" on take off could be from oil on the clutch from a leaking rear main seal, or your inexperience, or some combonation there of. Slipping out of high on a top loader is usually a maladjusted shift linkage, but in a 42 year old tranny could be syncros, or a combonation of both. You need to learn to drive a stick in a car in good condition, then advance down hill untill you've sunk to the kind of junk I drive. Some times it is all in how you compensate.
If you have a problem with your distibutors vac advance that will make it feel like that off the line also.
Pretty much what he said. I would check to see if there are stops on the shifter, they stop it from going to far, they may be adjusted in to far. Make sure your forward two levers are facing up,loosen the levers on the tranny, and snug them finger tight, put the tranny in fourth and pull the lever off, see if the trans shaft can go anymore in that direction, there is a notch in the shifter that will take a 1/4 inch drill bit straight thru when the shifter is properly adjusted, take the levers off put the drill bit thru and and adjust each lever so it slides on easily.If none of those work the teeth on the input shaft or forward slider are probably worn away.
The first thing I would suggest is to find an experienced driver who is intimately familiar with a manual trans and go for a ride with him/her driving. If you find all of the same issues then you get to assume that the problems are all mechanical. As an aside, the shudder sounds like a worn/wet disc/pressure plate. .
i put a toploader in a chevelle kept jumping out of gear.come to find out linkage was hitting crossmember keeping it from completely going into gear.
thanks gang. both my father and a friend who have owned manuals have driven it and were surprised at how high you had to rev the engine to get into first. took a lesson from pops and have done a bunch of driving in it but figured it's time to figure out if it's me or the system that need's to adjust.
like someone said earlier, it might be oil on the disc, when you have a free weekend or something pull it and see. might as well change the clutch if you have one, or at least it will make you familiar with the parts of your truck.
First thing you need to do is identify the gearing in the tranny. There are both close ratio (2.32 first gear) and wide ratio (2.78 first gear) toploaders. If its a close ratio combined with a high gear rear end (low number) you would have some problems getting going in a under-horse powered car. Close ratio was for the high performance 390s. Heres a link to an ID chart : http://www.davidkeetoploaders.com/idchart1.htm You can also identify gear ratio by counting the teeth on second gear (at the bottom of the chart) This web site has tons of great info for toploaders. As far as poping out of gear, its most likely an incorrectly adjusted shift linkage. Is it original Ford? They were marginal at best. If so, sell it to a restorer and find a Hurst that fits it.
Kind of trying to read between the lines, so I think what you are saying is you have to give it alot of rpm to take off from a standing start in first? Accelerator pump, timing, and rear gear have all been mentioned, another thing I would wonder about is what flywheel is in it? Close ratio with a light flywheel and a tall rear gear can be a real handful for a newby to learn on.
It sounds like the same thing as I ran into when I had the 283 in the 48 with a close ratio Muncie and too tall gearing in the rear end. 3000 rpm at 80 mph but a pain to get off the stop light with most of the time. When you go to adjust the shifter check the bushings for wear as that can be an issue with getting it to shift smoothly.
The Jalopy Journal
