I need help!

i think my trans is just about to give up the ghost. Its a ford three speed manual behind a mild flathead in a 50 tudor. Tonight after taking a ditch hard, it started grinding BAD in second, and lurching forward in first with the clutch all the way in. I cant shift into second without horrendous noise, and first jumps like i said. As far as i can tell third seems fine. With this or any other info i can give allow somebody to take a pot-shot at what the problem might be?
Another qeustion while im on it, will a flathead 6 transmission of the same year bolt to the V8 with no h***le? Also, if you want to get this damn thing out of my sight, ill post an ad for it on the swap. The joys of being young and dumb enough to choose a 55 year old car as my only transportation...

 

sounds like your clutch is not fully disengaging

 

this may be a dumb qeustion but i dont really care, what would make it do that; and how could i fix it?

 

Could be a matter of bent clutch linkage. My .02 only.

 

My clutch linkage was bent, i straightened (sp?) it all out but it still does the same thing. Could i have burnt up my clutch driving it home like that? anybody? Any sort of help greatly appreciated (my manual has nothing of use)

 

That's quite possible. Did that years ago with a cobbled-together 56 Chevy! By the time I took it apart, my cluth plate was practically fried! ( kept holding it in, & wouldn't release properly) Also ground the **** outa' what used to be good gears! That's really a trial & error deal at best. Keep on it! With a little luck, you'll figure it out!


Why do I "hot-rod"?...small town, not much to do at night.

 

I had a clutch disk "try" to explode on me once. It didn't come all the way apart, just one 6" chunk that proceded to wedge its self etween the remainder of the disk and the pressure plate. Wouldnt fully disengage.

 

Pull the ****** and have a look-see..........Bob

 

When in doubt start with the basics. Did you adjust the toe play when you straightened the linkage? If not start there.

 

What happened with the ditch? trouble is likely external to trans...what bent the linkage? Perhaps engine mounts failed in impact? Driveshaft damage? Even a bent bellhousing (if pressed steel) or something cracked if there was a hard hit to engine or trans that caused linkage to bend.
Crawl under. Look for points of impact. Try jacking up engine. You hit something down there, and you're not going to figure out the problem til you figure out what got hit and how things moved.

 

Thanks for the help. All i saw that was bent up or hit in any way was the clutch rod from the bellhousing to the part the pedal attaches too. I adjusted it back and forth after i straightened that rod out and got the same result after every adjustment. Is it possible that the throwout bearing is shot?

 

This is what it's supposed to look like. I'd put the car on jack stands and watch the linkage as someone slowly opperates the clutch pedal. There should not be a lot of slop in the linkage. Look for sideways movement (taking up the slop) as the pedal is depressed. If the linkage has to take up the slop before it starts to release the the pressure plate, there won't be enough travel to completely disengage the clutch. It's the same effect as only pushing the pedal in half way with tight linkage. The gears will grind and it will be hard to shift.

The pedal should only go down about an inch before the throwout bearing makes contact with the clutch fingers inside the belhousing (toe play). Pull the dust boot and look inside while someone opperates the pedal. If the pedal goes down any farther you need to find out why and correct it. If you use up all the adjustment with no success then something is probably bent or broken.

Looking at the picture above, if the fork was bent back when you went in the ditch then you could get the symptoms you describe. There may not be enough adjustment to make up for a bent or broken piece of linkage.

You have to study it to figure out why you are no longer getting enough movement to release the clutch. We can't see it so we can't diagnose it.

 

If you burnt the clutch it would be slipping. But if you hit hard enough to tweek the clutch linkage it could have also tweeked the fingers on the pressure plate.

Crawl under it and remove the inspection plate and look really really good. Is the throwout bearingstill in the fork? maybe you'll have to pull the trany and get a better look at the clutch and pressure plate. ya gotta pull the ****** anyway.

If you ditched it that hard how bad did you bend it? Tweeked wheels, rocker panels trashed etc? Soory its like a train wreck, I just can't look away.

 

Thanks for the help guys. Im really inexperienced when it comes to cars, and the manual just wasnt helping me wrap my head around the issue. Im gonna pull the trans this weekend and see whats up. Porkn******, strangest thing; nothing else is messed up. I couldnt believe it when i looked under there, only the clutch rod was all bent to ****, nothing else. Thanks again, i really appreciate it!