good and bad news

[oldblue1968chevy]

it needs pretty much all new bushings..ima show it to someone that knows what theyre talkin bout tomorow after school, till them i slam the gears

[CSGAS]

WATCH OUT!!!

Always make sure you know what the problem is before you throw money at it. You may throw money in the wrong direction.

While I am not trying to make you worry or jump to conclusions, you may have a throwout bearing going bad, or bent shifter forks...which means $100 or even a $250 shifter won't solve your problem.

You may be simply missing a part, like the clutch rod return spring, which costs about $3 most places.

Take a look at the diagrams in a catalog -->like this one<-- to see if you have all the parts in the right places (btw, the return spring belongs alongside the rod)

Feel free to disassemble your column to find out if any parts--like bushings--are worn out causing your adjustment to not take up the slack it should. If this is the problem, a lot of other issues will be affected sooner or later--like steering!

Pre-73 columns used shifter arms made of chromed pot metal--is the locator ball inside the column breaking off, or so loose it slips out of the engagement slot in the shifter tube? If so, they are cheap from even the resto houses, and can be replaced just by pulling one pin.

Trust me, if you want to swap anything, you want to do it under controlled conditions instead of in a crisis. Controlled conditions cost far less. Even if you want to change to a TH350 sooner or later (my personal choice would be a TH200-4R for the overdrive without changing driveshaft length) you are far better off doing it while you know the exact condition your existing trans is in--so you can price it properly for resale, if nothing else!

If you discover it is something major like forks or a throwout bearing (actually the throwout is cheap, it's the labor you'll get hit bad on) you will still KNOW that's what it is, so you can sell it to someone else to fix and for $20 will have a good column you can sell to one of the people who've been screaming or crying on this thread, probably for enough to cover your new column.

BTW, have you checked the corners on the piece that engages the two different planes? I call it a "tongue" but it's the part you originally described as floating between the 2-3 and 1-R linkage...if the corners are chewed up real badly then a lot of your shifting problems can be stopped just by disciplining yourself to use the center of the "H" pattern for crossing the gate, instead of "Speedshifting" style.

Good luck and I think you are at a good age to enjoy one of my favorite bits of wisdom: Smart people learn from their mistakes; real geniuses learn from everyone else's mistakes, and I like to give everyone a chance to be a real genius!

[Truck Dr.]

Originally Posted by oldblue1968chevy

it needs pretty much all new bushings..ima show it to someone that knows what theyre talkin bout tomorow after school, till them i slam the gears

Old Blue, any update???


Dave

[oldblue1968chevy]

Going today to let the man that workks on atvs and motorcycles and old fords look at it i trust him.

Stuck in school waiting for 2 more hours to cash check and take truck up the mtn and have him look at it

It shifts OK if i shift towards reverse then cross over to 2nd...letchall know wats up later tonite wen i get home.

[samwise68]

Yup, sounds like it's a little sloppy.

Your technique is like what I do. Up toward R, and the cross the gate on the "H" into 2nd.

Sometimes I'll speed shift slam 2nd, and it won't get hung up. Other times...the shifter will get stuck in neutral position, and the tranny will be stuck in 1st.

It just takes some getting used to. I like to think I'm pretty good at it, considering I'll slam around corners, downshifting 1 to 2, etc. it's awkward, but once you're good at it, it's just fun.

-Sam.

[oldblue1968chevy]

mines the same way as yours sam btw im reading your build thread looks good so far only on pg. 3

Well, after school went on the mtn. to the old ford atv motorcycle guy. Adjusted my linkage some..still doing the prob. so after school if he has time were gona put my column and clean it and see if its got any places that need to be built back up.

well, dad ran over 2 of our dogs this evening 1 wimpered so another came to the rescue, well dad tried to put his truck in Park accidentally put it in reverse jumped out of truck while it was rolling backwards toward his tractor, got KO'd by his door, broke his glasses cut his nose on something and then rammed the back of his truck into his tractor.

Killed my fav. of the 3 dogs..

How long will it take to pull my steering column btw?

[Truck Dr.]

Originally Posted by oldblue1968chevy

mines the same way as yours sam btw im reading your build thread looks good so far only on pg. 3

Well, after school went on the mtn. to the old ford atv motorcycle guy. Adjusted my linkage some..still doing the prob. so after school if he has time were gona put my column and clean it and see if its got any places that need to be built back up.

well, dad ran over 2 of our dogs this evening 1 wimpered so another came to the rescue, well dad tried to put his truck in Park accidentally put it in reverse jumped out of truck while it was rolling backwards toward his tractor, got KO'd by his door, broke his glasses cut his nose on something and then rammed the back of his truck into his tractor.

Killed my fav. of the 3 dogs..

How long will it take to pull my steering column btw?

Whoa, now this is a bad day for your dad and you, sorry to hear the bad news, sounds like something that happened to me several years ago.
Hope your Dad is OK, and the truck can be fixed.
It is never easy loosing a pet, much less to a accident like that.


Using air tools about 20 minutes, without air about 45....I can get a column out in about 15 with air, as I try to never be without air tools, gettin tooooo old to hand wrench....lol


Dave

[northerngmc]

I had a friend helping when we pulled my column on Saturday. No air tools and it took us 2 1/2 hours to take it out, clean it, lube, reassemble and realign it. This included fixing the back up switch because we neglected to disconnect it before pulling the column.

I am sure it could be done quicker. I was trying to show him a few things about the truck and he bought it from me the next day.

We pulled the steering wheel off while it was still in the truck to help get it out. Then disconnected the rag joint from the steering box. I think you can pull it apart above the shaft but there is a spring connection there that is a b*tch to get back together. Disconnect both shifter linkages and then unbolt the column mount on the firewall. Now go back inside and start unbolting. 4 bolts to remove the mount under the column, then remove the 2 screws holding a plate on the firewall. Disconnect the backup light switch and the column wiring. Finally remove the 2 bolts on a u-clamp and everything is loose.

You will have to turn the column to get the shifters through the firewall.

[wc63]

where did you find that varsol degreaser? i cant find it anywhere. is there something else i can use instead?(brake, carb cleaner, acetone?) also where did you find the grease you re-greased it with?

[missinfishin10]

Originally Posted by Truck Dr.

Absolutely.....I agree

Big thing, DON'T hack the floor boards or tunnel, if you change over to an auto do it the correct way other wise your in for that nightmare.
The auto swap is lengthy, start with Flex Plate and fasteners to the crank, then Trans and Torque Converter and fasteners for the conv. to flywheel, bell housing fasteners, Dip stick and housing, transmission cooling lines, vacuum line to modulator, using a T350 as stated not a T400, then you get into way more mods, Radiator that has a built in cooler, if not then a after market external cooler.
Crossmember and fasteners and mount.
The rest should bolt up, as long as you have the correct length trans, if that all works out then you need a shifter, I have used the stock 3 spd man shifter and modified the linkage to work the auto, then if that's not the case then a new or used automatic column with the linkage and shifter.

so the quickest and easiest....fix what ya got, and for lot less $$$$

Are the bushings in the linkage at the shifter and trans good ??? if there is slop there, that is where you must start to correct the problem.
Make sure where the shifter exits the column is clean and (not a bunch of dried caked on grease and dirt) lubricated with grease.

I have worked on many of these, they are really a simple system, take your time to make sure you get the adjustments just right,

Dave

[darush01]

im not sure how to do it Im not two familiar with 3 on the tree but my dad was telling me once that its an easy fix to get them to stop binding up

[Kurt L]

i took one out of a truck one time never worked on one before,laid it out piece by piece
on my driveway greased every part i could then piece by piece put it back together worked great.

[Mt Man Chad]

I have a 3 speed hurst floor shifter I will ship to you for $35 if interested.
Took it off my 71 SWB three speed to put the original 3 on tree back in.

[oldblue1968chevy]

wow lol things have changed! Thread from the dead!

What a coincidence too, I ordered soem shifter bushings a few days ago, they came in today got em all on,I think im missing some hardware for the FRONT shifter column, heres some pics (everything BUT the new bushing)

But I adj. it all along time ago, that helped some, but the new bushings REALLY helped, I got em for about 15$, they actual bushings were only like $5, but $10 shipping, ps you need 2 of each bushing. and they are rubber...

Edit,

1st pic- All the pieces I have for the front shifter, the linkage bar slides up and down the rear shifter piece has a special thing that holds it the more you tighten the nut, I think I need that piece, the pic is all of what ive got. I found a 327 400 68, do the auto's have the same top linkage as 3spds? (get parts from it?) will it work?

2nd pic-bottom pic, does the fat part of the bushing go towards the middle of the truck or towards the outside?

[68K30]

I have replaced several shift tubes in the manual column shifted GM's when I was at the dealership to cure this problem along with the bushings. The last one I put in was around $35.00, but that was a while ago.

Bill