New baby 1953 Merc

[dmsfrr]

Originally Posted by Merc Cruzer

Sorry, I should have stated the following caveat: "This is for informational purposes only, this procedure should only be carried out by a trained mechanic with the proper tools."

Originally Posted by Merc Cruzer

You can adjust the firmness of the shift with the TV rod. Unscrewing the top "Y" piece, will make the rod longer, and will make the shift softer. Screwing it down, making the rod shorter, will make the shift firmer. If you unscrew the top piece too far you will loose the kick down.

In the '55 Bird I have, with an air-cooled FOM... The transmission was slipping very badly when pulling away from a stop, squealing and shaking the whole car.

The car has a relatively mismatched collection of '55 and '57 parts under the hood. The top end of the engine is '57 style pieces; heads, intake, carb, throttle bellcrank...

I followed the TV linkage adjustment procedure as closely as I could and ended up unscrewing the adjustment piece, lengthening the rod. The slipping, squealing & shaking went away.

Not sure if this matches anything else, it's just what happened.
I read somewhere the shift levers on a T-Bird FOM use levers on the side of the trans that are upside down from the 'full-sized car' versions. Not sure how true that is or if it even makes a difference.
.

[KULTULZ]

Originally Posted by dmsfrr

In the '55 Bird I have, with an air-cooled FOM... The transmission was slipping very badly when pulling away from a stop, squealing and shaking the whole car.

The car has a relatively mismatched collection of '55 and '57 parts under the hood. The top end of the engine is '57 style pieces; heads, intake, carb, throttle bellcrank...

I followed the TV linkage adjustment procedure as closely as I could and ended up unscrewing the adjustment piece, lengthening the rod. The slipping, squealing & shaking went away.

Not sure if this matches anything else, it's just what happened.

I read somewhere the shift levers on a T-Bird FOM use levers on the side of the trans that are upside down from the 'full-sized car' versions. Not sure how true that is or if it even makes a difference.

Just wondering (as I often do ... ...), you posted it came with a FYB 256 which is most likely from a 54 MERC. Were you able to ID the TRANS that came in it?

You are correct on the shift lever(s) position(s) as one was for a column shift car and the other arrangement for a floor/console shift car.