hard shifting
 

On the trip today to the Armed Forces Retirement Home in DC, my Cabbie had trouble shifting into both second and third. I had to stop on occasion to get the tranny into second. No previous trouble. Ball on shift lever rebuilt 10 years ago.

Re: hard shifting
 

Were the gears grinding really badly?

Or did it seem like the shifter was jamming up?

:confused:

Re: hard shifting
 

You haven't been pulling the shifter up and turning it around again have you? We told you about that.

The ball should still be OK after 10 years. So I would look at where the ball fits into the shift fork. The fork could be worn.

Re: hard shifting
 

Like the shifter is binding

Re: hard shifting
 

Bent fork ??

Re: hard shifting
 

Check tranny fluid.

Re: hard shifting
 

A fellow club member was having difficulty shifting his newly acquired Model A that had been restored. The tower had also been restored. I gave him another tower and it solved his problem.


When I took his tower apart I Found a pair of reproduction forks that I have never seen before and are apparently new on the market. They look to be a rough casting instead of forged. The slots in the forks are not wide enough to accommodate the ball on the end of the shifter. This caused the ball to jam up. The shifter was also a new reproduction, however, the ball was the correct size.


The Tunnels through the forks are too small and caused one of them to crack. I would be very careful using these reproduction forks when restoring a tower. Stick with the time proven method of having the originals welded up and milled to the proper size.


Tom Endy

Re: hard shifting
 

Don’t discount those detents. We had one where a repro bullet was too long and it and the spring bottomed out before the bullet cleared the notch.

Re: hard shifting
 

Tranny is now topped off. Tranny better

Re: hard shifting
 

So, you are saying that the transmission was low on 600W oil? That was the problem?

Thanks for reporting back your findings. Many people do not tell us what they found.

Re: hard shifting
 

Try half 600w and half STP.

Also helps if you have minor dripping from transmission.

Some owners use just STP. Enjoy.

Re: hard shifting
 

Re: hard shifting
 

I use Lucas oil stabilizer. Makes shifting slicker than seal poo on an ice floe. Also had a little howl with 600W, been gone for 4 years since I've changed to Lucas.