1935 ford transmission: A few newbie questions...

[Ball and Chain]

I have a 35 ford trans (leaned back tower, straight cut gears) in my 35.

I was wondering everything inside looks cherry, but on the bench it will only go in: reverse 1st and neutral. I was wondering why i cant get it in to 2nd and 3rd? Is something not lined up correctly or...?

And another question, should the shifter point straight back or towards the drivers side?

Thanks!

[JM 35 Sedan]

You may have the forks out of position in the shifter top. Set both forks to the neutral (center) position. Then make sure gears are in neutral position. First/reverse gear in middle of its travel and second/third collar in center of its travel. Then put the top on carefully making sure the forks go into their proper grooves in gears/collar. The shift lever should point straight back when all is assembled correctly. Also, if you removed the lever from the top you could have lost/misplaced a small pin that fits in a slot on the lever pivot and a hole in the top of the tower. If this pin falls into the gear box it can make a real mess of the gears. Don't ask me how I know about this.

[Ball and Chain]

The pin is in on the shifter, so i guess the lever is bent?

again a newbie: I understand how to put the top set of gears in neutral, what do I move to put the bottom set in to neutral???

[Ball and Chain]

morning bump!

[Mart]

Slide it to the middle??

[Ball and Chain]

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)

Originally Posted by Mart

Slide it to the middle??

which part?

[Mart]

Everything needs to be in neutral. The 2nd/top synchro sleeve needs to be centrally located on it's hub. neither in 2nd or top. The 1st/reverse sliding gear needs to be positioned half way between it's foremost and rearmost limits of travel.

The shifter top needs to have both forks positioned in the middle of their travel, ie in neutral. The shift lever needs to be able to travel freely between the 1st/rev gate and the 2nd/top gate.

If everything is set in neutral the parts should fit together. If you can't see what is wrong you could try taking some photo's and we can try and see what is up.

You need to do the donkey work on this, no-one can fix it for you via a computer, you actually have to do it.

Mart.

[Ball and Chain]

Originally Posted by Mart

Everything needs to be in neutral. The 2nd/top synchro sleeve needs to be centrally located on it's hub. neither in 2nd or top. The 1st/reverse sliding gear needs to be positioned half way between it's foremost and rearmost limits of travel.

The shifter top needs to have both forks positioned in the middle of their travel, ie in neutral. The shift lever needs to be able to travel freely between the 1st/rev gate and the 2nd/top gate.

If everything is set in neutral the parts should fit together. If you can't see what is wrong you could try taking some photo's and we can try and see what is up.

You need to do the donkey work on this, no-one can fix it for you via a computer, you actually have to do it.

Mart.

I understand how to put the shifter into neutral and the 1st reverse gears in to neutral, what do i move to put the 2nd 3rd gear into neutral. these are the gears that dont shift.

[fordscript]

With a large screwdriver (or similiar), put the 'blade' into the synchro hub groove, and with the palm of your hand, give a good push (or tap) in the direction you want it to go to get it in the middle.

[OLD...BILL]

Hey Ball, where are you "Nor Cal"?? I am just off 101 and 36 inland about three miles, bring that trans and the top, and we'll make it work. So to answer your question "which part" the shift collar JM spoke about, is the synchro collar, Start from the front of the trans, is the input shaft, and it drives the cluster gear at all times ( the lower gears ) the shift collar, is slide forward and locks the input gear to the output shaft, and your in high gear or third, now slide the shift collar back and lock second gear to the output shaft.
Now to put the trans in neutral slide the shift collar to the center of its travel, and you have found part of neutral.... with the low/reveres slider in the middle of is travel.... you are in neutral ( both sets of gears )
The lower set of gears, is called the cluster gear, and it is in "PLAY " at all times, but not always "DRIVING" untell you put the trans IN low / reveres, or second gear.... there is no third GEAR,...its direct drive .... clear as mud. right. and JMs statement about the shift leaver being straight back ... is a bit miss leading, it should come out of the cover all most straight up when in neutral and then curve back toward the seat...... OLD....BILL

[Ball and Chain]

Originally Posted by OLD...BILL

Hey Ball, where are you "Nor Cal"?? I am just off 101 and 36 inland about three miles, bring that trans and the top, and we'll make it work. So to answer your question "which part" the shift collar JM spoke about, is the synchro collar, Start from the front of the trans, is the input shaft, and it drives the cluster gear at all times ( the lower gears ) the shift collar, is slide forward and locks the input gear to the output shaft, and your in high gear or third, now slide the shift collar back and lock second gear to the output shaft.
Now to put the trans in neutral slide the shift collar to the center of its travel, and you have found part of neutral.... with the low/reveres slider in the middle of is travel.... you are in neutral ( both sets of gears )
The lower set of gears, is called the cluster gear, and it is in "PLAY " at all times, but not always "DRIVING" untell you put the trans IN low / reveres, or second gear.... there is no third GEAR,...its direct drive .... clear as mud. right. and JMs statement about the shift leaver being straight back ... is a bit miss leading, it should come out of the cover all most straight up when in neutral and then curve back toward the seat...... OLD....BILL

Bill, I appreciate the offer but im quite far from the Humbolt area, im closer to san francisco... but your response basically answered all the questions I was having. Now I need to get back in the shop and get my hands in there and see if I can figure it out! Thanks Bill and Everyone!!!

[JM 35 Sedan]

Pictures of a '35 Ford transmission with shifter top off and gears in neutral position. Don't think I have one of shifter top in neutral.

[Ball and Chain]

okay!so I have the low/reverse sliding gear in neutral and the shifter top plate in neutral. But dont see what part should move when i go for 2nd or 3rd

[Mart]

The piece to the left of centre with the groove in it. That is the 2nd/high synchro sleeve. In the pictures it is shown in the neutral position. If yours looks exactly like that it should be ok. Note the small groove turned in one of the tapered areas, that should be towards the front.

For 3rd (top) it slides to the left and the internal teeth engage with the teeth on the input shaft (not the gear teeth) for 2nd it slides to the right and engages with the teeth on the 2nd gear.

Mart.

[Mac VP]

Problem could also be in the shift tower. We were involved in the repair of some very worn shift forks on one....here is the discussion and pics over on the Early Ford V8 forum:

http://www.earlyfordv8.org/forum/vie...=18&Topic=5508

If there are no problems in the tower, there could be a problem inside the synchro sleeve (broken springs for instance).

[Ball and Chain]

shifter in neutral R/1 idler in neutral, not sure what im doing wrong...

[JM 35 Sedan]

Any history on this transmission that you can tell us about? Was it working good for you in the past. Has it been taken apart repaired/rebuilt recently? Can you shift the gears by hand w/o the top in place? Can you turn the input shaft by hand as you put it in each gear position (1st/rev/2nd/3rd) and get proper rotation at the rear shaft?
For some reason the 2/3 hub sleeve looks like it may be too far forward from its center position, but that could be the way the picture was taken that makes it look like that. 1/R looks right on neutral and from what I can see of the fork positions, they look to be in neutral. When you put the top on are you making sure the forks are going into their proper grooves on the 1/R gear and 2/3 hub sleeve?
The more I look at the bottom of the shifter top, it almost looks like some type a formed sheet metal piece is between the forks that could be preventing the little ball at the end of the shifter rod from moving back and forth into the groove on the forks. Something just does not look correct there. I will need to look at my '35 shift top and maybe understand what I am seeing between the forks on your shifter.

[Ball and Chain]

Originally Posted by JM 35 Sedan

Any history on this transmission that you can tell us about? Was it working good for you in the past. Has it been taken apart repaired/rebuilt recently? Can you shift the gears by hand w/o the top in place? Can you turn the input shaft by hand as you put it in each gear position (1st/rev/2nd/3rd) and get proper rotation at the rear shaft?
For some reason the 2/3 hub sleeve looks like it may be too far forward from its center position, but that could be the way the picture was taken that makes it look like that. 1/R looks right on neutral and from what I can see of the fork positions, it looks to be in neutral. When you put the top on are you making sure the forks are going into their proper grooves on the 1/R gear and 2/3 hub sleeve? The more I look at the bottom of the shifter top, it almost looks like some type a formed sheet metal piece is between the forks that could be preventing the little ball at the end of the shifter rod from moving back and forth into the groove on the forks. Something just does not look correct there. I will need to look at my '35 shift top and maybe understand what I am seeing between the forks on your shifter.

I can put the tranny in 1st neutral and reverse by hand. Im not exactly sure what to move with my hand to get in to 2nd and 3rd? But everything spins in 1st and reverse like it should. I put the top plate on and it goes in 1st and reverse no problem. 2nd and 3rd wont budge! I dont know the history of the tranny, it came with my car when I bought it, but the car was sans motor, so I never drove it.

[OLD...BILL]

OK:::: We-er going to get this THING fixed even if we haft to get the big hammer out.
So whats not working ?? With the trans in neutral, can you turn the input and hold the output shaft still, the input will turn and the cluster will also turn ??
The shift tower ?? Can you move the shifter forks, one "DETENT" forward, and then one back from neutral ?? Note the other shifter fork must be in neutral... You can not see it but there is a "LOCKOUT "..between the two shifer rails. ( springs and ballbearings )and a " BULLET " in the center between the two rails....See on the top left side of the tower, between the two bolt down holes, is screw slated plug, with that plug out you will find one spring and one ball, about all you can do is clean it lube it. You MUST be able to move the shifters both ways, maybe with a little help, a small hammer and a drift on one of the forks at the rail ?? one detent at a time, clean and lube.... and order Van Pelts book, well worth it, good clear pictures and plain English spoken here ....OLD....BILL

[OLD...BILL]

Originally Posted by JM 35 Sedan

Any history on this transmission that you can tell us about? Was it working good for you in the past. Has it been taken apart repaired/rebuilt recently? Can you shift the gears by hand w/o the top in place? Can you turn the input shaft by hand as you put it in each gear position (1st/rev/2nd/3rd) and get proper rotation at the rear shaft?
For some reason the 2/3 hub sleeve looks like it may be too far forward from its center position, but that could be the way the picture was taken that makes it look like that. 1/R looks right on neutral and from what I can see of the fork positions, it looks to be in neutral. When you put the top on are you making sure the forks are going into their proper grooves on the 1/R gear and 2/3 hub sleeve? The more I look at the bottom of the shifter top, it almost looks like some type a formed sheet metal piece is between the forks that could be preventing the little ball at the end of the shifter rod from moving back and forth into the groove on the forks. Something just does not look correct there. I will need to look at my '35 shift top and maybe understand what I am seeing between the forks on your shifter.

John; I think what your seeing is the end of the shift handle or lever ...OLD...BILL