VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND NEWER 1946-1948 46 shift linkage

Mike: You just cleared up a mystery for me. I took a look at the column you mentioned on Ebay, and, the shifter operating levers at the bottom of the column are different than the ones on my 48. The ones in the listing match those I've typically seen on other 40's Chevys and a couple of parts cars I found. Then I ran into another Ebay listing for the bottom column bearing tube, U bolt, and lower shift operating lever off of a 48. The lower operating lever in the picture shown matches the one on my 48. I had thought my car had aftermarket stuff on it, but, apparently Chevrolet changed the lever design or, used a couple of different suppliers.

Regards & Thanks;
Oldengineer
48 Fleetmaster Town Sedan

still no luck with the linkage, if anything I've made it worse..... I hear a 350 combo calling my name....

Is the clutch linkage still hitting the shifting arm when placed in 2nd gear??

Yes. And when I tried to adjust it out of the way....I end up with nothing but 3rd gear..... She doesn't take off well from stop lights in third!

Why don't you send me your phone # via e-mail at jimvodraska@yahoo.com or pm here and I will call you and we can set up a time where you and I, both with tape measures, and under our cars and discuss the problem together. It seems that we can rectify the problem. Sound feasible?? Would like to try before you rod your car.

Jim.

Jim,

Bent the rod as instructed.... seems to work! YAY. Now that I've actually gotten a full "H" shifted, I have a new problem, I guess whatever was left of the bushing in the lower part of the shifter rod must be gone (under the hood where the rod is bolted to the column and connects to the linkage). Now as I am moving through gears, the "finger" that selects which set of gears the shifter is moving no longer stays in place because the main shift lever has a lot of side to side play.... Oh boy always something.... anyone have a good source for a bushing??

Chevys of the 40's and The Filling Station has them. They're not expensive.

Regards:
Oldengineer

Good news and bad news eh??

Per oldengineer, you can get them after market. I got mine from Chevs of the 40's, but it was no good. Was made too small for the bushing housing, so waited until a NOS came up on ebay and bought that one. The NOS comes with the metal bushing already attached to the metal tube. Don't know if the FS unit is closer match or wether the 40's have corrected the problem.

Jim.

Well I used a little "old engineering" myself....I tack welded a little extension to the end of the "finger". Drove down the road, hit all gears, 1st to 3rd...... was a sweet feeling....now I know the speedometer doesn't work! HA HA HA

That's basically how I fixed mine as well. My 48 has the lower operating lever that's made out bent flat steel with a pin welded to it. I just bent the tang on it up slightly, and, it now stays interlocked with the upper lever OK. Glad you got it working. Mine still occasionally jumps out of third gear at speed, but, I'm working on that as well. Just fixed her transmission mount, the rubber had turned into mush.

Regards:
Oldengineer

Glad to hear you got all three gears. Its so nice when you get something working again. Does the trans work well then? Love that gear whine :)

Congrats on your victory.

seems to work well.... has a good whine....seems to be wound up at about 45-50....

My 48 is stock, and, 55 seems to be her max comfortable cruising speed. Her engine is in good shape, but, any faster than 55, I start getting feelings of impending doom. My car has aftermarket 15" wheels on her, which are a little smaller than the original 16's, and, limit her speed a bit.

Regards:
Oldengineer