VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND NEWER 1946-1948 Shifting problem

Now that winter is over (I hope)and I have a new manual (lost the other one) and a host of other things are not on my back at the moment, I am finally getting back to my '48 shifting problem from last fall. I put new adjustable ends on the two rods that go from the transmission to the shifting mechanism under the hood. I gestimated an adjustment which was way off as now I can't shift into 2nd or 3rd due to the grinding of the gears. I decided to set everything to what the manual shows and ran into my first problem. The shifting control mechanism is supposed to be 3/4" from the clamp on the end of the steering column. Mine is 1 1/2" but if I loosened the shifting control mechanism and moved it up to within 3/4" of the clamp it looks as though the shifting control rod will hit the firewall. My car has had the vacuum shift removed. Can someone tell me whether that gap needs to be 1 1/2" wide on a car without vacuum shift. It wouldn't change anything with the shifting if I loosened the clamp on the steering column and moved it down. A photo of that area would be most helpful. Also, some comments or a photo of the adjustable ends would help me determine about how far down the rods the ends need to be. Thanks. Beamer

Breamer the 3/4" adjustment refers to the spring distance..Is this what you mean??

Yes. If you have the 42-48 Chevrolet shop manual, you can see a photo on page 7-15, figure 28. Beamer

I started having problems with mine,I couldn't get mine back into first gear to save my life so I wound up taking my vacumm canister off, and now it does fine, It's alittle harder to shift but now it don't give me anymore problems...

Beamer
I had a similar problem on my '40 several years ago. I set and reset the linkages several times "according to the book" and still could not shift into low and reverse. I solved the problem by removing the "small rod" from the shifting lever on the steering column under the hood, putting the gearshifting lever (in the car) in neutral, pulled the gearshifting lever back as far as I could(as if I was putting it in low or reverse) and taping the gearshifting lever to steering wheel to hold it there. Then, under the hood, push the disconnected small lever down as far as you can, adjust the rod end so that it just fits into the shifting lever without moving the shifting lever. You should now be able to shift into low or reverse. If you can not shift into 2nd or high, shorten the rod a turn at a time until you can.

The small shifting rod (lever) is really position sensitive since it only moves about 3/4" of an inch and trying to find "true neutral" is tough.

Mike:

I've had similar problems with the shifter on my 48 as well. I've used the technique you describe - except when you pull back on the gear shift lever, the top lever at the bottom of the column pulls the bottom rod and lever towards the front of the car because of the pivot the bottom rod is connected to.

Regards:
Oldengineer

OldEngineer

You've got it right. I did a mirror thing in my mind while I was keyboarding and got it backwards. You should pull the small shifting rod forward as far as you can and adjust it so that it enters the shifting lever and work from there. It has been about 15 years since I had to do that but it was the only way I could get the small lever to the 1st and reverse position. I tried "by the book" many, many times but just couldn't get it to move fully to the 1st and reverse position.

Mike and Old Engineer, Thanks for the info. However, I think my problem begins with the gap between the two clamps near the outside firewall (on the steering shaft) being incorrect. According to the manual, that gap needs to be 3/4" and mine is closer to 1 1/2". If you look at the shifting mechanism, there is a rod or tang that rides in a slot on the shifting mechanism and the gap where the spring is will affect the shifting due to that rod being lower or higher on the steering shaft. Beamer

Beamer,

If that rod or tang is in the correct position as you stated, than the 3/4 inch will be achieved by loosening the clamp that holds the shift shaft housing and bushing just above that spring and slide it downward. Do this with the selector rod disconnected. From that point forward, you can adjust the 2/3 shift rod and lastly adjust the selector rod for 1st/reverse.

Jim

Beamer

Checked the measurements on my '40 and I have the 3/4" for the spring and 1/2" between the lower bushing clamp and the firewall. It was the same when I didn't have the vacuum shift installed.

Deeter, If the bushing clamp you are talking about is the same one JDV123 (above) refers to, that is what I would have. The existing gap where the spring is, is 1 1/4". If I close that to 3/4" by moving that clamp down, there would be a 1/2" space between the clamp and firewall as it currently is tight against it. JDV has been a very valuable resource in helping me with this problem even to the extent of giving me some new adjustable ends for the rods. I have just been posting the problem here to get all the inputs I can and hopefully, with a lot of help, I can get my shifting problem solved. I am very grateful to everyone for that help. Beamer

Beamer

The measurements sound right. It looks like the measurements didn't change any (or much) between 1940 and 1948. I've had mine apart once to paint the steering column but I marked and put everything back in the original position but put all new bushings on the shifing levers and that is when I had the adjustment problems I described earlier. Apparently the new bushings changed the shift control lever travel enough that it wouldn't move far enough to allow 1st and reverse to engage. Good luck.