VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1912-1928 28 4 Speed Shifter Help

Hello,

I have been working on a 27 1-ton fire truck. I got a 4 speed tranny from Spyphish a while back and replaced all the bearings and seals. The shifter top plate was seized up when I got it, but it freed up and came apart and got sand blasted and cleaned up.

There is a huge amount of play in the shifter and I am trying to correct that. I will be making some new pins for the shifter tower and welding up the shifter itself to try and fix the rotational slop. As it is I can’t get reverse. The shifter was badly bent and I tried to fix that but need to go further still. The springs on the reverse lockout lever disintegrated so I added a return spring on the bottom of the shifter. Doesn’t seem to cause any interference but I am still tinkering to find the best solution.

I need a photo of a good condition shifter to see what I am trying to get back to. If anyone could post one or email me one I would appreciate it!

Photo of a illustration from the 1929-1942 Chevy Parts Book (Eff. '45) showing the parts to the sifter tower and cover. Hope this helps.

Maybe this photo is a little easier to see the detail.

on the 4 speed transmission it typically has a lever that you engage to shift into reverse. looking at your picture are you sure you have a 4 speed transmission. This looks like a 3 speed tranny. Do you have a casting number on the transmission? Are you sure the excessive play is really excessive and not normal?

@Chipper thanks for that it does give me some direction!

@Qman, yes it is a 4 speed, you can just see the lever in the photo, and the spring is pushing on the lockout in the other photo. I am certain the slop is extreme wear. there is 8-10 inches of rotation at the end of the shifter as the ball rotates in the socket.

I guess my question is more specifically about the slots in the lower ball portion of the shifter. Are they straight up and down with no "dovetailing" at all? mine both taper out at the top of the slots, and the pins are flat on two sides. I am assuming the slots in the ball should be straight and only allow the shifter to move in a transverse direction to engage the R and 3-4 shift forks. Currently its just a fork in spaghetti. I'll get better pictures of what I mean tomorrow.

Hi ConnerV,

You are correct, the slots should be straight as you shown in your second sketch. My shifter was similar to what you describe and I ended up building it up with "nickel silver" braze and carefully ground them back to what they were originally. The other thing to look at are the pins that slide into the slots, mine were quite worn, I'm guessing yours will be as well..

-Tyler

Thanks for the confirmation TJ!

I went ahead today and welded up the worn areas on the shifter and ground/filed them back into shape, turned some new pins on my bench lathe, and then to get rid of yet more play I made a new retainer for the shift fork rods the shifting is really night and day- so worth the 5 hours I spent on it.

For others benefit I will add photos, and also who doesn’t love photos?

Thanks again! Some day I will continue my build thread on this truck but for now I have to keep wrenching not typing.

According to my parts book you want a shift lever #590723 1928 LP only. #590380 fits 1929 - 1939 4 speeds. They frequently wear out where yours has. The 4 speed, that was an option on 1926 model X and 1927 LM and 1928 LO has two 1/4-20 bolts holding the shift lever on as in first picture. All the 1926 - 1930 use a 4 bolt power take off. The 1931 - 1947 use a 6 bolt PTO with spur gear drive. The 1948 and newer use a 6 bolt with helical gear.
Transmission case part for X, LM, & LO is #361221. Case for 1928 - 1930 LP, LQ, LR & LS is #590327. Case for 1931 - 47 is #590455. The casting number does not always match the part number.
Good luck, Lou