Our 68 vette linkage keeps locking up when shifting from 2nd to 3rd gears. The car will shift to 3rd, but will not switch to any other gear. We have to stop the car and if we're lucky play with the shifter and sometimes it will unlock. If not, we must climb under the car and play with the linkage. While just sitting in the car and shifting, it does not lock, but once your on the road driving, it will lock up. Is this a common problem with 68's? Have tried adjusting three times, does feel better but still locks. Can't see anything wrong anywhere at anytime with one person in the car shifting and one person under the car watching. Is there a spacer actually in the (shifter) that could be worn causing it to lock up.
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Re: 68 Corvette Linkage
It sounds like the center selector and or the plates are worn in the shifter. The selector is the end of the shifter itself and the plates are next to it. Once all the parts get some wear on them they start to seperate and third gear is where the shifter has to switch from one plate to the next. Once they seperate the neutral position is hard to reset. The shifter may just need proper adjustment, to nuetral, but taking it off and apart will show all worn areas.
On the transmision side of things the only problem could be that the fork is allowed to go too far forward on third gear, manny things have to be worn or adjusted badly for this to happen, which will cause the slider part of the syncro ring to be in a over-selected condition: {too far into third} this would require dissassembly of the tranny to corect with attention focused on the side cover and the front bearing and brg. suport and brg, nut. these parts hold the input shaft in the tranny and if allowed to move forward and in cojunction with the worn side cover parts which control how far the fork is allowed to move will give room for the over-selected third gear condition. sorry for the history of the 4-speed look at the shifter first. David -
Re: 68 Corvette Linkage
Over the years of original ownership I am the only one that has done anything to my 68's shifter. All that has ever been done is removal and through cleaning and lubricating it and reinstalling it. It could probably use another cleaning now and new lubrication becasue of the time elasped since I last did it. It has always shifter good and still does, but after cleaning and new lubrication it is better. Try this and see what occurs.Comment
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Re: 68 Corvette Linkage-reply
I took a good hard look at the linkage again .. the nuetral setting are as noted in the maintenance manual. Since this car does not have side pipes it is very tight it that area .. I really can not see any wear (with everything still in the car).. so I assume that it needs to be removed to see this .. it also appears that it needs to be removed for lubrication so out she will come .. I have owned mutliple 4 speed cars and this is the first that has given me any issues when shifting from 2 to 3 and if you try to "speed" shift you simply get lock out of third .. just like running into a wall with the shifter just about the "nuetral" point in the shifting pattern and until you back off and follow the true "H" pattern .. you are going no where .. thanks guys for the tips .. now are there any tricks to removing the shifterComment
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Re: 68 Corvette Linkage-reply
I rebuilt the shifter in my '68 as part of other work while the Muncie was out of the car. I didn't have problems with it, but I figured it was 30+ years old, so what the heck. I bought a kit from Zip. Disassembled the old one and did not see any real wear on any of the pieces, but I put the new parts in, lubed it as directed, then reassembled it. The shifter did seem tighter than before, even though I didn't see worn parts. I guess it's possible it could have been the cleaning and relube, but it's about 18 months later (daily driven more than any other car) and it's still tighter than before the kit.
I had never done this work on a Vette before and my initial thought was there was no way I could get that darn shifter out. Memory is a little vague here, but I believe there's one long bolt that comes out the side that you'd swear you can't get out. My son was inside the car, working from the top with the shifter plate and boots removed and I was on the bottom. Again, memory is a tad vague, but I believe we removed/loosened as many bolts/brackets as possible, then we were able to get that one bolt out. I can't say for sure if the transmission mount was removed at this point, but it most likely was as the whole thing was coming out anyway. Personal opinion, getting the shifter out/in is harder than removing/replacing the Muncie and some people think it's easier to take the engine out to get the 4-speed out of the car.
RogerComment
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Re: 68 Corvette Linkage-reply
I had this problem for many years and assumed that it was the wear on the plates and purchased a rebuild kit. After disassembling the assembly I found that the "cage" part that houses the plates spot weld broke on one end. I had inspected this a few times while on the car, but missed it. Finished the rebuild with the repaired "cage" and never had a problem again.Comment
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Re: 68 Corvette Linkage-reply
Well, since you mention it, if the shifter has been "leaned on" quite a bit, the housing that holds it altogether can be sprung and spread apart, even with the welds intact. This would give the same symptoms as described by Dale and Abigail. This applies to any Muncie shifter, not just Corvette.
MikeComment
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Re: 68 Corvette Linkage-reply
how much of an issue is it to get the shifter out of the car ... any secrets??Comment
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