tail shift trouble

[markwemple]

Stock '70 914/4. Bought recently and just beginning to drive it. For some reason, I don't have the 4-5 plane. Replaced the 2 bushings in the tunnel and adjusted the front shift point as far as it will go but when I try to go for 4 or 5, it is as though it hits a wall. I haven't gotten underneath it yet to replace the 3 other bushings but how much more adj. is available and could it be an internal problem (gawd I hope not!)

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

Try adjusting the linkage, it may be that it's moved too far over to effectively get the 4/5 plane.

See if you can look under the carpet into the center tunnel to see if the bottom of the shifter is hitting the clutch tube. That happens sometimes when the tube has broken loose... It will interfere with going into the 4/5 plane if so.

--DD

[markwemple]

Dave I adjusted the tranny tunnel part as far as it will go. There isn't much room for adjustment. I will have to check the rear area. Is there a fix for the clutch tube problem. That sounds promissing as this car sat for quite some time and has need a lot of minor debugging.

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

The old fix for the clutch tube problem was to cut apart the top of the tunnel and weld everything back into place.

Nowadays, we try to find the original bracket inside the tunnel (still around the tube), drill holes in the side of the tunnel, and plug-weld the tabs on the bracket to those holes. We remove the gear shift lever from the top of the tunnel so we can see inside there.

...And when I say "we", I mean "someone who has some clue how to weld, not me."

The fix is actually more complicated to describe than to do, if you have some idea what you are looking/feeling for.

--DD

[markwemple]

Clutch tube in place. Will have to start at the fire wall and work backwards?

[TargaToy]

Something that worked for me was spacing the shifter base up off the floor with one or two washers under each mounting bolt. This gave just enough extra side-to-side "throw" to allow me to reach the 4-5 plane as well as comfortably hitting R-1.

What you'd find, even after you replaced all the bushings along the length of the linkage, is that the internal shift lever (a $275 part new) has a couple of brass-looking hemispherical protrusions on either side of it. When these wear (and I'd imagine all eventually do), the side-to-side engagements suffer. Here's a picture of mine.



...and another of the lever installed on the rear shifter rod so you can get an idea of where this do-dad goes.

[spoke]

There is a shift linkage connection under the armrest which connects the shifter linkage to the through-body linkage. You may be able to index the linkage to allow more motion towards 4/5 gears.

[red-beard]

Goto my old webpage, http://forums.pelicanparts.com/home.san.rr.com/pb914 , there is an article on how to adjust the gear selector. What you want to do is put the transmission into 2nd gear, and then lock the rear rod with a pair of vise grips. Unlock the adjustment behind the drivers seat and then adjust the sideward motion of the gear selector to the edge of the lock-out plate. Now move the gear selector forward as far as it will go and then pull it back slightly. Tighten the adjustment. The side of the lockout plate gives you a "slot" for 2nd and third, and makes you use the lockout plate for 1st and reverse. 4th and and you ram it all the way to the right.

In the tail shifter you have twice as many bushings and balls to replace. Also, do not forget about the shifter itself. There are 2 bushings and a spring (only available at the dealer) that need to be replaced. The last page of the tranny article covers this.

Once you have new bushings, you might want to put epoxy on the shiftrod in the bushing area. Build it up to larger than the bushing, then sand it until you have a tight smooth fit. This really helps get rid of any slack. Do this where-ever you have a bushing.

James