Advice for no reverse

[Project560]

So I have been playing with my manual transmission on my project and it has 6 forward gears and no reverse. The shifter seems to be going into reverse (distinctive sound), but the wheels go forward. There is a lot of play in the shift lever shaft, so I will repair it/replace it. Could it be an internal problem with the transmission?

[Arizona_928]

hmmmm the first problem is you have 6 forward gear..... check linkage, adjust if necessary, but I think you haven't found it...... double HH with R bottom right.
probably bad bushings. check the ball bushing under the shifter....

[dgcantrell]

Reverse uses 1st gear, it just "reverses" it. A agree with AZ that it could be a shifter bushing on the trans instead of internal though.

[Project560]

Thanks for the tips. I pulled the shift rod off of the shifter and there was no circlip holding it together. No wonder it was wobbly. I will head to the hardware store to find something suitable and hope that I find reverse. I will pick-up some reading glasses too, so I can see it better...

[Project560]

The rear shift linkage was rusted up and not rotating much so I think that I only had 3rd and 4th gear afterall. I PB Blasted it and worked it back and forth. I got it to move a bit, but I decided to pull it off and replace it/fix it. The problem now is that I can't remove the linkage from the shift selector rod on the transmission. I tried an old 2 jaw puller that I had, but couldn't get it to stay in position. Any recommendations on what type of puller or tool is needed to remove the linkage from the selector shaft? And yes, all of the bolts are out...Thanks.

Here is a picture that I borrowed from Only944 showing the tricky spot:

[Arizona_928]

get a can of pb blaster from war-mart and let it soak. If it's rusted it's going to need some penetration oil... give it a slight pry, if it's not coming off that way it's gonna get messy.

[Project560]

Thanks for all of the suggestions. I found reverse! I also managed to remove the rear linkage from the transmission selector shaft. The problem was definitely the rear shift linkage, which was seized in the plastic housing. When I thought that I was changing gears at the shift lever in the car, it wasn't actually doing anything when I moved it left and right. Following are some lessons that I learned in the process:

1. I didn't need a puller after all - I thought that the transmission selector shaft's bevel was matched with a bevel in the linkage. It turns out that the linkage was round so I could have just tapped the linkage to rotate it on the shaft after I removed the bolt. It was definitely rusted in place though.

Here are some pics of the puller that I didn't need...now I know better:





2. Reverse was opposite to what I thought - to find reverse at the transmission itself I was pushing the selector shaft in and rotating it towards the rear of the car. This is actually 2nd gear. Once I thought about it, I realized that when you move the shifter to the right to find reverse, it causes the selector shaft at the transmission to move out (to the left). A bit hard to explain, but I am happy that my transmission seems to work.

Here is a picture of the seized linkage. I will try to get it apart, but I will likely end up with a new short shifter.

[Project560]

I disassembled the rear linkage, cleaned it up, lubricated it and re-installed. Now I have 5 forward gears and reverse. There is a lot of play in the shifter, but it is good enough for now. I have lots of things left to do before she will be road ready and spring is already here! Next is AOS o-rings, throttle position switch, vacuum lines and oxygen sensor.

My older daughter is ready to drive it, the boys are encouraging me, my wife laughs when I have grease all over my face and all my youngest daughter can say is "the whole garage stinks because of that car". She will come around eventually.