57 chevy truck shifter problem

[57chevyman]

hey y'all.. I have a problem with the truck.. maybe someone can give me advice so I can fix it myself -

I have a Saginaw manual three speed transmission in my truck. shifter on the floor. I seem to have a problem with the linkage - if I shift it into reverse ( top, left ), I cannot shift it out of reverse. the last 2 times I did use reverse, I had to either drive home in reverse like sonny from Bronx Tale, or get under the truck and get it out of reverse ( on a flat surface and wheels blocked!)

I can post pictures tomorrow if that helps.

[_Ogre]

the shifter and bushings are worn out, you can halfass fix it by replacing the bushings
for a real fix replace the shifter, it's aftermarket anyway

[OrrieG]

Definately aftermarket and worn out, I fought my tranfer shifter for years with same issues. Get a good quality replacement, this is one area where price equals quality, no need to go cheap and replicate the problem. If you can find one get a Woody's, I did a quick search and could not come up with a link, I hope they did not go out of business. In the day they were the NASCAR and other racer goto guys for shifters, "Everyone needs a Woody" was the logo. Hurst used to be very good if you stayed away from the bargain series, but someone else will need to chime in on current situation, probably made off shore so who knows.

[57chevyman]

Is Mr. Gasket well made ?

[57chevyman]

i can get a Mr Gasket shifter on Amazon very inexpensive. is it worth it to pay a lot more for a Hurst Mastershift shifter? I don't mind investing the extra $, as long as im not just paying for the name on the shifter.

[Russell Ashley]

Have you considered putting it back on the column? More original, cleans up the floor some, and makes space for a third passenger.

Also makes younger people ask what that lever is for, LOL.

[mr48chev]

I'd have to ask what shifter it has now as you may be able to clean it up and get new bushings an go again.

If you are looking at this particular Mr Gasket shifter Mr. Gasket 7667A Universal Floor Shifter :...I wouldn't waste my money as it will be doing the same thing in a few months.

If it shifts good otherwise it probably has something causing it to hang up when you go into reverse. That could be that it is over centering the linkage or it could be that the linkage is hanging up on something or the bushings if there are bushings are worn out. I'd see if I could figure out the "why" of it's hanging up and then see if I could fix that cause. I'd also pull it off the truck and take it apart on the bench while making sure I kept track of how each part was situated in the shifter as I took it apart. I'd then smooth out any wear grooves or things that may have caused it to hang up, clean it up and lube it and put it back together. I've done that on the Hurst 3 speed in my 48 a number of times over the years when it started hanging up.
Make sure that you have everything set exactly right when you adjust the levers when you put it back on as that is critical.

One more thing I have fought over the years is on "universal shifters" you have to bend the shift rods to fit your application and quite often guys don't get them bent just right and that causes the shifter to hang up.

[57chevyman]

Originally Posted by mr48chev

I'd have to ask what shifter it has now as you may be able to clean it up and get new bushings an go again.

If you are looking at this particular Mr Gasket shifter Mr. Gasket 7667A Universal Floor Shifter : Amazon.com : Automotive
I wouldn't waste my money as it will be doing the same thing in a few months.

If it shifts good otherwise it probably has something causing it to hang up when you go into reverse. That could be that it is over centering the linkage or it could be that the linkage is hanging up on something or the bushings if there are bushings are worn out. I'd see if I could figure out the "why" of it's hanging up and then see if I could fix that cause. I'd also pull it off the truck and take it apart on the bench while making sure I kept track of how each part was situated in the shifter as I took it apart. I'd then smooth out any wear grooves or things that may have caused it to hang up, clean it up and lube it and put it back together. I've done that on the Hurst 3 speed in my 48 a number of times over the years when it started hanging up.
Make sure that you have everything set exactly right when you adjust the levers when you put it back on as that is critical.

One more thing I have fought over the years is on "universal shifters" you have to bend the shift rods to fit your application and quite often guys don't get them bent just right and that causes the shifter to hang up.

come to think of it, it does feel like the shifter is going further forward than it should for reverse. it shifts perfectly between 1st 2nd and 3rd. its a hurst 3 speed shifter, with a universal handle attached to it, so you cant tell what brand it is from inside the truck.

[57chevyman]

I looked at the shifter today. What I have now is a Hurst shifter. I want to keep it simple and just fix the problem. Since its an expensive shifter , maybe replacing the bushings is worth trying?

[57chevyman]

Ill take a closer look at it when I can get my friend to move the shifter while I see what's happening when it hangs up in reverse. It does shift perfectly between 1 2 and 3

[_Ogre]

i'd buy the mr gasket shifter, cut off the chrome lever with mr gasket advertisement on it and make your own shifter
or graft a stock 4 speed floor shift arm on it
trying to fix a worn out shifter is frustrating

[Indian113]

There should be a bolt on the shifter body that make adjustments on shifting throws.

[57chevyman]

Ok, I finally had a few min without rain to get under the truck..... the linkage is loose as hell. both of the bushings attaching the rods to the shifter are shot. one of the bolts attaching the linkage to the transmission was almost falling out..... I think the bushing is gone. heres a couple of pics......

[57chevyman]

this bolt that worked its way loose was the problem. the shifter probably could use new bushings, but this loose bolt was the cause of the shifter hanging in reverse. now the new question, why is it working itself loose? it was definitely tightened with a ratchet about a month ago.. I was stuck in reverse near my mechanics shop..and he went under the truck with a ratchet and the shifter worked fine for a while...he told me the linkage was loose and he tightened it....

[/QUOTE]

[Russell Ashley]

While you are under there also check that the rectangular holes in the arms on the tranny aren't beat out. They should be a snug fit on the shafts.

[57chevyman]

Originally Posted by Russell Ashley

While you are under there also check that the rectangular holes in the arms on the tranny aren't beat out. They should be a snug fit on the shafts.

The rectangular holes look ok. I finger tightened the bolt to the transmission and everything Is snug. it looks like I need new bushings all around, and probably also adjust the throw distance for reverse?

[57chevyman]

I went ahead and ordered a hurst steel bushing kit. it comes with 6 bushings and 6 new clips. this may be a silly question, but do I use all 6 of them? I can see it needs new bushings where the rods attach to the shifter and where the little bracket attaches to the transmission... what about where the rod attaches to the bracket on the transmission?

[57chevyman]

this bolt on the transmission is giving me trouble again. it becomes loose and the shifter rods bind up and i cant shift out of reverse. a while ago i thought i fixed this problem by tightening this bolt with loctite. why is this bolt working its way loose?

[fredos59]

Sometimes problems like this like this can be a good thing. Do this.
1) Clear your work bench an pull the shifter from the trans and pull it out of the truck.
2) Open a cool drink and start taking the shifter apart. If you have brain fart like me take pics along the way so you can get it back together. Take a sip of your cool drink.
3) Clean and inspect everything and Replace all nuts, bolts and washers with new. Even if they look good, you'd be surprised how much new hardware helps.
4) Install the new bushings you got a while back. It came with 6, use as many new ones as you can. Sip your cold drink.
5) Put shifter back together, take sip of cool drink.
6) Reinstall shifter onto transmission.
7) Depending on what cool drink you were sipping, test drive truck and enjoy the bliss of a well built HURST shifter.

DISCAIMER: This only my opinion and worth ever penny you paid me for it.

[tmoble]

usually that happens when the hole in the shift lever is worn where it slips over the shaft coming out of the trans. take it off and inspect it

[twinsemi]

The slot in the lever needs to be a snug fit over the arm. Any play and it will ratchet the bolt loose. Time for new levers.

[_Ogre]

Originally Posted by twinsemi

The slot in the lever needs to be a snug fit over the arm. Any play and it will ratchet the bolt loose.

this is probably the problem, though before you buy new i suggest you try to fix them
shim it with a little beer can shim or weld the hole and file it to a snug fit

but the way an ogre would do it would be to use a center punch and peen around the hole
then hammer it on the shaft

[Coupeguy2001]

That thing looks really dry. Try smushing some grease into it when it is in one gear or another. The grease in there could be 50 years old.
My hurst shifter looks all dark and you can see where the grease is migrating out of it. It shifts pretty smooth.
If you get it apart, you might find that the spring that puts friction on the shift arms in the shifter has broken or is weak. When you go from one gear to another, the spring preloads the arms so that when you get to neutral from first, the thing springs into second/third arm. If it's weak, when you shift out of reverse, the arm selector does not put pressure on the dowel that move the links, and it doesn't keep pressure on the reverse/first arm, and it stays in reverse.
If the problem is actually the link arms bolting onto the side cover, Summit sells some faster ratio link arms for around $30. people usually keep the old ones. I put some on my 57 3200.
But not all trans side covers' shafts are the same.

[57chevyman]

Originally Posted by twinsemi

The slot in the lever needs to be a snug fit over the arm. Any play and it will ratchet the bolt loose. Time for new levers.

are the new levers easy to find?

[Russell Ashley]

I repaired my friends levers buy welding up the edges of the hole and filed them to fit. As others have said, these must fit snug or they will loosen up.