<VV> Shifting? - Toally tubular, dude!

[Sethracer at aol.com]

> Hey guys, this is my first manual Corvair. I've noticed that it  feels 
> kind of 'thick' when shifting. How smooth or easy should the  shift  feel 
> on a manual '65 Corsa.
>

"Should feel" or "can feel"

 
Most late model manuals don't feel thick - they feel as vague as early  model 
FCs. (We used to call the FCs "Guess-a-gear" shifters). The reason for the  
vagueness is because the shift tube design used "snap-in" (a.k.a. pop-out)  
plastic bushings at either end of the shift tube housing. In between, there was  
a cardboard tube inserted in the big metal tube to semi-locate the round metal 
 shifting rod/tube, as it moved fore and aft and rotated. When new, it worked 
 quite well. Several bad things can and usually do happen over the years.  
The plastic bushings in either end of the large tube can pop-out. This allows  
the inner shift tube to move sideways, instead of rotating. Interestingly,  the 
first part that Clark's Corvair P arts sold (P/N C1) is the kit to replace  
the plastic bushings with brass bushings. The tube itself is open to the  
elements at the rear of the shifter. Or is shortly after the bellows falls  off. 
The actual outer tube can rust away badly, leaving a dead rear bushing  to ride 
the shifter instead of control it's motion. If water, etc, gets  inside the 
tube, it will attack the cardboard causing swelling - tightening of  the 
fore-aft motion of the shifter, and rust -restricting all motion of the  shifter. 
Also, previous owners/mechanics may have either foregotten the shifter  pin 
removal during powertrain drops, or dropped the powertrain down onto the end  of 
the coupler. Either one can bend the end of the shifting tube down. If this  
happens, lifting it up to install it will bind the shifter. After all this tale  
of woe -What can you do? Well - a lot of things. First, some diagnostics.  Get 
the car up in the air and inspect it. See if anything is binding/broken  
-missing? Try removing the cross pin that holds the coupler to the transmission  
shift input shaft. Pull the cotter pin, then pull out the big  cross pin. At 
this point you can check two things. First, did the coupler  jump out of 
position when the pin was removed? - that would indicate bent  misalignment. Second, 
with the pin removed, is the shifter easy to move both  fore and aft and 
sideways. If it is still "thick" feeling, even when  disconnected, then you will 
have to work on the inside of the shift tube as well  as inspect the shifter 
itself. If you remove the entire shift tube - that means  removing the shifter 
assembly at the floor first - you will see whether the  inner shift tube slides 
easily in the outer tube. If the bushings are gone  or loose, it will be quite 
evident about now. If the tube movement is still  constricted, it is time to 
take the shift tube assembly apart. I have seen  people just remove and 
discard the cardboard, this usually results in banging of  the inner and outer tubes 
on rough services, as the shifting tube bounces up and  down between the 
ends. The best solution for this is to replace the  cardboard tube with a plastic 
tube liner. I have seen a thin, small  diameter pvc (water) pipe routed 
(lengthwise) into a "coiled"  shape (Think wire bundle wrap retainers), then slid 
into the large tube. It  naturally springs outward to fit the inside of the 
tube. A good grease job  on the inner tube and replacement bushings (metal 
preferred) at both ends,  and you are half-way home. Then you have to address the 
shifter and it's shims,  the coupler to the transmission and the locator link 
from the outer tube to the  transmission crossmember. Note - solid is not always 
better. - Seth  Emerson