<VV> 4 spd trans trouble - SOLVED!!!!

[judynrandy at comcast.net]

I want to say thank you to all who responded about my 4spd problem.  The solution, is , ah, well, a comedy of errors.  For starters, it's usually just me out in the garage working on such projects.  So, It would seem logical that if you heard what sounded like " a marble or two bouncing around what sounds like the inside of the tranny" you wouldn't venture far from the drivers seat.  Well, when I faced the fact that I was going to have to pull the drive train, I thought, 'what have I got to lose by jumping back to the back of the car real quick, since if it blows up i'm going to have to pull it anyway?'  Well, when I did, I got a big surprise.  The noise now sounded like it was coming from the brake drums.  Ah ha!!!!  Maybe I won't have to pull the tranny after all.  So, when I was removing the brake drums, I noticed the rubber brake lines dangling in front of my face , which I hadn't reattached because they were being replaced.  I also noticed how they were hanging.  Yup.  You guessed it.  With the ends just touching the cross member.  So, I moved them, pulled both rear drums and the noise went away. 

   As for the funky shifting, I decided to remove the shifter and clean it and regrease it.  Well, 50 year old lubriplate does have its limitations!  It helped some, but still didn't solve the problem.  Then I decided to look in the '61 shop manual in the 4spd section to see if it offered any clues.  Completely by accident, I stumbled onto a paragraph that mentioned that the 'spring seat with tab' found in a 3 spd shifter is not used in a 4spd one.  So I removed the seat and the shifter improved 1,000%.  The shifting into reverse problem went away when I started moving the shifter to the correct spot for reverse.  I was going over and down as opposed to over and up!!! (Please cut me some slack on that one.  I'm a powerglide kind a guy.  I've owned about 20 pg's and only 2 other 4spds besides this one.  They were both original and trouble free.) 

   At that point I decided to start it and test the shifting again.  This time, it was a lot better.  But now, it started to grind every now and then.  In a burst of anger and desperation I pushed the clutch to the floor as har d as I could and shifted again.  The trans went into all gears as smooth as could be.  Ah ha!!! 

The clutch!!!  So, just for kicks and gigles I decided to adjust out all the free play to see what would happen.  It shifted flawlessly!   Prior to that, I had adjusted it according to the shop manual.  Well, as I was going to take the car to the 'Corvair Ranch' in Gettysburg, PA on a shakedown cruise, I could then talk to Jeff about it.  I figured that one roadtrip like that wouldn't kill it.  Well, the car passed the test flawlessly.  Up and down the mountains of southern PA without a hitch. (About 150 miles, round trip)   The only problem on the trip was my getting used to driving a 4spd again. 

   At any rate, Jeff said it was a 'modern' bearing, and the modern type of throwout bearing is able to stand the 'no free play' type of adjustment.  Well, at least the car is now driveable.  And it's a matter of tinkering with the clutch adjustment to improve things.  (The clutch pedal still feels like it could go further down.)  The cable clevis from the front cable still has about 1/3 of it's adjustment remaining.  So, time will tell. 

   At any rate, thanks again for your suggestions and comments 



a V.H. Randy (Cap'n) Hook 

'60 700 4dr 84/4spd 

'63 ragtop 110/pg 

'65 monza 4dr 84/pg 



   (V.H. = very humble)