Hello Sunbeamers:
Here's a transmission question. Most of you know this, but for those who
don't, I have a hybred 5 speed trans. in my MK1A Tiger. It's a
Ford/Mustang box with a Chevy S-10 pickup tail housing (the shifter
almost lined up with the stock shifter hole). The gearing, etc., is
pretty much perfect and I'm very happy with that. The shifting, since
day one (it was a used/rebuilt trans) has been very notchy, and seems to
have gotten a bit worse. I have to almost force it into 1st from neutral
sometimes, and other gears aren't much better. The shop I bought the
trans. from said it would "shift like butter". I guess they didn't
explain that they meant dried up, hard as a rock butter. Once in a
while, a shift here and there seems easier, which might relate to RPMs
(or not). I've tried it with 30 weight oil, and also auto. trans fluid,
and one or the other doesn't seem to make much difference, although the
ATF I have in now seems to make it marginally easier to shift when in
colder weather (cold for southern California, anyway). The shifter
assembly I got with the trans when I bought it is a generic Chevy piece.
To clarify what I mean by "notchy", I have to usually almost force the
shifter into gear, but the shift lever itself is not stiff, if that
makes sense. It moves freely in neutral, and once I get it past the
entry point for the gear in question.
There doesn't seem to be any advantage to lubing it (which I've tried).
Shifter length is about the same as the stock Tiger shifter. In the hope
that maybe my notchy, stiff shifting might be related to the shifter
assembly, and not synchros, or other expensive internal happenings,
(supposedly, new synchros, etc. had been fitted when the box was
rebuilt), are there any ideas out there for alternative, better
(smoother) shifting shifter assemblies (remembering that the tail
housing is Chevy, not Ford in this case)?
Steve Sage
1967 MK1A
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