Car stuck in gear?

[PeterBiggerstaff]

Hi All,

This may have been asked before, I've done a quick search, but its been a long frustrating day so please be nice :)

To cut a very long story short, today was the first time I had tried to start 10985 since I started the restoration. Somehow, she has managed to lock herself in gear as she lurched forwards. The linkages from the gear stick to the transmission are so loose, the stick is flapping around and doing nothing at all. This has been the case since I got the car, but as she was in neutral I haven't really worried about this yet.

I've tried rocking the car back and forth while moving the stick around, but it hasn't made any difference, so I had to pull the plugs out and get 2 other people to push the car back into the garage while still in gear.

Obviously I need to tighten all the linkages up to start getting movement out of the transmission, but all the guides I have read so far assume you start with the car in neutral. I need to know the best way to get her back into neutral with the loose linkages.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Bitsyncmaster]

Look at post #5 here.

http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?8119-manual-transmission-stuck-in-1-st-gear-any-idea&highlight=stuck+gear

That would be my guess. You will need to get the car raised up to get under it. You will need to jack and block each wheel a little at a time since you can't drive it up on ramps.

[PeterBiggerstaff]

Look at post #5 here.

http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?8119-manual-transmission-stuck-in-1-st-gear-any-idea&highlight=stuck+gear

That would be my guess. You will need to get the car raised up to get under it. You will need to jack and block each wheel a little at a time since you can't drive it up on ramps.

Awesome, thanks for the reply. Apologies for not seeing that one myself.

[flux3d]

Yep, same thing happened to me not so long ago. Couldn't get it out of a gear between first and reverse. In the end just jacking one rear wheel up feed everything up and it popped out. In my case i put it down to one of the rear wheels being slightly higher on the curb. Jacking the wheel up solved everything. I'd like to know if this is a sign that somethings amis though

[David T]

Yep, same thing happened to me not so long ago. Couldn't get it out of a gear between first and reverse. In the end just jacking one rear wheel up feed everything up and it popped out. In my case i put it down to one of the rear wheels being slightly higher on the curb. Jacking the wheel up solved everything. I'd like to know if this is a sign that somethings amis though

Jack the car up. Go right to the transmission and move the gear linkage and get it into neutral. If the gearshift knob isn't moving the linkage you need to find out what happened. Typically it is just loose because of worn parts but if it is flopping around something is disconnected or broken. Should be easy to find. One typical failure is the pivot bolt and that would allow the gearshift to "flop around". Refer to 4-2-0 in the parts manual ref # 17. The rubber bushings wear out ref #8 4 pieces.

[flux3d]

Cheers David. I'll check that out as well When i next have the car up on ramps

[PeterBiggerstaff]

You guys were right, bolt #17 wasn't just loose, it had sheered right off. The top half fell out easily enough, but the bottom half is still stuck in the bracket in the frame.

I have coated the bolt in penetr8, and using vice grips and twisting (the bottom of the bolt stuck far enough though the bracket to get the grips on) I have managed to get the bolt threaded perhaps another 1mm though the hole in an hour.

Is there an easier way to do this than though that stupid little window in the bottom of the frame? my hand only just fits, and when you have vice grips in there too, you can't see anything. Its taken me an hour to shift the bolt 1mm... it is also occurring to me, how the hell and I going to get the new bolt in there?

[PeterBiggerstaff]

sorry for the double post but just thinking some more here... I was thinking about drilling a hole directly underneath the bellcrank assembly, in the frame.

This would allow me to get a drill with a bolt extractor bit in there, to get the broken pivot bolt out.

Then I'm assuming the new bolt goes in, and you tighten via the holes in the end of the frame, where the cable and rods come out?

[DMCMW Dave]

sorry for the double post but just thinking some more here... I was thinking about drilling a hole directly underneath the bellcrank assembly, in the frame.

This would allow me to get a drill with a bolt extractor bit in there, to get the broken pivot bolt out.

Then I'm assuming the new bolt goes in, and you tighten via the holes in the end of the frame, where the cable and rods come out?

You tighten the bolt through the large access hole. Once you deal with the broken bolt it shouldn't be a big deal. Shorty wrench.

I've seen a couple cars with a hole drilled in the frame directly below that captive nut. I'm not a fan of drilling the frame but it would work. Just try do to a neater job than the hacks I've seen. And paint up the bare edges when done.

[David T]

You tighten the bolt through the large access hole. Once you deal with the broken bolt it shouldn't be a big deal. Shorty wrench.

I've seen a couple cars with a hole drilled in the frame directly below that captive nut. I'm not a fan of drilling the frame but it would work. Just try do to a neater job than the hacks I've seen. And paint up the bare edges when done.

It is possible the bolt was double-nutted. Drill it out if necessary. Order 2 and keep the spare in the glove box or drill and tap a hole in the frame nearby to stick it in. It is a special bolt so you will have trouble finding it locally. When reassembling make sure the beam moves smoothly with no looseness. Use washers to make it happen. Lubricate it too. Don't use an extractor, when it breaks you will just have that to deal with too.

[PeterBiggerstaff]

Thanks again guys, I hate to keep bugging you for advice, but I want to do it right!

I'll avoid the bolt extractors (which havn;t actually ever worked for me anyway, they went blunt the first time I tried to use them) and just drill the bolt out. I'll get 2 new ones and take it from there. This isn't holding up the project yet as I'm still working on getting the engine running.

[DMC5180]

How much thread is protruding out the bottom of the welded nut? Is the topside sheared of flush below the bolt shoulder? Which way are you trying too remove the bolt stub? Up or down?