Pa_Plymouth Posted January 24, 2023 Report Share Posted January 24, 2023 Hello everyone! Joined this wonderful group because I’m in need of all of your expertise. Currently working on a 1940 Plymouth Coupe and can’t get things adjusted to be able to get into Reverse/1st. Technical manual isn’t much help and I found a couple threads that cover it, but wanted to be sure I understood it correctly since I’m an AMC guy mostly. There’s two levers on the transmission (one on top, one on driver’s side) and it seems that the lever on the driver’s side is driven by the lower rod on the steering column. It should actuate when you pull the shift lever towards you to shift into reverse/1st. So my questions are: Does the driver’s side arm just move forward in order to swap the top lever into shifting from 2/3 and R/1? Also, from what I’ve read, once you engage the clutch it releases into the “resting” 2/3 gear pattern? So by adjusting the jam nuts on the lower rod (driver’s side lever) to pull it forward, this should engage R/1 gears correct? Can’t find anywhere where it shows lever position to gear reference. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Los_Control Posted January 25, 2023 Report Share Posted January 25, 2023 I'm very little help ..... my truck has both levers on top of the transmission. When I lift up on the gearshift, one lever moves up .... meaning it has 2 positions. down or up. Moving the gear shift into R/1 it has 3 positions. 1/N/R .... Same with 2/3. That may help you determine which lever does what. I ran into a issue when I started to take my linkage loose from the steering column to remove the steering wheel. I decided to wait on removing it and put the linkage back together. Then I could not get 1/R gears .... I messed with it a bit, finally I reached down & put the R/1 lever into neutral then the up/down lever down in it's natural position. (I have my floor cut out) You may need to crawl under & reach up. After setting the levers correctly on the transmission, then the gear shift lever worked fine. Worth a try, it was really simple, I did not remove the linkage from the transmission. I put the gear shift lever in Neutral then put the transmission levers in Neutral .... all was good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solution Sniper Posted January 25, 2023 Solution Report Share Posted January 25, 2023 https://mymopar.com/mtsc-1949-volume-2-6-transmission-fundamentals/ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OUTFXD Posted January 25, 2023 Report Share Posted January 25, 2023 Just got a new shift linkage grommet and went looking on into for adjusting the shift linkage correctly, Thanks sniper! 18 hours ago, Sniper said: https://mymopar.com/mtsc-1949-volume-2-6-transmission-fundamentals/ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OUTFXD Posted January 25, 2023 Report Share Posted January 25, 2023 Aaaaand nope. Still no second gear. The shift linkage appears to be bent or otherwise improper and forced to fit by the previous clowns. It seems to bind up at the top of the upward shift making the linkage flex without it going into 2nd gear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pa_Plymouth Posted January 25, 2023 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2023 Thank you everyone for all the help! I’ll be working in the car tomorrow and I’ll let you know how it turns out. The adjuster on the lower rod end (engaging when shift lever is pulled back) the nuts were completely to the end. Hopefully, all I’ll have to do is run them down and back off a half turn so it’ll pull the rear driver’s side shift lever forward more. Not sure how much pressure it takes, but I’ll try disconnecting the linkage and manually moving it forward to see if it’ll shift. Here’s to hoping it’s something simple. That video was super informing too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pa_Plymouth Posted February 1, 2023 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2023 Update: Ran the nuts down while holding the side lever (R/1) and bumped the starter while in gear and it went into reverse/1st according to wheel movement. Unfortunately, wasn’t getting any spark, or gas to the engine so had to rebuild the fuel pump, un-stick the accelerator pump inside the carb, and replace the points. Fired right up after all that and managed to go into all gears while on jackstands by slightly letting the clutch out to make the wheels move. Tomorrow hopefully it’ll fire right up and it’ll be able to move again under it’s own power after 60+ years. I’ll post again if I end up having any transmission issues to this post. Thanks again for the help! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pa_Plymouth Posted February 2, 2023 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2023 Well, after letting the car warm up we took it for a 1 mile test ride and it successfully shifted into all gears! Now tons of buttoning up, wiring, interior and we’ll be roadworthy. ?? 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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