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Old 11-04-2006, 11:41 PM   #1
Green Machine
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Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Estherville, Iowa
Posts: 3,371
3 Speed Manual Column Shifter Adjustment

I'll try to explain the adjustment. First, inspect all 4 of the rubber bushings and replace as needed. If the shifter is hard to move when the weather is cold, the grease under the shift socket on top is old and dried out, just take the wheel off and turn signal and clean and lube it up on top. Lube everthing up at the bottom of the column with some WD40 so it moves nice.

Now here is the biggest problem with these and the fix - shifter getting stuck betwen gears - at the very bottom of the column there are 2 small bolts that hold the lower bearing, and a clamp bolt, loosen but don't remove them. They are on a slanted slot/cam. Turn the sleeve counterclockwise to remove the slack between the lower shift levers, this will keep the selector between the shift levers from sliding past the levers causing it to be "stuck".

Next with the parking brake on, put the shifter in neutral and loosen the shift linkage adjustment bolts under the hood. Find a 3/16 drill bit and you will see there is a slot where you can slide the bitl in and align the levers with the column. Go under the truck and insure that both of the tranny arms are in neutral. Now the tranny is "centered" with the shift linkages. Tighten the linkage bolts and you are done. No more shifter problems !!!.

One other place to check for wear is the roll pin that holds the shift lever to the socket, easy to replace and will tighten up the shifter feel. If the truck has had a ton of usage, the shift socket itself can get a little sloppy, but that is pretty easy to replace if you have the top apart to lube it.

Those shifters really are pretty durable and just have some one in the truck run through the gears while you watch under the hood. It is a pretty simple mechanism and a few minutes watching how it works and understanding how it operates will let you adjust it so it works perfect.

Picture explanation.
Note, to adjust you just need to loosen the two side bolts and loosen the top clamp bolt to adjust, the side bolts are removed and the clamp is slid down for clarity.

Pic #1 shows the shifter misadjusted. You can see the selector has gone between the two shift arms and is the cause for the "being stuck in two gears at once" or "it won't shift at all" complaint.

Pic #2 shows the lower "cam bearing" turned counterclockwise in the slot removing almost all slack between the parts, don't remove all clearance or it will get too tight, I would guess about .010 would be plenty. Notice with the shifter adjusted like this it is almost impossible for the selector to get caught between the shift levers.

Pic #3 shows a better shot of the alignment guide and the use of the proper 3/16 drill bit alignment tool. Now I better go sweep the carpet before my wife sees the mess !!!

Hope that helps
Green Machine
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1968 C10 307 3spd Long Fleet ------ http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=201103
1970 C10 305 Super T10 Long Fleet --- http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=202285
1971 C20 383 TH350 Dana Posi ----- http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=206894
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Last edited by Green Machine; 11-04-2006 at 11:47 PM.
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