Sloppy Gear Shift

[1943ht]

Have been using my 37 as a daily driver and its been a blast. She runs like a fine instrument and the positive comments and thumbs up I get every day make all the work on her restoration a real pay off ... folks just plai love tl see these beautiful old beasts on the streets.

Spent yesterday adjusting all the brake shoes and the parking brake as I had not done that since the rebuild. A issue that is driving me nuts is the slop I am experiencing in the gear shift.

I have at least 6-8 inches of movement side to side when I'm in gear ....and when shifting from 2nd to 3rd I on have an ocassional grind of gears as the shifter seems to try to drop into 1st ... going to remove the tunnel around the trany this afternoon so that I can get at the gearshift.

I am looking for some advice here .. What should I be looking for? Is there something I need to rebuild? Appreciate any assistance from the team.

//R//
Mark

 

[nhjohnny1]

I have the same problem, been meaning to look at it so thanks for this thread

 

[M-37Bruce]

In Gear Sloppy Shifting

I have similar slop as well, been dealin' w/it?

 

[1943ht]

Well, I decided I need to take the gearshift assembly off tomorrow and take a peek .. My trany was rebuilt in Danang Vietnam in the 60s ...will post pics as I progress....

 

[M-37Bruce]

Mine was a French rebuild in the seventies ....

 

[TGP (IL)]

The pin in the top side of the shifter tower is broke or well worn.
Also the groove on the side of the shift lever at the ball is well worn.
Install new pinbolt and weld the groove and reshape or find new. There out there from the usual suspects.
Tom

 

[papabear]

The pin in the top side of the shifter tower is broke or well worn.
Also the groove on the side of the shift lever at the ball is well worn.
Install new pinbolt and weld the groove and reshape or find new. There out there from the usual suspects.
Tom

That would be my guess as well. My M-37 had that problem and Troy swapped the pin from a donor truck and solved the problem.

 

[M-37Bruce]

I did the pin earlier, I'll try the other, thanks fella's!

 

[1943ht]

That makes sense ..went thru the Trany TM, and the pin issue looked to be the most plausible ... had to take a trip to upper New York so I did not get the chance to pull the shifter yet, will do that after school today ...suspect that the pin is either broken or missing ... thanks for all the advise ..will take pics

 

[rtk]

Just call vintage or Midwest Military and get a NOS top cover , about $100.. Replaced mine last winter , common problem on M37's . bob k

 

[1943ht]

Bob I'm one cheap old S#B LOL ...will try the self abuse / self repair route 1st ..going to school and have access to lots of machines here like mills, lathes etc .... if that fails it will be a call to John at MM ... thanks for that suggestion

 

[rtk]

No problem , I have the old shift tower and it is yours for the taking if you need a part . bob k

 

[1943ht]

Pulled the tower today and determined that my tower is a bit different than that described in the TM. There’s only 1 pin, and you have to pull the shifter out thru the bottom of the tower after removing the spring inside the tower. There is no twist off collar so that you can remove the shifter from the top of the tower.

That being said I was able to tear it down and pull the shifter. The pin is broken to the point that it no longer stays in place in the shifter thus the slop in my shifter. Pulled the pin remnant out and there is enough there to make a pattern for a new pin which I'll turn down on a lathe tomorrow.

Will harden the pin after turning it down, put the tower back together and throw it back into the beast. Have decided to modify the new pin and beef up the taper so that it won't fail like the old one did. Will post pics of the new pin tomorrow,

Pics are of the tear-down today and the worn/broken pin.

 

[1943ht]

Pin completed, cleaned up the shifter as the edges of the ball on the shifter were nasty due to the broken pin. Pin was turned from steel and then hardened and polished. Have to be careful with the hardening process because if its to hard it becomes brittle and may crack/fail. Heat soak prior to dipping in oil is the secret regards hardening.

The machined cut on the shifter ball also shows scaring from the broken pin being jammed into the cutout when the shift was moved thru its pattern. That would explain why sometimes the shift would seem to bind up a bit when I ran it thru its pattern.

Had a personal commitment (CINC-W) last night after school, so I did not get an opportunity to put the tower back together and into the beast. Will knock it out tonight.

I have the old style/original shifter tower. From what I have determined the B-Model had an improved shifter and tower, and per the TM you could pull the shifter out from the top instead of thru the tower bottom. The redesign went to a two pin system as two pins would have shared the stress load more evenly on shifter ball and must have reduced the fail rate. Pics Posted:

 

[rtk]

Very Nice work . The whole B series transmissions were a improvement over the early units . They are interchangeable and all around are a better unit and are a LITTLE hard to find . I bet there are a lot left in SEA !

 

[M-37Bruce]

I have a tower somewhere, might be just what we're talking about, the B series, don't remember?

 

[1943ht]

Mission Complete, so nice to have a solid shifter back .... Thank you-all for the advise and support.