All,
Can someone tell me (or do diagrams exist of) what positions the shift arms on a '41 manual transmission should be in for each gear? I ask as when I bought my '41, the shift arms were disconnected from the linkage. I dropped the linkage rods back in to the shift arms where they seemed to fall naturally, but the mechanism is jammed and I can't work the shift linkage at all from the column.
Any advice appreciated!
Thanks,
Jeff
Jeff: I have a friend with a 41 and if I took pictures of the arms in each gear would that help you? Bill
Bill,
I think that would help immensely!
Thank you for the offer!!
Jeff
Jeff,
The arms on the transmission have 3 positions, all the way up, all the way down and a position in the middle. Try moving both arms to the middle position, which puts the transmission into "neutral". Then hook up the linkage and see what happens.
The transmission has a mechanism inside the transmission, just where the shifter shafts enter the case, that prevents either arm from being in either the all the way up or the all the way down position unless the other arm is in the middle position. This is to prevent the transmission from being in 2 gears at once which would lock it up and make it un-movable. Years ago, on my '49's manual transmission, every once in a while when in reverse position if I moved it back to neutral, something would get loose inside the transmission and the shift arm on the transmission would continue into first gear while the lever on the steering column would still be in neutral. The transmission would then lock up. When this happened I had to reach under the car and push the lever on the transmission back to neutral. (I fixed it by buying and installing another transmission which doesn't have this problem.)
It could be, on the other hand, that the problem is in the shift mechanism on the steering column under the hood right where the upper shift arms meet the shaft on the column coming from inside the passenger compartment. Make sure everything there fits together and works correctly.
Don't know if this helps. Good luck.
Jay, it helps a lot! I now know a lot more than I did before I read your post. I will try what you suggest tonight.
Every bit of knowledge on the manual transmission is helpful to me as my '42 has a Hydra-Matic and that is the only world I've ever known in the realm of vintage Cadillacs. You can always learn something new - and my '41 is proof of that.
Thanks very much!
Jeff
Just emailed you the pictures Bill
Jeff,
Besides IMHO being more fun to drive, unlike Hydra-matic you can fix almost anything that can go wrong with a Cadillac stick shift transmission yourself.
Let us know how it turns out.
Problem solved. Between Bill's photos and descriptions of the shift arms and rods and Jay's description of the arm positions, I was able to get the transmission into neutral by disconnecting the shift rod from the rear arm and moving the rear arm to the center position. I then reinserted the shift rod into the rear arm. Once back inside the car, the gear selector arm - which had been in the raised position (reverse or 2nd gear) had dropped to the neutral position and I was able to go through the entire shift pattern. I obviously attached something incorrectly initially. All is now well.
Many thanks to both of you kind gentlemen!
Jeff
Jeff,
What kind of '41 do you have? How about posting a photo which I'm sure Bill would like to see too.
Jeff,
Didn't Barry give you any warranty with that car? Just kidding.
Bob Schuman
Jay, the car is a '41 Sixty Special I purchased from Barry Wheeler. Photo attached. Despite its dusty appearance, the car is very sound and very complete.
Bob, the fault is all mine on this. Before I took the car off of the jack stands in Barry's garage, I twisted on the driveshaft to make sure the car was in neutral. It didn't turn, so I adjusted the closest shift arm until it did turn (the shift rods were already disconnected from the transmission shift arms). I then put the shift rods into the shift arms for the journey on to the trailer and home. When I tried to go through the gears once we got it off the trailer at my house, the shifter wouldn't budge. Uh oh.... So it was my fault for monkeying with things.
I hope to have the car running by the end of the month.
Jeff