I'd hold off on buying a transmission until you figure out your problem.
There are seals top and bottom pressed in and quite a few moving parts. If you look back at this thread you'll see a schematic of the parts stack-up. I let someone drive it that did not know what he was doing and he jammed it up till pieces stopped moving inside it. I pulled the column and checked the transmission, it shifts fine, but the column shifter components are locked up, so there's the problem. That's why I sent it off. I did not want to destroy anthing since I don't have a spare laying around. If you can find one working at a salvage yard, that might be a good bet. If you know someone who's been into one before, that would work too. Good luck

 

Thanks 635csi! I feel like im making progress already, cheers and happy building

 

You say the bushings are OK, but what bushings are you refering to?

At the bottom of the steering column under the hood are the two manual control selector levers, that the shift rods from the trans attach to. In each one is a rubber bushing and insulator.

They may look ok, but...the bushings harden up and/or age crack...when this occurs...the shaft lever binds up between 1st and 2nd gear.

This is a very common problem with all 1961/79 trucks w/a 3 speed manual. The bushing and insulator kit (1965/79: C5TZ7343A) to solve the problem is around 30 bucks.

 

I think I am unlucky enough to have the problem in the column for the following reasons:
1) Just drove the beast cross country with no shifting problems
2) I heard a snap when coming out of 1st into second as the shifter glides through the middle of the "H" shape.
3) after hearing the snap and driving it very minimally in California the shifting suddenly became troublesome
4) Replaced 2 of the four bushings, the two under the hood at the column linkage connection. -this did not solve the problem (however it is possible that the issue is with the bottom two bushings from linkage to tranny.)

thoughts?

 

I had some problems with my 71' F100 3 speed column shifter. Check out Fordification.com. The sight has complete schematics, pictures, and parts resources for any problems with your column (or just about anything else!). The sight has helped me on a few occassions.

 

After disconnecting the linkages it was still locked up. My problem was abuse related.
Thanks for the insights

 

I rebuilt the column and everything went smoothly, pretty much. Upon dismantling I found the cast iron shift lever had worn away at the shifting tube interface, increasing the diameter of the hole about 5mm. I figured this would be enough for the shifting to gradually get worse and worse and thus likely be my problem. The verdict is still out because... once the column was put back into place with a nice new paint job and all new internals it still wouldn't shift! So at this point there are three possible problems:
1) I screwed up the rebuild.
Unlikely but the symptom pre-rebuild of 'being able to shift from 1st into second (one time only b4 having to get out of the truck and manually reset the levers from under the hood) is no longer possible. the levers only work independently (1st and rev shifting fine, and 2nd to 3rd fine)
2) The transmission is shot.
Should I be able to shift between all the gears with/o engaging the clutch? I took for granted that it is possible but if not then the problem is my tranny/clutch. After failing at my diagnosis of the column I'm rehashing all my assumptions!
3) I have to do something to line up the Hbox lever arms properly with the transmission.
This is what im hoping it is, there are holes int he lever arms that can be lined up with the column housing and a pin (small screwdriver) be placed through to eliminate movement and locking the column Hbox into the neutral position. This leads me to believe that the linkage arms to transmission can be adjusted to synchronize with the transmission. BUT HOW!

Additionally I have loads of pictures from my rebild if anybody is doing one and needs help (provided of course that problem #1 above proves to be false)

 

To see if the transmission is working just disconnect the selector rods and try to move the levers independently.

I did receive my rebuilt column and it is working perfectly. They did great work, but it was not cheap.

Good luck

 

take the rods loose ftom the trans. and make shure its in nutral..than laying under it. make shure it goes in all the gears by pulling on the shifter arms with the truck NOT running you can look under it to see any binding while some one runs it through the gears...bill

 

Turns out I did not screw up the column build! I put a pin in the Hbox to lock into neutral then disconnected linkage from tranny... when tranny was in neutral position on both levers the linkage was not even close. So I took the linkage out and it turns out the middle 2" of thread on the end of both arms had rusted out. so there was slop when shifting. rebuilding the column ultimately was probably unnecessary but it was an education, and after all it was gonna need it sooner than later. Thanks for the help ya'll. happy building

 

It does not hurt to have a tight shifter..Im thinking of putting my 4speed back on the colume...anyway good job..bill