I helped a buddy of mine change the clutch in his 1980 F100. It has a 300 i6 and a Ford 303 3 on the tree. We swapped the clutch and everything was gravy for about 2 days but all of a sudden she wouldn't come out of gear. You can stab the clutch in and it will disengage, but can't swap gears (Had to drive 20 miles home in 1st....) unless you physically mess with the mechanical linkage under the hood, and we are absolutely lost at what the problem might be.

 

Sounds like the clutch adjustment slipped and you aren't getting it to fully release. Can you start it in various gears and get it to roll? That's an indication the clutch isn't releasing. So the problem is probably in the adjustment.

Assuming you still have the mechanical linkage you should have an adjustment on the link going from the Z-bar to the throw out arm. That adjustment isn't long enough to allow the clutch to fully dis-engage.

 

If we could reliably get it into various gears I could tell you hahaha

The clutch disengages though, he said when he was driving home he would have it wound up in first then push the clutch in to let it disengage so the motor wasn't spun up at 6000 rpm the whole time.

 

That doesn't prove the clutch is disengaging completely. It just proves it is disengaging enough that it won't pull the truck. But it can easily be still slightly engaged and that will keep you from changing gears.

With the engine off, put the rear on jack stands, put the tranny in any gear, and have someone stand on the clutch while you try to turn the drive shaft by hand. If you can't turn the driveshaft easily by hand then the clutch is dragging. Adjust it until it isn't.

 

I think what he is saying possibly is that it won't shift out of first at all and not that it's a clutch problem, i'm not terribly familiar with the three on the tree but I'm thinking that if the shift linkage in the column is worn you can get the shifter jammed between gears, The only advice I can give is to try to move the linkages to the transmission until it's in neutral and hopefully the shifter will move again?

 

People replace the clutch, but then forget to readjust the clutch adjustment rod (7A504 in pic).

 

When I had a 3 speed there was on or near the fire wall a shift linkage with rubber (iirc)bushings that got bad and stuck it in gear. Mention of messing with the linkage brings to mind many such times. Under the truck with a jimmy bar, usually.
However there is a very good chance that adjusting the clutch as suggested will fix it.

 

Ok, so maybe I jumped to a conclusion that replacing the clutch is what caused the problem. I'll listen better.

 

There should be two levers on the side of the tranny. They each have 3 positions. One lever will be 1st and reverse with neutral in the middle. The other one will be 2nd and 3rd with neutral in the middle. With the e-brake on or put blocks around the tires, get someone under there with the engine off, to watch the arms as someone else moves the shifter back and forth. If both levers don't go to the center, then you can't shift gears.

 

Lower pic: 1980/86 F100/250 Ford type 3.03 3 speed M/T

7341 bushings shown in pic located in each of the selector levers (7302/7303) at the bottom of the steering column.

EOSZ-7341-B .. Nylon Bushing / Available from Ford.