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Hello, I've posted on the correct website/forum and didn't get any responses. So I'm gonna try it here. Sorry if I offend anyone since this is a truck forum. But I have a car, with a 3 speed top loader than I'm fixing up. I was in the process of using my ford F1 to drag it up on the trailer, and the motor is locked up in the car and I forget to put it in neutral. So after a good yank I realized it was still in gear. Well it took a good amount of force to get it into neutral and now it wont engage any of the gears and the shifter is stiff and feels messed up. What did I screw up? Thanks. Car is a 73 Mustang. I posted on the mustang website for these specific years and got no responses, so sorry if I offend anyone for posting here.
When you tried to get it into neutral, was there a load on the driveline? Clutch still working as best you can tell?
Have you inspected the linkage?
Stock shifters with a lot of wear might do some strange things and come out of adjustment.
IIRC, the shift rods may be slotted where they attach to the shift arms(correction the slots are on the shifter end). (It's only been 46 years since I replaced my '65s 3 speed shifter with a Hurst Mastershift shifter) So inspect the rods.
The shifter itself might have suffered damage. Again, iirc, the stock shifter is not very adjustable since it's a production item made for a specific fit. But they look pretty much the same as the Hurst images here. Shifter visible first, scroll down for the rods etc:
Since your motor is locked up, you'll be pulling it out and can deal with the transmission then. As you can see, the Hurst shifter is still available and it was quite an improvement over the worn stocker in my case.
What gear was the trans in when you tried to drag it?
When you say it won't go on any gear, is that using the shifter or are you getting underneath the car and trying to shift at the shift arms?
One thing I would check is to make sure the trans isn't in two gears at the same time. This is possible with a really worn linkage. Get up underneath the car and make sure both shift levers at the transmission are in neutral and go from there.
Hello, I've posted on the correct website/forum and didn't get any responses. So I'm gonna try it here. Sorry if I offend anyone since this is a truck forum. But I have a 1973 Mustang with a 3 speed top loader with floor shift that I'm fixing up. I was in the process of using my ford F1 to drag it up on the trailer, and the motor is locked up in the car and I forget to put it in neutral.
So after a good yank I realized it was still in gear. Well it took a good amount of force to get it into neutral and now it wont engage any of the gears and the shifter is stiff and feels messed up. What did I screw up? Thanks. I posted on the mustang website for these specific years and got no responses.
Ford type 3.03 3 speed manual all syncromesh transmission, installed in misc 1963/80 Ford/Merc Passenger Cars (inc. 1965/73 Mustang); 1963/86 F100/250; 1964/87 E100/250; 1966/77 Bronco.
Do you know that it wasn't hard to get into gear(s) before pulling it? I've never heard of a transmission being damaged that way, which doesn't mean it's not possible. Were the rear tires sunk into the ground or anything?
From the posts above, I think your best course is to test the transmission by using the gear selector levers independently of the shifter. Do you know the rear axle to not be locked up for sure?
I strongly suspect that you didn't ruin that transmission by dragging the car.
If you're going to get all off-topic with a Mustang and all, the least you could do would be to post up some pics!
Clutch in or out it doesn't make any difference, the trans engaged all the gears flawlessly before I went cave man on it. It was in 3rd gear up against the trailer ramps when I tried pulling it. My 48 F1 had a 1000 pounds of feed in the back and it has the crash box 4 speed with the granny low so it really put some pulling power on it for a second. I'm gonna crawl under there tonight and shift it by hand and see what happens. Thanks for the respones. It's a 73 fastback that I saved from the scrap yard for scrap price. I seen one of its fenders sticking out of the bed of a guys truck under a bunch of scrap at a gas station. I have a wrecked 72 that I redid a few years ago that was hit pretty hard on the drivers side last year, so I was looking for a fender and talked to the guy and lead me to the complete car in his grandpa's barn. 250 bucks was worth it to me for sure!! I'm using everything from the wrecked 72 to build the 73. I was counting on this trans to work, because I spent all my budget on a 351w!! Lol
I had a 69 Mustang whose stock shifter was so worn that it would sometimes jam up going between first and reverse. one of the failed modes was the shfiter would not move, while another was the shifter not engaging anything. It would require my going under the car to unjam. It would have taken a machinist to either repair or replace certain parts in the shifter, but it was cheaper to buy a new Hurst shifter and installation kit (for over $500).
Also, the shift rails in the toploaders have detente plugs that prevent more than one synchronizer to be engaged at the same time. You would have to really hit them hard to overpower them.
Those stock shifters were a POS. Since the transmission was pulled tight in gear(from being winched) and you just jerked on the shifter. It's jammed the shifter. Simple. If you had pushed the clutch pedal(or released the pull on the car) it would have fallen out of gear and you would be in good shape.
Roll under the car and get the two shift rods hanging straight down on the shifter, that will be "neutral". Use a 9/16" wrench on the transmission nuts that hold the shift rods. You'll be fine, just get yourself a GOOD hurst shifter to replace that junk OEM shifter.
He's partially into two gears. Nothing wrong with it. Get under it and take the linkage loose from the transmission, then put both levers into neutral, then attach the shift rods back in place, only insert an allen wrench into the holes in the shifter linkage with both levers in neutral, then attach the rods to the transmission levers. This happens when the linkage is worn and the operator "digs around" looking for a gear with the shifter. When it happens, he's gone partially into reverse, then into one of the forward gears, usually the one next to reverse.
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