Help - I Have '69 F-100 with 3 speed- previous owner moved shifter from tree to Hurst Indy on floor. I've been trying to get some help with shifter. Ohio Bill sent some good info. But I'm a novice on shifters.

Now transmission is stuck in second and shifter just moves around not doing anything.

Help me get it back to shifting and to correctly adjust linkages.

Richard

 

Richard,
First, On the side of the transmission you will see two metal levers (about 1.5" long), which the shifter rods attach to. These levers have three positions. Get under the truck, and one at a time, push or pull on these levers and move them through their three positions [with the truck secrured so it will not roll, and of course, with the engine off]. The middle positon for each lever is neutral, so you will be able to get your truck into neutral (regardless of what the shift-stick and shifter are doing up in the cab). That is, one lever activates R-Neutral-1st, and the second 2nd- Neutral- 3rd.

Once you have gotten both shift levers into neutral, hop into the cab and see what the shift-stick is doing. Will it shift normally, or does it only cram the tranny into one gear? If it gets stuck again, get back under the truck and manually move the lever on the side of the tranny to get your tranny back into neutral.

Second, I don't know if you disconnected the shift rods (these are the round, metal rods, also under the truck, which connect the shift levers (which you just moved) to the shifter. Now might be a good time to disconnect them from either the shifter, or the levers on the tranny [that is, provided you are willing to battle with the shifter once more...]. Of course, once you disconnect them, you won't be driving anywhere.

Third, get your shifter into neutral (that is, so that the shift stick moves freely from the pass-side to the driver's side). You will probably have to get under the truck, look at the shifter, and put the two shift levers (the levers on the shifter, NOT the tranny) side-by-side. If you don't, the shift stick won't be able to move freely in the neutral gate. Once the shift stick moves freely in the neutral gate, carefully connect the two shift rods back to the levers on the shifter. Again, make sure that the shifter properly moves the tranny levers into (and out of) each gear, and that the shifter slides freely in the neutral gate.

I have spent a number of days under my truck, in parking lots, trying to readjust my shifters over the years. I know how frustrating this is and this is very difficult to describe in words. You might see if Hurst has installation directions on their website, of perhaps they can fax them to you.

Let me know if there's anything I can do to help.

Ohio Bill

 

Thanks Bill,
With those good instructions I am sure that I will be motoring as soon as the rain lets up.

It is a little discouraging to hear that you have had to repeat this process numerous times, in parking lots, over the years.
( Although I do remember my mother-in-law under the hood with a pry bar working column shifters back in about 1970. She looked real cute in her robe as she was dropping the younger siblings off at school.)

I tried a www search for Hurst to inquire but got listings of speed shops selling shifters. I will search again.

Thanks again,
Richard

 

Hurst is owned by Mr. Gasket. They have a link on their website
http://www.mrgasket.com/hurstmain.html
for instruction sheets (toolbar on top). Sadly, there is not sheet
for the Indy shifters, but one of the others (e.g., Competition
Plus) might help. It's just a picture with the stuff labelled.

I had trouble with my old 3 speed shifter. It was pretty junky, so the rods would flex, the mounting bracket would slip, etc. So, from time to time I would get stuck in gear and have to roll under my truck and move the shifter lever by hand. I even bought a Hurst Indy
shifter, but promptly returned it (it was a cheaply built as my old shifter). The Hurst shifter on my 4 speed (a Competitin Plus) is much, much better. I've never had trouble with it, and when someone
borrows my truck they usually note how smooth the shifter is (and these tend to be "new car crowd" people).

Good luck,

Ohio Bill

 

Bill,
Thanks for the Hurst website.
I will check and see if I can get rolling over the weekend.
I have an old Chiltons manual that shows sketch of a '77 3-spd.

Then I will try to correct the remanufactured carb. backfire problem.

Richard

 

The shifter should have a 1/4 inch hole in the main assembly. Put the transmission in neutral with the rods disconnected. Put a 1/4 inch rod thru the shifter body, you have to center the shifter to put the rod all the way thru it.

Now put the shifter rods back on the transmission, adjusting the length as needed so they go on without disturbing the transmission levers. Pull out the 1/4" rod. Your shifter is now properly adjusted.

 

Thanks,

I have aligned as suggested. Seems to be shifting a little better.

I found the ONLY thing holding the Hurst Indy shifter to what looks like a RubeGoldberg bracket bolted to the transmission is the SINGLE bolt that is the pivot point of the shifter levers. The shifter just moves all around. The bracket had some extra holes so I put a plate at the back to stop most of the movement of the inverted U shape shifter. I am trying to find something to plate in at the front.

Also if that pivot bolt is too tight shifter is stiff, if loose the nut falls off. Seems like it should be a castle nut with hole in bolt and cotter key.

I don't understand how one bolt would provide the proper action unless the whole shifter is supposed to pivot.

Anyone know if this is common setup on '69 F-100 3-Speed conversion or just a rigged up connection.
Thanks,
Richard

 

Richard,
The one-bolt mount is a Hurst Indy "innovation." Can you fit two nuts on the pivot bolt (i.e., use the 2nd nut as a jamb-nut)? As you have discovered, these shifters sucks too. I had a generic three-speed shifter in my 68 F100 when I first bought it. Poorly engineered and made me unhappy, so I ordered a Hurst Indy, but returned when I pulled it from the box. What a poorly engineered, low quality shifter. I recall they used a U-bolt to hold the shifter mounting "plate" to the trans tail. Ack! My impression was that no one makes a quality 3 speed shifter.

The four speed Hurst shifters are nothing like the Indy.
I'm glad to hear that your truck is shifting again.

Ohio Bill

 

Thanks so far to all who have helped.

Have made some adjustments some modifications and a major Discovery.

The shift lever on the transmission for Reverse and First has a lot of play. In Neutral it has about a (guess) 25 to 30 degrees swing before it engages to go either direction. Thus alignment of the shifter levers then gets out of whack and the pin might go behind the 2/3 shifter lever.

The transmission lever (multi slotted lever from hurst kit) seems to be sliding on a shaft from the transmission. I started taking the nut off but couldn't tell in dark, cold, rainy, night whether it was a nut or a shaft moving, so left it alone.

?? What is the shape of the shaft coming out of the transmission? Is it supposed to have square shoulders or something? If rounded off, can the shaft be replaced externally or will I need to have welding done to secure the lever?

Any suggestion will be appreciated.

Richard

 

I know those single bolt mounts suck! I towed my friend Greg Nation's 77 shortbed about 10 miles through downtown Phoenix one night, because he broke the stupid thing off the side of the tranny!
Burned out the clutch in my little 'Yota doing it, too. We wound up just fixing it, but a top-load four or five speed would probably be the way to go.
If you have that much play in the tranny, the shift forks are probably worn. Check the oil in it, and see if has a nice metallic look. If it does, that's what's making your slop. As a point of advise, excessive wear is caused by keeping your hand on the shifter. Both hands on the wheel at all times!

Jared

 

Another little trick with these crappy shifters is to disconnect the rods from the tranny, set the tranny levers in neutral, set the two shifter levers even with each other (use the rod through the holes if it has them), then move the whole shifter assembly so that the shifter arm itself (the part you grab and shift with) is exactly centered in its full possible travel forward or back. Find a way to hold it there and adjust the shift rod lengths so they again fit into the tranny arms (without moving the arms or the shifter assembly.

One of the problems with these shifters is that if the big shift lever (in the cab) is not centered in it's possible travel while the shifter is in neutural, the shifter won't have enough travel to fully engage, or disengage a gear. I've got one on my '73 F-100, and after about three adjustments, including this one, it works great! I wouldn't use it to power shift though!

Some other things. On any lower tranny bolt used to attach the shifter bracket, use sealer! Sometimes the crappy brackets arn't true, and the tranny can leak from the bolt. Finally, when you get the shifter adjusted the way you want it, mush a big wad of bearing grease into the shifter mechanism. There's few bearings or bushings in these things, and they wear pretty quick. Hope some of this helps. Polkat

 

Thanks Polkat and Jared,

I tried setting neutral on the shifter in the middle of the slop in neutral between 2 and 3 to get enough throw. A previous owner put a big bow in the rod to 2/3. ?? Would straightening that help or make it worse? I have adjusted alignment several times when the main shift lever pin gets behind the shifter lever for 2/3.

I will pull the multi-hole arm(lever) from the side of the transmission at 2nd/3rd this weekend. Could not tell in the dark whether it is a bolt or a nut that holds the arm to some type of shaft coming out of the transmission. Too many things were moving and I didn't want to remove a shaft that would release oil. (I'm learning a lot of new stuff with this truck and this forum- thanks) Maybe I will be lucky and the slop will be wear on the hole in the external arm because I don't know a thing about replacing forks or rebuilding transmissions.

I'm still open to input.
It's getting better even if I have to reengineer the shifter.

Richard

 

With these shifters, that big bow as you say in the 2/3 rod is sometimes necessary to clear the 1/rev shaft coming out of the tranny. Take a look at the Ford made shifter for a toploader sometime. All of the rods have big bows! Just make sure that the bent rod has enough threads left at the shifter for good adjustment.

 

I thought,this going way back for me,wasn't there teflon or metal
bushings that go in the holes on the trans brackets then the rods went in these with special clips to hold tight to eliminate the slop!

I'm just thinking that he has too much play between the the rods and brackets,hurst shifters that I remember had them!

Rich

 

i had a whole string of problems w/ my indy shifter. stuck in reverse, stuck in first, jumping out of reverse. but now i have it dialed in. just for the record, the indy shifter is a good cheap shifter that is not ment for racing. if you want to race, use a toploader. but for the person that said that the indy 3sp. shifter has nylon or steet bushings on the linkage, is wrong. i tryed to install the hurst "pit pack" which includes the springs and nylon or steel bushings. there is no room for the bushings to fit anywhere. just replace the linkage springs when you feel a lot of play in the shifter.

pete