I had shifting problems on my '49 Chevy for the first year I had it.I finally pulled the shift linkage and installed a used floor shifter,which made things worse (missing parts in shifter),so I went back to the column shifter. When I put the linkage back in I bought a bunch of different thickness flatwashers and spring-washers,and shimmed each connection as snug as I could get it without it actually sticking,pulled each apart and greased all the parts and reassembled it. that thing shifted so nice I could even speed-shift it(too bad it didn't have enough power to make use of those fast shifts!!)
It takes an hour or so,but it makes a world of difference! try shimming the linkage before you give up on the ol' three on the tree.
Speed
