The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline 1941 Chevy--Reattaching Shifter to Gearbox?

I have a question regarding reattaching the shifter mechanism to a four speed gearbox on a 1941 Chevrolet AK 1/2 ton truck.

I had to remove the shifter from the gear box in order to take out and the engine and replace the 216 with a 235 I rebuilt. The transmission is from a stock 1941 Chevrolet 1/2 ton.

I just want to know if there is any trick to reinstall the shifter forks in the shifter mechinism to the gearbox--i.e., with the shifter in the neutral position, do the gears in the gearbox have to be in neutral, and if so, where do the gears have be in the gearbox to be in neutral?

I am attaching a few photos to show the shifter in what I believe is in the neutral position, and view from top down of the gearbox where the transmission gears are.

Thanks for any help, and if anyone cares to respond to me directly my email is charlesmevans@hotmail.com

Hello Charles,
Welcome to Stovebolt. One can tell if the gears are in neutral by sliding them so that turning the input shaft results in no movement at the output shaft. Getting the forks to align with the gears can sometimes seem more difficult than it should...almost like a puzzle. I am not positive if the gears need to be in neutral or not. I just move the gears to align with the relative position of the forks and then just ease the forks into the case. From memory, it seems that aligning the reverse fork to fit is the biggest challenge.
Paul

Hello Paul

Thanks for the response. We'll try to follow it. If I had known that realigning the shifter fork to the gearbox was going to be a challenge like this, I would have done it before installing the engine and trans. I hope using an 1941 original 4 speed gearbox with the 235 doesn't turn out to be a mistake. I know they're pretty balky compared to gearboxes that came later. But thanks again for writing to me.....Charles

Hello Paul and the rest of the Stovebolt gang.

Problem resolved on reattaching the shifter to transmission gear box. We jacked up the rear wheels and turned the engine so that it would free up the transmission. After that, gear were easy to slide to where they would match up with the positon of the shifter forks.

Now we've encountered a new issue. The rear of the transmission is not mating up entirely with the torque tube--the drive shaft spline [male) is mating up to the output (female) of the transmission, but there is about an inch gap between the mounting plate that bolts to the back of the transmission. As I said, the drive shaft is engaged with the transmission. We understand that the bell shaped end of the torque tube is threaded and can move up and down to some extent, but not enough in this case to fill in the gap.

Additional note: we are using both new [repro] front motor mounts and new [repro] transmission to frame mounts.

Any ideas?

Thanks ahead of time ...Charles Evans (charlesmevans@hotmail.com).

Charles,

Good to hear you got the shifter fork/gear alignment issue worked out. The relatively little non-synchronizer 4 speed is pretty strong. It will work with the 235 fine. It is the same transmission used in large trucks like mine. You will have to learn how to double clutch however...not too hard to figure out and actually kind of fun.

I have no experience with torque tubes so hopefully someone else can offer some guidance.

Paul

Now I'm not sure about '41 models. But in the '52 model the 3/4 ton transmission dosen't use a torque tube axle yet the 1/2 ton's do use the Torque tube.

Julian,

Is there a short "torque-tube" extension fitting at the rear of the transmission?

In your first pic , the ball is nearly properly engaged .

If you have installed the U joint correctly , there is nothing stopping the ball from moving fully forward . Maybe you just want to lift a little of the weight of the torque tube , so the ball will slide easier .

The threaded end of the ball retains the seal only , the ball will slide on the tube .

Do you have a shop manual yet , all this is pretty clearly explained there .