The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop 3 speed trans

i asked some time ago about my daughters 51 half ton popping out of third, and the consensus was that they do that once in awhile. i now remember i once owned a mid 60 chevy biscayne that did the same thing once. but i still feel that something is wrong and since the 51 is a daily driver and i don't want a lot of down time if the tranny fails, what year three speeds will bolt right in (it is still the enclosed driveline) if i know what i am looking for i could post in the classifieds for something in the NE,NY,NJ area but i need to know what 3 speeds i need to be looking for.

thanks duddy

FWIW...usually when a tranny pops out of gear it means the synchronizer rings are getting worn.

thanks eric, on a similar topic would worn syncro rings on my high mileage chevy metro make it hard to downshift into 2nd and first gears? i sometimes have to do what i could only describe as a double clutch operation to downshift.
thanks duddy

Sorry, don't know about that. Perhaps someone else can help.

Is the tranny a side-loader? I've mostly dealt with my '68 3 speed tranny. The shift arm coming out of the tranny is splined, which is eclosed by a clamp. The clamp connects to the shift linkage. On my '68 the clamp was loose and didn't engage 3rd gear completely, so it would pop out. How often does it pop out of gear? It also could be caused by too much endplay in the input shaft. Also, check your motor mounts for wear.

On the Metro. Does it make any odd sounds when you try to downshift, like grinding etc.? How many gears do you have? If it only going from 3-2 then from 2-1? Hope this helps some. John.

the 51 has only popped out of gear twice so far, i was just trying to plan in advance in case it does fail eventually.
the metro has 5 speeds and the downshift problem is only from a higher gear into 2nd or from any gear into first. i can live with the problems unless they get worse. i would be working on the 51 truck myself if it breaks, i would probably not do the metro myself.
duddy

If your '51 has only popped out of gear twice, then I wouldn't worry too much about it. As long as you don't have any odd noises coming from the tranny you should be ok. It wouldn't hurt to check the linkage though. As far as your Metro goes, it probably is the 1-2 synchro. Hope this helps. John.