The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot '60-'66 Trucks 3-speed tranny hard to get into 1st

My 65 with a 3 speed manual tranny only goes into 1st gear when I am at almost a dead stop. If you are rolling at any speed at all, it will grind when dropping down from 2nd. I've never had a tranny that wasn't synchronized, is this what I'm dealing with? Didn't really think at this late date they were still making them that way. I've learned to deal with it this way, but it is annoying at times.

Dan

then you've never had a pre-68 3 speed, none had a syncro 1st until 68 - double clutch it if you feel you need to downshift before you stop

Bill

And in addition--check your clutch linkage and maybe try tightening it up a bit.

It is easy to do (at least on a 66 GMC), just crawl under it and tighten up the nut with your fingers. My experience was there was some slack in the linkage and I tightened up just until the slack is out--no more problems.

Finally, come to a complete stop before bringing into 1st gear.

That's great news Bill, good to know it operates as intended!


All my pre-68 Chebbies were slip and slide Powerglides. But I do have a 64 made by the other brand that starts with an F. Fully synchronized tranny in that one, surprises me that my Chevy doesn't.

I feel much better now knowing I don't have to pull the tranny.

Thanks for the quick response,
Dan

Yes, the F word vehicles started useing a full syncro 3 speed in 64.

Borg Warner t-16 was a synchronized 3 speed used in the mid 60's GM. Mostly high HP big block cars though.

Your 3 speed in that year did not have a synchonized 1st gear. The only way you can drop it into 1st when rolling is to play with the accelerator until you can match the speed of the gears in the tranny and then drop it into 1st. 2nd and 3rd gears are synchronized by a large synchonizer hub.