Transmission stuck in gear

[TexasSprite]

I have a 59 928 Sprite with a smooth case transmission that won't disengage the gears even though the shifter appears to be in nuetral. It feels like you can shift forward or back into a gear, but not the whole pattern of 1-2-3-4-R. The clutch hydraulics are not functional, but shouldn't you be able to at least shift the gearbox into nuetral?

The PO said that he put the car into storage 16 years ago when he couldn't get it out of reverse. (now I know why the propellor shaft was disconnected at the differential). He also said this was when he noticed that the MC was dry. I've got a resleeved MC on the way, but I'm wondering if that is going to fix the problem.

Any ideas?

 

[jlaird]

I suspect that I would pull the engine and tranny and go inside. I expect that the old oil and what ever have kind of glued everything together.

Lots of carb cleaner in there and working parts back and forth, the spring loaded plungers as well. May even have to disassemble to get it right.

 

[Billm]

I would pull off the shifter handle and pour about 1/2 gallon of kerosene in there for a few hours (days?) to free everything up until it moves more freely and then replace it with 2 quarts of oil before you try to start the engine (fire questions mostly).
Bill

 

[ThomP]

As the PO stored it broken. I would suspect a broken shifter fork. I bet if you spoke further with the PO he would eventually mention that he was holding it in gear prior to this.

If this happens to be the case, I have a spare smooth case fork you can have for the asking. Sorry, no synchros or experience replacing synchros on a smooth case.

 

[TexasSprite]

Thanks ThomP!

I'll speak to the PO and get a little more info about what happened. My imression was that it was running fine, but just locked up, so I don't think it was due to the long storage. It may be a bit before I can actually look at the transmission. I have to get the front suspension put back in place so I can roll the car out of the garage to get enough room to pull the engine and transmission. I'll drop you a line when I've got the transmission out where I can look at it.

Another option is just to look for a ribcase gearbox to replace the smooth case. Since it looks like parts are scarce for the smoothcase, this might be wiser in the long run. Any thoughts from anyone on the subject?

 

[Billm]

You hit it on the head! The ribcase is a perfect replacemet (once you get the clutch linkages all sorted out).
Bill

 

[bugimike]

One thing you might try is draining the tranny and then reaching into it through the drain hole with a screwdriver and moving the forks back and forth with the screwdriver. This may free up a stuck fork. The symptoms you describe are often the result of a fork set-screw coming loose and binding things up!

PS: A ribbed-case tranny is a good alternative, but if you have a solid smooth-case, I would keep that too as the ratio split between 1st and second is a bit peppier than in the ribbed-case!