Hurst Shifter Installation Problems

blykins · #1 (**permalink**) 05-07-2004, 05:22 AM

Guys, I need some help with my Hurst shifter...

I have a Toploader tranny....newly rebuilt. Without a shifter, I went ahead and bolted it to the engine and installed my driveshaft. It's been in the car for about 5 months now. I can get under the car, take a wrench and put the tranny in gear (any gear)....start the engine and let the clutch out and the wheels turn perfectly. No drama.

I just bought a Hurst shifter with the 427 handle and related parts from David Kee. Everything is installed....and now 2nd and 4th gear will not engage far enough.

I have the stop bolts completely removed. The linkage rods slide in and out of the bores very very easily with the neutral pin installed. I made sure that the tranny was in neutral....each gear was moved to the middle of the detent and rechecked.

1st and 3rd gears go in without a hitch....but 2nd and 4th act like they're not even there. With the engine running, I can push in the clutch, stick it in 1st and let the clutch out. Wheels turn. I can push in the clutch, shift it to 3rd and let the clutch out. Wheels turn. But when I clutch it and pull it back into 4th and let the clutch out, it grinds. So the shifter is not moving far enough to engage the gears thoroughly.

Has anyone ever had this problem? Do I need longer linkage rods? Longer shifter arms? I need help. I plan to call David in a few hours...he's a few hours behind me. But if anyone has any tips, please post.

Thanks,

Brent

mr0077 · #2 (**permalink**) 05-07-2004, 07:07 AM

Brent, I just knew it was one of the stop bolts until you said you had taken them out! Do you have the shift arms oriented correctly and indexed on the shafts? Mine are like those in the attached photo by David Kee, except I have my reverse arm pointing down. Let us know...

blykins · #3 (**permalink**) 05-07-2004, 07:23 AM

Yeah, the shift arms are exactly like the photo above....I'm thinking I may need some longer arms to get more travel. That would allow me to hit the 2nd and 4th gears, but I will have to set the stops up so I won't have a longer throw in 1st and 3rd. Do they make longer arms?

mr0077 · #4 (**permalink**) 05-07-2004, 07:36 AM

Okay, if it is the arms...the arms on the side of the transmission would need to be shorter to get more radial travel, or the arms on the bottom of the shifter itself would need to be longer. I would think it would be easy to either make a shorter arm to bolt to the transmission or drill another hole...the only one you would really NEED to change would be the 2-4 arm, but then you would have a longer throw to first and third, with a shorter throw to second or fourth. I had a '68 Corvette (L-89) that had two holes in the shifter arms, inner holes for longer throws and outer holes for shorter throws.
From your description, it is not the shift ROD length, as you adjusted them with both the shifter and transmission in neutral...

blykins · #5 (**permalink**) 05-07-2004, 07:39 AM

I think I would have to change the 1-2 arm also....it doesn't wanna go into 2nd gear either.

I just called David Kee....he wasn't there, but the other guy that works there, Tracy, said it could have been a part error from Hurst....they could have packaged the wrong shifter arms. I'll talk to David here in a few hours and see what's going on.

It's gotta be something in the shifter...the thing hits every gear and hits it smooth when shifting with a wrench from underneath.

Maybe I'll just cut the tranny tunnel open completely and weld 3 wrenches onto the shifter cams.....It would be like a Lenco box....hehehe.....just start grabbing wrenches.

mr0077 · #6 (**permalink**) 05-07-2004, 08:44 AM

Oh, crap, you're right, you would have to change both arms, not just one! Man, what a dumba$$ I am sometimes.
But I think whatever it is, it sounds like it is in the shifter, not allowing the lever (and assembly) to move rearward enough.
Let us know.

blykins · #7 (**permalink**) 05-07-2004, 09:20 AM

I talked to David....he thinks the reverse linkage rod needs trimmed off....I saw that in the instructions, but I really didn't think it was hitting anything. When I get home I'll know for sure....it may need modified. It's funny it's the 2nd and 4th gears that are the trouble....the ones you have to pull backward for....it's gotta be hitting something.

David also says that there are no other sizes for shifter arms....so there goes that theory.

Hopefully the reverse rod will work though. I'll let you know. The tranny may have to take a ride down to Texas to see David.....but I hope not.

trularin · #8 (**permalink**) 05-07-2004, 09:50 AM

Gee, I think my shift dogs are a little longer. My reverse dog is a lot longer than those in the image above.

Are you sure your have the install kit for the toploader?

mr0077 · #9 (**permalink**) 05-07-2004, 11:47 AM

Brent, maybe obvious, but try disconnecting the reverse rod and se if it will shift...if that does it, then trim it? Maybe the reverse rod is keeping the entire assy from moving all the way in the 2/4 direction?
Now, if you turn the reverse arm upside down (point it down), that would make reverse left and down instead of left and up? Maybe that alone would fix it...

blykins · #10 (**permalink**) 05-07-2004, 12:38 PM

Dad and I were working on it last night....he said the reverse rod was hitting it....so we popped it out of the shifter housing and turned the little threaded piece backwards and put it in from the other side...if you can see what I'm saying. I was shifting and Dad was inspecting, and he said it wasn't rubbing no longer.

I told David this...and he said that should be fine....One more thing he added was that I should leave the rods hooked up and since I was able to move the shifter cams with a wrench before, I should be able to put one on there now and move it to 4th gear or 2nd gear....and then I could see what's binding up. Basically he told me that if I put a wrench on it and couldn't get it to go into gear, that it's something inside the shifter housing itself and to send it back....

I'm hoping that's all it is. I'm sweating bullets on this thing.

blykins · #11 (**permalink**) 05-07-2004, 04:35 PM

Sometimes it makes me wonder how I made it through engineering school.

On regular Hurst shifter situations, the handle goes down through the center of the shifter housing...on a Cobra, there's an adapter that puts the handle to the right of the housing, therefore sticking it in the middle of the tranny tunnel.

There is an up and down on the adapter.

If it's oriented wrong, it smacks the tailhousing when trying to put the tranny in 2nd or 4th.

I came home from work.....laid underneath the Cobra just looking around. I reached up and pulled the shifter handle back towards 4th gear. Clink. I was never so joyous in my life.

Bottom line....the shifter works great....I set the stops, started the engine, and ran it through the gears. Shifts slick.

I wanna thank everyone for their input and help. And I wanna thank David for his help too. I bug him all the time, and he always puts up with me. He's runs a great business and puts out great service.