Hard shifting

[Unique427]

Originally Posted by ERA174

One way to test if your clutch is not fully disengaging: With the vehicle stopped and idling, transmission in neutral, depress the clutch, wait at least 3-5 seconds and attempt to put the transmission in reverse, if the gears grind/chatter the clutch is not fully disengaged. If no issues, you're clutch adjustment is probably good.
Make sure you have the proper lube in your toploader. The following recommendations are consistent with my experience, although copied from a mustang website.
As far as lube preferences go, the toploader experts suggest staying away from synthetic lubricants as they tend to hinder the function of the brass blocking rings (which need to have some “grab” for the transmission to shift properly.) Therefore it is best to stick with a conventional 85-90wt lube.
Also, if you are using a Hurst Competition Plus type shifter, you might consider freshening it up at this time in order to get better shifts. For details of how to clean it up, I suggest the following tech article: http://www.fordmuscle.com/forums/tra...t-shifter.html
Hope it's an easy fix. John

To expand on the above, if you have a Hurst Competition Plus, the
nylon linkage bushings used by Hurst tend to "smear" from sport
shifting. That ever increasing linkage slop causes misalignment and hard shifts.
Paul Cangialosi duplicated the nylon bushings out of tool steel and also
redesigned the retention springs not to pop off (which they can do).

Paul's bushing/spring set ensures my Comp Plus/Toploader shifts perfectly,
every gear every time. Even when I row those gears hard.

Here's a link to the product and also Paul's Youtube video explaining
how his bushing will improve the quality of your gear shifts for just $20.

https://www.5speeds.com/cart/index.p...&product_id=76

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_40q7wbeoRQ