Hi all, so I am only 20 years old and I pretty munch finished the restoration on my 69' dart swinger 340 4 speed about 2 years ago and I've been trying to fix the issues I've been having with shifting on my car as I've had the time and money and I just can't figure out what's wrong. Every time I shift up a gear it grinds a little bit, down shifting it grinds so bad I pretty much cannot get it into gear and when it gets into second I can go about 100m before it pops out regardless if accreditation or deceleration. I have the correct bellhousing, correct shifting linkage fully adjusted, all brand new and correct clutch linkage which we have adjusted properly, have about 2 inches of pedal play before clutch engages, transmission has been rebuilt been gone through multi times by different people and nothing has been found wrong, brand new syncos, even replaced the second gear with a slightly better used one out of another trans I have, brand new clutch and freshly machined flywheel, I have tried about 3-4 different types of gear oil and I have just run out of ideas. I have replaced a lot of parts and changed/adjusted a lot of things, and it has gotten a lot better than it originally was but it still has the same issues. I really just want to finally be able to drive my car around without having to worry about the trans. Thanks in advance for the help. Attached photo is a picture of my car.

What adjustments have you made that have improved it somewhat (as you mentioned). I ain't a stick guy so this is a BTT to get some dialogue going but 2" seems (to me) like alot of freeplay. I'd lengthen the rod & see how it acts with that. With the pedal depressed what is the disc to flywheel clearance?

It sounds like a clutch problem, especially if it's in all four gears + reverse.

Or a clutch adjustment problem. Tighten up for much less freeplay.. maybe 3/4".

Is your 2" of play before the throwout bearing engages the pressure plate or 2" off the floor before the clutch starts to grab?

What weight gear oil are you running?

My clutch instructions stated 1" MAX freeplay.... Good luck and nice looking Dart.

I agree with all the replies so far. It sounds like a clutch issue. I'd try adjusting the free play so you have about 1/4" at the clutch fork. This should give you about 1" at the pedal. If you still have a problem after doing this, there maybe an issue with the pilot bushing being too tight, or the trans bottoming out in the crank.

you need to check if the clutch disc is free from the flywheel with the pedal fully depressed. have someone depress the pedal and look and see how much air gap you have between the disc and the flywheel. there are specs published, but off the top of my head .040 seems to ring a bell. you can check that with a feeler gage. make sure the car is supported properly for this check while you are underneath it.

Is does sound clutch related but out of curiosity what types of oil have you tried? GL-5 oil is for rear ends, GL-4 is for trannys. GL-5 will cause some grinding on occasion because of the extra friction modifiers that are added, it doesn't play well with the brass syncros and the gear hubs.

1" of play at the pedal has always been the norm.

There are a lot of variables that will affect how much pedal free play one has. What is critical is whether the disc has adequate clearance when depressed. while checking it is a good idea to verify that it is the same in several locations by rotating the motor around.

I agree about .060" works good.

Mopar are a pain in the rear to get the clutch linkage adjusted properly Remove the clutch splash sheild and verify that the throw out bearing is not touching the pressure plate fingers with the clutch pedal all the way up, you need at least .050 between the throwout bearing and all three fingers. Before that check to make sure and pull the clutch pedal up all the way so the over center spring under the dash is not preloading the clutch linkage at all
Once those adjustments are done let us know how you like that

ONCE you check and verify the clutch gap is OK - Then consider these suggestions..

for the popping out of gear - verify the shifter is adjusted properly and linkage and levers are tight.

If you bought aftermarket shift linkage - be advised some of it is junk.

Did the shifter pop out of gear before you changed the gear in the trans?

Make sure the throw out bearing isn't too tight or crank is undersized pinching input shaft.

Are you running a stock bell housing or aftermarket - Has anyone checked the alignment/run out?

EDIT - I should have typed be sure pilot bushing isn't too tight , instead of throw out bearing.

I have twice seen clutch discs that have been tweaked so as they are not running true when clutch pedal is fully depressed. My suspicion is that this occurs while the transmission is being installed, that Bubba has allowed it to hang unsupported before it is fully inserted into pilot bearing, thereby causing the aforementioned tweak.

If you are unable to analyze your problem and must remove the clutch for further problem determination, place the hub of the disc on a flat surface and spin it. There should be no up and down 'wobble'. If there is, it will cause a dragging clutch at disengagement.

Can you place the transmission into reverse when the clutch is fully depressed, or must you engage any other gear first. This can be a helpful clue if you are unable to go directly into reverse.

Okay thanks for all the fast replys! I was mistake and I made a mistake with the pedal free play. I guess it last night but I checked it this morning and it actually is 3/4" of pedal play before the clutch grabs. All the shifter linkage is original and the set I'm using right now is from a buddy and there's nothing worn out on it, factory 69' bell housing, I checked my gap on the clutch last year and from what I remember it was about 0.040, it still popped out on gear before I changed the gear, some of the past gear oils I used weren't proper, can't remember all the ones I used but 80 90 conoco, pennzoil sychromesh, and right now I have Lucas sae 85w-140 in it. I have been thinking clutch issues too, but haven't wanted to drop the trans for the 4th time lol, but would having clutch issues still make me pop out of gear?

It can go into reverse right away, but it's a little hard to get it into gear. Sometimes putting it into first or reverse with the clutch in it can make a bit of a grind, but usually a bit of a knock as if it putting it into is stopping the trans from moving? I'm not too sure what's going on there.

Is it the original to the car bellhousing and engine ?

It sounds like your problem is all clutch related.

Ok.. play's at 3/4". Perfect. As JohnRR said, clutch problems. MY guess the clutch is not disengaging all the way. Throwout sticking maybe, fork tweeked?

There is a rather elaborate clutch bell housing exercise that is well established protocol for those who may experience the issues that you are describing,,,particularly popping out of gear,,,,likely not a clutch caused issue,,,and gear grind which often can be.

Check out this link

http://www.hurst-drivelines.com/files/GM...%206-15-09A.pdf


For additional info , Search Google with this argument.


clutch bellhousing alignment