Hurst v-gate shifter - adjustment help needed

Hello,

I have a Hurst v-gate shifter on a hemi 4-speed in a 1967 Plymouth Belvedere. I have been struggling getting it to go into first gear. I have followed the factory service manual adjustment procedure:
- removed all of the shifter arms
- verified each shifter lever located on the side of the transmission were in neutral
- placed shifter in neutral and installed a 1/4" drill bit into shifter hole (verified it went all the way through to the other side)
- installed shifter arms on shifter levers verifying no "push" or "pull" on the levers while in neutral

The car will go into second, third, fourth and reverse; but not first. The clutch rod is adjusted and we have verified the throw-out bearing is not touching the pressure plate (diaphragm) fingers.

The shifter arm attached to the 3rd/4th shifter lever is loose, meaning I can wobble it around easily. It doesn't wobble around on the shifter lever, just the arm can be rolled between your fingers easily; a lot of play. The other shifter arms don't do that. I have a feeling that is a problem, but we have no problems getting it into 3rd or 4th, which is why I am doubting myself. This is the first four speed I have ever adjusted so I don't really know what to look for. I don't know what is wrong and what is good.

The transmission was rebuilt and has 500 miles on it TOPS. The shifter was purchased off of e-bay. It worked before we removed the transmission and shifter; but it was always tough getting it into first gear. This is a street car, not a race car. So maybe this shifter simply isn't a good choice for this application. I assume the purpose of the V-gate shifter was to provide an easy way to power/speed shift while racing, not provide an easy to use shifter for the street.

I'm hoping Moparts can provide some advice on how to setup/adjust a Hurst V-gate shifter. Thank you in advance for the help. I am starting to get that feeling of desperation and that I am never going to get this thing to work


[img:left]https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B47FH99TbpHuTTVRQlpidmZXZkU/view?usp=sharing[/img]

[img:left]https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B47FH99TbpHuZ3BMWU5NQkV0MVE/view?usp=sharing[/img]

Maybe one of the limiter stops are hitting. Disconnect the 1-2 rod and see if the linkage moves properly. If the shifter goes into first, there is something wrong internal in the trans. If it still doesn't go into first, look at the stops and see if something is engaging . The stop bolts in the pics look like they are set pretty deep.

Did you start the installation adjustments using a neutral alignment pin? I'm not sure but from your pictures I believe its the small hole on the shifter body.

I could be wrong but the last v gate I had iirc 1st doesnt have a stop bolt does it? I see three set deep as mentioned.

If its the side cover with the ball bearing detent? you can check with a pliers to see if they click into each gear and adjust your rods while all is in net.

I always put mine on jackstands or better yet a lift to get it adjusted and it can be a pain but when done its a blast.

Yes: - placed shifter in neutral and installed a 1/4" drill bit into shifter hole (verified it went all the way through to the other side)

I used a crescent wrench and shifted each lever located on the side of the transmission to verify each had three positions. I set each lever to the 'middle' position before installing the shifter rods.

I missed the part where you mentioned using a 1/4" bit for the neutral alignment. Try this. Back the stop off. Take the rod off the transmission shifter arm and manually put the trans into first. Check its "at rest" position in first. Replace the rod. Have someone put the trans in first manually and check the position of the shift arm with pressure applied. Check the travel difference between the at rest position and the position when pressure is applied. Then adjust the stop accordingly. Once you've done that, return the shifter to neutral and check the neutral alignment again. If it's off, the shifter mechanism could be getting a little worn.
Since you mentioned it was always difficult to get into first, there is always the possibility that your shifter fork/sideplate mechanism needs some attention. Both Ramrod and V-gate shifters are excellent shifters.
Not to be picky but the terms V-Gate and Ramrod are generally misused. They are actually two different inline shifters. From what I can see, yours looks like an original Ramrod.

I will try disconnecting the 1st/2nd shifter rod from the transmission and see if I can get the shifter into first. If I can, I was going to follow this test procedure:
- verify 1st/2nd shift lever on the side of transmission can shift into 1st, 2nd and neutral.
- verify the remaining shift levers are in the neutral position
- Install only the 1st/2nd shifter rod and see if I can get the transmission into first that way. Maybe one of the other shifter levers is in gear and causing the transmission to hang up.

I will also pay attention to the shifter limiters, but I don't think they are causing the issue.

Well, I was told it was a V-gate. I will try your procedure and report back what I find. But it probably won't be for at least a week because the car is not at my home (30+ miles away) and I have a very busy weekend coming up.

One last possibility, is the transmission crossmember interfering with the shift rod? Super Shifters and V-gates with the straight shift rods sometimes have an issue with the front flange on the tranny crossmember that needs to be notched.

I have the same problem with my transmission- first gear is hard to get into, especially when stopped but I have plenty of air gap with the clutch in. Sometimes I can actually hear the gears getting up to speed (gently, not like a loud bushing failure or gear whine). I got my trans from Jamie Passon and it ran flawlessly behind my old motor. Now it intermittantly feels like it hits a wall just before going in to 1st.

Here's my suspects for the cause of the hard shift, in order of most to least likely (in my mind):

-New trans fluid- I put gear oil in but it's possible I used the wrong stuff and it has some kind of
friction modifiers for rear diffs
-New linkage- I got new rods and there is no slop in the fit to the trans arms now but they
might possibly be binding there. The peg and hole in the trans selector arm is steel on steel
with no bushing but not overly tight.

Anybody else change fluid and get hard shifts after?