<VV> 65 4 speed transmission problem

[Dale Dewald]

At 20:03 9/26/2012 -0400, Kinzelman, Andy wrote:

>4 speed problem:  A friend and I are both having the same problem on our 
>65 4 speed transmissions.  Sometimes (not always) when in neutral, as the 
>clutch is released it sounds and feels like the gears are trying to 
>engage; and the car creeps forward.  On my car I recently added gear lube 
>through the dipstick tube; don't know if the other car had had anything 
>done to it.
>
>My guess is a problem in the trans - any ideas?

Hello Andy,

You and your friend have worn out synchronizer blocking rings.

We had this exact same problem occur on our '65 Greenbrier while at the 
2005 CORSA Convention in Portland, OR.  A grinding noise as if a missed 
shift with the transmission in neutral and clutch out.  The noise was made 
worse if the shift lever was moved toward a gear.  Shifting into and out of 
any gear was very difficult even with clutch in.  This was on a 
transmission that had been rebuilt only 15k (but 30 years) before by a GM 
dealer.

My friend Ken Hand was at the convention, so he led a parking lot "tech 
session" to R & R and repair the transmission.  The specific problem was a 
worn out blocking ring on 3rd gear.  It hung up and would not fully release 
the gear from the counter shaft.  Since we could not find the correct 
replacement blocking ring Ken reassembled the transmission without one. The 
good 4th gear ring was moved to the 3rd gear synchro, and I simply had a 
non-synchro 4th gear until Ken rebuilt another transmission for me.

The sad thing about this story was that I had paperwork, including the 
original 1975 invoice for the transmission rebuild.  It had a detailed list 
of all the NOS replacement parts; including a counter shaft, blocker rings, 
gears, bearings, etc. that were billed to the previous owner.  The actual 
parts in the transmission appeared to have 125k of wear, not 15k.

Dale Dewald
Hancock, MI