Slick 60's

ok. i got my t18 installed today. that was crazy. these stupid things are heavier than i remember. lol
anyway, the transmission was in gear when i got it, but i don't know which gear. i put the shifter in the hole-oh yeah- and it acts like it is in neutral. i cannot find any gear with the shifter. i don't really want to worry yet as i don't even have a clutch pedal hooked up yet, so no way to release the clutch.
any advise on stabbing the shifter into the trans, or should i just wait until i have the pedal and linkage all hooked up?
what do i need to do?

Chris, Maybe pull the fork back with a ratchet strap or something.

Does the shifter have that little roll pin installed?? The one that slides in from the drivers side.

If you want, when your ready I'll pull my shifter and take a look.

yes, i have the pin installed. the shifter only "fits" in the hole one way where it feels like it is supposed to be, but it feels like it is in neutral. you can move the shifter from side to side.
i took a flashlight and shined it down in the hole and you can see where the shifter is supposed to sit and that is where i have it, but i cannot get it to disengage out of what ever gear it is in.
i am not going to force anything. i will get my clutch pedal installed when i get it and actuate the clutch and see if that will accomplish anything.
thanks jason.

did you not see if it spins freely before installing?

brian, it was in gear when i got it (which gear i don't know, but it was probably second) and it did turn. i didn't try and put it in neutral before i installed it. duh. i guess i should have though.

just spent last weekend reinstalling my sons t98, he took it out to put in a new clutch, have same problem.
thought maybe he dropped something in it

ezer,

Hope this makes sense to you my discriptions are kinda funky sometimes.

If it feels like the shift lever is in the shift forks correctly try pushing the lever over to reverse and see if it feels springy.

My thoughts are it might be in reverse and if it feels solid and a bit short on travel it would tell you that it's in reverse or the spring on the reverse pin is broken.
If its in reverse or any other gear for that matter you might be able to move the forks with a screwdriver or a small pick bar if you can reach them that is.

The reverse pin I'm talking about keeps the shifter from trying to grab reverse when your shifting to 3rd gear. When the spring is broke the reverse pin can stay in and it makes it a pain to find 3rd without grinding reverse.
Guess what I'm saying it's worth replaceing the spring before you use it if its broken.

ezer,
I'm takeing it for granted that your driveshaft is not hooked up so there is no binding load on it. Is this correct?

yes, the drive shaft is not hooked up. i am going to start reading the shop manual about removing the top cover and see if i can see anything visibly wrong with it.

so turn the engine over with a breaker bar from the front and see if it unsticks itself after a couple revolutions.

good idea ice

if something is broken i can get parts from another one for you. i dry shifted it before i pulled it out of the truck. it seemed to go into and out of all of the gears.

i am going to wait to go into panic mode until after i get the clutch pedal in and i am able to release the clutch. lol