Mitchell Transmission

C

C1Nelson

Member
I bought a Mitchell Transmission for my Model A so my wife and grandkids can drive the car easier. We installed the transmission today and started the car to test the new transmission. It would not shift between 2nd or third. I decided to pull the shifting tower off the top to look inside.

The rail on the left side was forward and I can not pull the tower off the transmission. The shifter seems stuck and it will not allow me to shift the gearshift.

Any ideas ? I called Mitchell to talk to Steve and see if he has experience with this. I had to leave a message so I hope he calls tomorrow. My guess is we did not get the shifting forks aligned correctly.
 
Try rolling the car a little. Could be that where and how the car is now sitting is putting a bind on things in the transmission.
 
Mitchell has been very helpful for me and I am sure they will get back to you.

Just so I understand better, can you shift between an low and reverse? Will the car go into neutral and when in neutral will the engine keep running and the car not move when you let the clutch out? Is the car stationary when you are trying to shift into second and high?

The syncro rings may not allow the transmission to go into second and high if the car is not moving. You could try to jack up one rear wheel, then run the car up in first, then try shifting to second, like you were driving the car. Then if that works, try third.
 
The car is on jacks. When we started the car the rear wheels were turning in first gear, when I shifted into second or third gear the motor would die when I let off the clutch. We turned off the motor and decided we would try to remove the shift tower. The left rail in the tower is forward into the bell housing possibly in the Mitchell “real deal oil seal”. Because the shift rail is engaged, I am unable to remove the shift tower. I am unable to shift out of third gear which would pull back the shift rail.
 
It sounds like it is stuck in second and third at the same time. I am not sure how to fix this. Michell is going to be your best hope of finding a solution. Can you slip a boroscope under the lip of the shift tower to see what is going on and perhaps a hook to pull it loose? I am really grasping at straws. Sorry I cannot be of more help. The fork that does the second/high shifting is probably in the wrong place.
 
We had to drop the rear end and pull it apart. Once we had the trans separated from the bell housing we were able to lift the shift tower off. I think we had put the shift tower in wrong not getting the shift forks in correctly. Put it all back together in a a few hours, I think we are good to go. Steve from Mitchell products gave us to insight and what we had to do.
 
By the way , Did you install the front of transmission oil seal that inside the bell housing? They cause the shifting to hang up. They come with the new transmission. Loosen it and try shifting. Do it until you find the correct location. Then tighten.
 
I wonder about the synchonizer sleeve & hub design on those units. The ones I've seen look a lot like the Ford units from the V8 era but I can tell they are a new type unit. Some of the old ones had springs & ball bearings to help the sleeve plates move fore and aft. The bearings can pop out if the plates are moved too far. Other types have spring rings instead of balls and springs so the plates stay in place better at extremes of movement.

When all parts are in place, the synchro sleeve can only go far enough forward to get complete engagement on the input shaft for 1:1 drive high gear. It can't go any farther than that. I always wait till the transmission is installed before I put the tower cover on. That way I can make sure everything is in neutral before I stab the forks into their respective grooves & complete the tower installation.
 
Last edited:
fr33777 said:
By the way , Did you install the front of transmission oil seal that inside the bell housing? They cause the shifting to hang up. They come with the new transmission. Loosen it and try shifting. Do it until you find the correct location. Then tighten.
Click to expand...

First I have heard of a problem with the "Real Deal Oil Seal".
 
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