Should I be able to shift tranny by hand with control shaft?

[TurboFource]

I tried to shift my tranny by hand today with a screwdriver in the control shaft. I was able to get the side to side motion (twisting of shaft),
but I could not get the in and out motion. I thought maybe it was because I had drained the gear oil out previously, so I filled it with gear oil.
Still no luck even while spinning one wheel by hand and I could see one of the synchro hubs spinning through the fill hole. I moved the rear cover back as far I could in the chassis and the "rocking lever" will move side to side between the shift shafts. Do I just not have enough enough leverage as produced by the mechanical advantage of the shifter? 

There is no reason it shouldn't shift, no glitter came out when I drained it and things looked good when I checked the differential backlash.

Has anyone modified the rear crossmember so it was removable to facilitate gearbox removal etc.?

[jbcollier]

Yes, you should be able to shift that way but it is not easy.  Try using something that gives you a larger mechanical advantage.

[TurboFource]

Any suggestions JB?

[jbcollier]

Remind me, which transaxle is it?

336?  365?  395?  NG3?

[SilverBeast]

I was able to select the gears on my 365, just using a rod through the roll pin hole, so it acted as a T bar.

[TurboFource]

352

[jbcollier]

It should shift by hand but it will require some force.

What is the history of this trans?  Just bought it?  Been using it for years?  Etc?

[Grumblebuns]

Hey Turbo, I was able to get to my project TC with the 352 this morning and play around with the tranny. My movement of the shift shaft is the opposite of yours. I can only move it in and out, no side to side movement at all except in one position. It definitely takes a bit of force to move the shaft in and out with a screwdriver in the hole at the end of the shaft. In what I believe is the Neutral position, the hole is 0/90 deg position and I was able to move the shaft in and out with three distinct detent positions. In the middle position I was able to move the shaft about 10 deg CCW (actuate the reverse detent?) and push the shaft all the way in.  My 352 has been sitting for at least 20 years.

The first picture shows the shaft in the center position and the middle detent. The second picture shows the shaft rotated to actuate the reverse detent but the shaft in the middle position. The third picture shows the shaft pushed in. What position is your shaft in, if you can tell. 

[TurboFource]

Like the top pic Joji.

JB, the tranny is the original one and been sitting since about 1978.

I hope to get out there tonight and wiggle things a bit since it hasn’t been shifted in decades

CW said it shifted fine, since the oil was not full of glitter I have no reason to believe it didn’t shift fine. I put new seals and checked backlash etc.

[TurboFource]

Joji,
The way the shift rails line up it should only move side to side in one position ….neutral

[TurboFource]

I was able to get it moving and now it is getting easier

I guess it was reluctant to move after sitting 45 years!

Thanks for everyone’s response! I worried myself needlessly 

[Kendo]

The best kind of worry 

[Lotuswins]

 In reply to your question about making the rear hoop removable, I have done it on a TC racer.  We only did it since it was a race car and we were constantly removing the thing for various reasons, and the engine was solidly mounted with a dry sump.  Unless you have reasons like these, the trans can be fairly easily removed by loosening the motor mounts so the motor/trans can tilt down enough to clear the hoop.  Make sure you block the motor though to keep it in the tilted position to facilitate re-insertion of the trans.

Jerry Rude
4005R