John,
Bob Howards write up on things to do to improve shifting/clutch action
is absolutely unbeatable. I would like to add a couple of items.
First, if the web for the rear mount on the transmission is broken out,
the remains can be machined or even filed out and a hole drilled through
the two side pieces to accept a bolt to hold the forked bolt in place.
Second, the grabby clutch is often caused by a dirty/worn flywheel
face. When I restored my TD, I had the flywheel face resurfaced and
ever since, the clutch action has been absolutely smooth, with no
grabbing what so ever. To get this done however, requires removal and
partial disassembly of the engine, so it is something to be done when
you are removing the engine anyway. You say that the shifting is far
from smooth, this is pretty normal These are, as someone stated a fifty
year old gearbox and never were as smooth as modern day boxes. Shifts
have to be done with a bit of pause in neutral to give the syncro rings
time to do their thing (the syncros are pretty primitive in the T series
boxes). This is particularly true between first and second. Also,
first gear has no syncro mesh, so unless you are real expert at working
a crash box, you need to be standing still before shifting into first.
Even then, it is helpful to pull the shift part way into second to stop
all rotation of the gears before shifting into first (you do shift into
neutral and come off the clutch when you are standing still rather than
keeping the clutch depressed and causing excessive wear on the throw out
bearing don' you?). Sometimes, when shifting into first, you will find
that the gears won't engage at all. When this happens, shift into
second, release the clutch enough for the car to rock and then shift
into first. This is a result of the wear on the gears causing the tops
to be squared off instead of tapered, so they don't slide past one
another as they did when new.
The cause of the car not wanting to move after sitting for awhile could
be the result of the rear brake shoes becoming rusted to the drums. Try
leaving the car in gear with the e brake off and see if this helps.
Cheers,
Dave
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