Transmission woes

[johnsje6]

Was driving my '79 last night, enjoying the fall weather, when the shifter started 'buzzing' in 4th and 5th. Then the pattern started getting sloppy, then I couldn't find 5th or reverse. Made it home but haven't looked at it yet. The car only has 23,000 miles on it, and it felt like something was loosening, as it gradually got more sloppy. Was not a traumatic grinding/bearing noise, so hopefully not too bad. I was looking at transmission parts at AR, and there is a shifter socket? Maybe that has loosened up? Any ideas?
This is why I haven't given my car an Italian name, I don't know any good Italian curse words.

[aj81spider]

Can only help a little with the shifter - pull the boot off and see if the shifter is loose. There is a nut on the bottom of it that holds it in place that might have gotten loose.

As far as the Italian swearing is concerned - Google translate is an excellent resource:

Son of a bi&*! - Figlio di una cagna!
Sh&! - merda
God d%#! it - Maledizione!

[DanD]

Pop out the driveshaft, and above it is a little plate on the transmission held in place with three little nuts. Above that plate is the loose nut you seek.

[redcars]

+1 on the loose nut

[vandor]

Pop out the driveshaft, and above it is a little plate on the transmission held in place with three little nuts. Above that plate is the loose nut you seek.

I never had to remove the drive shaft to do that. Just use a 1/4" socket set with a u-joint and some extensions.

When putting things back you will need a person above to hold the shifter while you put things back from below.
I would recommend removing only 2 of the 10mm bolts that hold the cover, loosen the 3rd and pivot the cover out of the way. If things are not totally fallen apart inside then your helper might be able to just push the shifter down after a bit of wriggling and then you can put the nut back on.

[johnsje6]

Thanks, guys - really hope that is what the problem is, and it does match up with the way it feels. Will give it a shot when I get some free time and report back.
Also, thanks for the language lesson - I am sure I will get a lot of use from those words when I start on my '74!

[johnsje6]

These cars are just full of surprises! I followed the great advice I got here, and looked above the driveshaft for the cover with the 3 10mm bolts, and it was all ready for me! 2 bolts were gone, 1 was loose, and the cover was pivoted out of the way!


Looks like there was some 'interference' with the guibo bolts at some point, as the cover was a bit bent.


So, the nut in the center was tight, but the rest was loose, I cleaned it up, straightened the cover, put 3 bolts back in (with blue Loctite) and now I can find ALL of the gears again - thanks for all the advice, it really saved me a lot of time and pain!