17 hours ago, Ptero said:

Shifter bushings are good.  I changed them to brass a few years back.  It had some gunk in there so I cleaned it all out, greased it and am able to change into all gears with the car off.  There must be some sort of reverse lock out from 5th into reverse though.  Can't go from 5th to reverse, but can do any other gear into reverse.

I can't put the car into gear with the engine running.  I haven't pushed crazy hard, but I also shouldn't have to.  When trying to go into reverse with the car on, it grinds unlike the other gears where it just won't go.

You have a close ratio 5 speed transmission. You mentioned "one exhaust hanger" in your first post. The close ratio has the reverse lock out so you don't hit reverse when shifting down.

 

 

Can you start the engine with the transmission in gear and the clutch pedal fully depressed (clutch disengaged)?

If the car wants to take off when you hit the starter, then your clutch is not disengaging.

You have 1 inch clutch fork travel and it takes off when you start it, your problem is in the clutch area.

 

Another thing to try with engaging gears with the clutch engaged. Try jacking up the back wheels so at least one is free to spin. I take it you do not have an LSD, then both wheels need to spin freely. This will allow the main shaft to move freely an you should notice it goes into gear slightly easier. If someone rotates the rear wheel by hand it should make it easy to go in gear.

What is happening when you try to push it into a gear? Your sliding hub is hitting the spurred gear section of the helical gear. If the spurrsd gears are a little rounded it will worsen the situation. The synchro rings don't do anything when the shafts a not rotating so the hub keeps hitting the spur gear.

 

 

ooooook, a few updates.

-with the car off, tried pushing it while in 1st gear.  Rocked it back and forth and the clutch didn't break free (assuming it's seized).

-started the car in first gear and drove it in circles in the driveway with the clutch pressed in.  Clutch still stuck.

-drove down the road in 1st and shifted into 2nd with rev matching so it just popped into second.  Drove about a mile or so with the clutch pressed in the entire time, stepping on the brakes then stepping on the gas, again and again.  Well... that also didn't break the clutch free.

 

 Pull the rubber release fork grommet from the bellhousing. With a coworker in the car operating the clutch pedal, take a look inside the bellhousing using a good light and possibly a mirror. Check the movement of the slave cylinder, release arm, release bearing and the pressure plate. 

On 4/13/2020 at 11:10 AM, Ptero said:

Parked the car a couple of years ago and due to having some issues with shifting.  My memory is bad on the best of days, but from what I remember it seemed as though the clutch would only engage part way when stepping on it.  (Engage?  Disengage?  Not sure if I'm using the correct wording)

Can you add more detail to what you mean by "step on it"?  The clutch pedal?  That would be disengaging, decoupling the transmission from the engine. You're saying that the car wanted to keep going at a light, or you had to grind gears to get it back in to gear?  Back when it worked.  How long did it work for you in the beginning?

"Step on it" is what people say about the throttle pedal too.  Too slow, step on it!

The clues seem to point to bad hydraulics, maybe combined with marginal parts.  The master cylinder or the slave, and/or the throwout sleeve.  Have you removed the boot from he slave and looked for fluid inside?  One inch is not 35 mm.  If your throwout sleeve was on the thin side it might be that you need the full 35 mm of stroke.  You said it's never been great.  With the right parts and setup these 5 speeds can be smooth as butter.

If you do what Mark said you might find the the clutch fork gets very close to the back of the hole.  It might even be hitting it by now, after some clutch disc wear.  Who knows, a look will add more clues.  Take some pictures.

21 minutes ago, Zed Head said:

Can you add more detail to what you mean by "step on it"?  The clutch pedal?  That would be disengaging, decoupling the transmission from the engine. You're saying that the car wanted to keep going at a light, or you had to grind gears to get it back in to gear?  Back when it worked.  How long did it work for you in the beginning?

"Step on it" is what people say about the throttle pedal too.  Too slow, step on it!

The clues seem to point to bad hydraulics, maybe combined with marginal parts.  The master cylinder or the slave, and/or the throwout sleeve.  Have you removed the boot from he slave and looked for fluid inside?  One inch is not 35 mm.  If your throwout sleeve was on the thin side it might be that you need the full 35 mm of stroke.  You said it's never been great.  With the right parts and setup these 5 speeds can be smooth as butter.

If you do what Mark said you might find the the clutch fork gets very close to the back of the hole.  It might even be hitting it by now, after some clutch disc wear.  Who knows, a look will add more clues.  Take some pictures.

"step on it" meant I was stepping on the clutch.

I'll take a peek into the glory hole of my transmission to see what I find.  Pictures or video to follow.

The clutch fork only moves about 20-22mm.  I was just bleeding through the slave cylinder which seems to continually produce air.  Wondering if there is maybe an air leak somewhere.

Looked through the peep hole in the transmission.  When the clutch was not pressed in, only some of the forks on the pressure plate were pulled back while others stayed pressed towards the back of the transmission.  Not sure if I'm explaining that correctly because I've never actually looked up there before or know how it's normally supposed to work.

You said pictures...

All of the "fingers" should move together.  If you have some that are stuck you might have a broken pressure plate.  A piece might be jamming the plate against the clutch disc.

One more thing.  Those fingers are actually all part of one single sheet of steel.  Called a diaphragm spring.  It can break and shift, not moving the plate anymore.

But if the fingers aren't even the pressure plate assembly is probably broke.  Details don't matter much.  But they're fun.

http://www.tpub.com/basae/90.htm

Edited April 15, 20204 yr by Zed Head

Here's a video of what the pressure plate is/isn't doing.  You can see that only a few of the diaphragm springs are actually moving when the clutch is pressed down.

 

The only thing that pushes the fork back is those "fingers".  It's a big round spring.  Looks like only one finger is working.  I'll bet the clutch pedal is really easy to press down.

I think your pressure plate is broke, somehow.  It's odd though that the fingers are staying down, in the release position.  Regardless, it's not right and I think you'll have to drop the transmission to figure out what is happening and fix it. Can't imagine a fix any other way.

Yeah, I kind of figured as much.  I'll be pulling it this weekend unless I find any other options.