Toploader shifter help requested

[Rolling Thunder]

Two Cobras, both with 351C's backed by Top Loader 4 spd's, two different problems with the shifters:

First car - shifter pops out of fourth gear when you let off the gas and coast the car. All other gears hold just fine. How does one adjust this to eliminate the problem?

Second car - movement of shifter while in neutral is very restricted and notchy. The lever does not have a straight side to side path of travel in neutral position, it runs an angled stairstep path at about 45 degrees from upper right to lower left, with a 'catch' in the middle. How do I correct this? All gear engage just fine.

Thanks,

Keith

[John Wais]

Keith
What kind of shifter ??
John W.

[cobra427hp]

Sounds like syncro is back on 4th gear on the first trans. The second could just be ajustment of likage. There is a pin hole on the shifter body for line up. Use an allen wrench to run thru the hole with the linkage rods loose. then tighten down the nuts on the rods so you can remove the adjusting wrench with ease.

[mr0077]

keith, on the first car, I'm gonna guess that you've got the adjustable stop bolt screwed in too much on the 2/4 side of the shifter, keeping the tranny from fully engaging 4th gear (either that or, God forbid, you may have a tranny internal problem). Both sides (2/4 and 1/3) have adjustable stop bolts...back out the 2/4 bolt and see if it helps.
On the second car, the linkage rods are out of adjustment. There is an alignment hole in the shifter mechanism, where you insert a rod (proper sized drill bit works well). That holds the shifter in the proper "neutral" position. Then you adjust the linkage rods so they just go into the holes on the shifter levers on the transmission...voila, you're done! As an alternative (not very good one), you could adjust one of the rods to get a smooth side-to-side motion, but be sure to adjust the reverse rod so reverse can be engaged in the same (relocated) neutral gate. Good luck!