My 58 has a 4 speed and when I shift it into reverse the transmission grinds. I've tried some adjustment to the pedal geometry with little of no help. The car shifts in to reverse fine when it is first started but once it heats up the tranny grinds going into reverse. There is no problem shifting into the 4 forward gears. I'm not sure if the pedal is proper on the car, however and don't know if this could cause a problem. The transmission was rebuilt about 10 years ago by Joe Seputis in Illinois. Does anyone have an idea what could be causing this?
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Re: 1958 Corvette Clutch
Reverse in Corvette manual transmissions is an old fashioned non-synchronized sliding gear. If you push in the clutch and immediately shift to reverse, the gears will clash. This is because it takes some time for the countershaft speed to run down.
In order to avoid this, you can wait two or three seconds after depressing the clutch to engage reverse, but a better way is to depress the clutch, shift into a forward gear, and then into reverse. This is known as "clearing the gears".
Because the forward gears are synchronized, shifting into a forward speed will engage a sychronizer and stop the countershaft, which will enable the reverse sliding gears to be engaged without clash.
This technique should be used for any manual transmission whenever you shift into a non-sychronized gear at rest.
Duke -
Re: 1958 Corvette Clutch
Agree with Duke 100%. It's not raking when you first start up and shift into reverse, probably because the 90 wt. gear oil is still very viscous. once you've run the car for 15 or 20 miles, temp. of gear increases and viscosity decreases, hence less friction to slow down the gear assembly. mikeComment
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Re: 1958 Corvette Clutch
Thanks for the response. In your "Clearing the gears" method. Do you shift in to a forward gear and let the clutch out then go to reverse or just shift into a forward gear without letting the clutch out and then into reverse? The reason I ask is because I'm usually going from a forward gear into reverse when this happens.Comment
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Re: 1958 Corvette Clutch
No, you don't let out the clutch when clearing the gears as I assume you are at a complete stop.
Try clearing the gears with the engine idling and the clutch out. Push in the clutch, move the lever to third, then immediately go from third to reverse. If you still get gear clash, then I would suspect a dragging clutch.
DukeComment
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Re: 1958 Corvette Clutch
Duke's method will probably cure your problem. If it doesn't, and the clutch is good, inspect the flywheel bolts. I had a 61 with this problem and discovered that someone had installed the flywheel with regular bolts vs "flywheel bolts". The heads were too tall, and the springs on the clutch were dragging on the bolt heads.Comment
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Re: 1958 Corvette Clutch
What the hell would you know about a '58 clutch or anything else...???Comment
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