Introduction & transmission question, '72, 1.7 (mostly white) Options

[Goape]

Hi all,

Just a quick note to introduce myself. I recently got my first teener ('72, 1.7) and have been getting it up and running over the last few months (it had been sitting in a yard for the longest time when I rescued it). My addiction is already pretty bad (thanks to this BBS and all the great advice I've gathered from it - yes, i have to admit to being a former lurker (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) ). Anyway, the engines running fairly well now but im still having transmission issues. Ive read / followed the advice of many on this board (and over at Pelican's too) with regard to replacing bushing and most of the slop has gone. However, 1st gear is still giving me grief. Ive adjusted the shifter using both the Haynes approach and also red beard's info which has helped with the shifting overall but first wont engage (even when the cars slowing down). I have been able to partly engage 1st from a stop if I push the lever into place and hold it there but the gear wont engage (lots of nice grinding follows). So my question is should I continue my regular adjusting / heavy drinking regime until i can get it just right or is it time to rip into a rebuild (at least of 1st gear)?
Any advice will be gratefully received.

Cheers,

Matt (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beer3.gif)

ps. I'll post a picture as soon as I get chance (the car is in a bit of state at the moment, but Im hoping to make her more presentable as soon as I have the time and money)

[lapuwali]

There are three problems with first gear, potentially.

The linkage may be misadjusted so you simply can't physically get the into that gear w/o hitting one of the stops in the linkage. Make sure you leave enough room when adjusting that the lever isn't hitting the rearmost limit of travel (that is, adjust it so the lever is "forward" a bit when actually in 1st, 3rd, or 5th).

Inside the gearbox, there a slider with inner teeth and a dog ring with outer teeth. These engage together to select that gear. When worn, the normally pointy teeth become rounded, and the inner teeth (slots, really) in the slider may close up so the dog ring can't fully engage them. This is fixed by partially disassembling the gearbox and filing the teeth on the slider and dog ring so they fit together again, and the points are, um, pointy (or replace the slider and dog ring, but that's quite expensive).

The last is the synchro for first, which, when worn, will cause the dog ring and slider to grind rather than engage, which causes the second problem, and the fix there is to replace the synchro (about $60 for the part, and it can be done while fixing problem 2).

There's a great webpage on how to do this, but the owner of said site it in the middle of moving, and I don't know if it's up at the moment...