New, looking for advice with 1977 Scottsdale

[Dannionray]

So, I'll start off by saying that I'm a youngster, and tend to cut corners when it seems feesable, sometimes making issues worse, so all warnings and words of advice welcome! This truck fell into my lap about two weeks ago. It's been sitting around barely used in the last 25 years without being started once in the past 2-3 .The current owner bought it new back in 78, and luckily he is somebody I know well, and therefore trust. The thing started up pretty much immediately after installing a new fuel pump. (I still need to change the oil!) , but the problem seems to be with the transmission (or just linkage?) . The first day it started, I couldn't get it to go into gear at all. The next day, I jammed the selector knob on the steering column back and fourth for a while with the engine running to see if I could get any power through the transmission. This actually seemed to work for a bit because I got it to reverse a bit, then drive foward back to where it was. The next day, the transmission engaged immediately and i drove it around the parking lot for a bit and then put it in park for a few minutes while it was still running. (Moving the knob to the "park" position sometimes results in a concerning grinding, similar to a manual transmission with bad synchronizers; in that it seems like you have to wait for some sort of spinning or motion to stop in order to get the knob where you want it without making that awful sound). After letting it sit in park for a bit, It did NOT go back into drive or reverse. Sometimes it seems to want to engage in reverse momentarily. Now, the next two days, it worked fine and i promptly discovered the wonders of secondary jets.. BOY DOES IT FLY! (I'm used to driving a 2.3 liter ranger) I had a lot of fun opening up the throttle all the way in the vacant (ish) ,large parking lot, and definitely got some looks. The transmission gave me no problems whatsoever while doing this, and worked as it should..UNTIL I put it back in park, then it did its thing where it didn't want to go into gear at all. After fighting it for a bit, I got it back in the space where it needed to be. Now, yesterday it didn't want to move at all and i left it at that. The only other issue I'm aware if seems to be with the primary jets on the carb. The engine really wants to bog and stall unless I that throttle is all the way open. Choking out the primary with my hand seemed to help. 400 cubic inch, quadrajet. Not sure about the transmission

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[K201979]

Welcome. Sounds like it could be the linkage to me but im no transmission guru. There are some here though, and i think they will chime in soon enough. Nice truck, good luck with it!

 

[Dannionray]

Thank you!

 

[animal]

 

[Charlie]

 

[1973c10]

Welcome

 

[Shorty81]

Welcome from two states to the East.

 

[shiftpro]

Dan the Young Man, welcome to our group!
Fist I would like to commend you (as a self identified 'youngster') with your reasonable grammar. Thanks for making communication easy.

So, have you crawled under your truck yet? What are you waiting for... take a look at the linkage. A monkey can figure it out. I know you can too.
Don't be afraid to take your camera with you. In case you're having a AOC day and really can't figure out what you're looking at, then we can hopefully
help.

BTW I like the rims... but the bumper, paint and ford mirrors will have to go.

 

[Dannionray]

I'm at the truck right now, I'll see if I can't post a short video of me playing with the linkage at the transmission

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[Dannionray]

Looks like I can't post a video, but basically it does feel like there is something not quite right internal linkage- wise.. maybe I'll open it up and look once I find a way to salvage all the fluid that's inside.. I'm on a budget

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[WFO]

Welcome from the Texas Panhandle.

A bad transmission mount can put the linkage in a bind too.

 

[Dannionray]

Thank you. And yes, this could be the case. It's come to my attention that the transmission has been changed in the past. And knowing the guy who owns the truck makes me think that he likely paid someone as dirt cheap as he could to change it. The inspection cover appears to be off of something else (more bolt holes), and the shotty use of zip ties indicates that someone likely did a sub-par job. What could have happened in the mounting that would result in what I'm experiencing ?

 

[Dannionray]

Also, doing a little more research has got me thinking.. when I first started messing with the truck, the transmission was completely full. After driving it at full throttle for the first time, I noticed that transmission fluid was spraying out of the filler tube. Didn't think much of it at the time, maybe it was just overfilled. I just read something about somebody installing a gasket upside-down, effectively decomissioning the vent, causing the transmission fluid to exit. This prompted further inspection, revealing a few things.. The transmission fluid is way low, relative to where it was when I started, and also, the dang filler tube is just sitting in there rattling around with nothing holding it in.

 

[Old77]

 

[82sbshortbed]

I think there's an o-ring that needs to be replaced on the filler tube. That might stop your leak and tighten it up some.