School me on 3 speed manuals

Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

DoubleDingo

Full Access Member
Joined
Jul 3, 2012
Posts
10,019
Reaction score
14,164
Location
Right where I am
First Name
Bagoomba
Truck Year
1981, 1965
Truck Model
81-C20 Silverado Camper Special-TH400-4.10s; 65-C20 with 4:57 gears and Borg Warner Overdrive
Engine Size
Carb'ed Vortec 350; 1972 L48 350
my wife's new Honda has hillstart assist. it knows when your pointed up hill and holds the brake for you momentarily until you set off. it's kind of a trip. probably common in new manual trans cars, but my element is a manual and doesn't have it. must have started that feature a few years back.

My '07 Forester has it. I still expect it roll back when I'm pointing uphill. Have had the car now for almost 6 years and still not used to the feature...lol...
 

Frankenchevy

Proverbs 16:18
Joined
Jan 3, 2018
Posts
5,905
Reaction score
7,251
Location
USA
First Name
Jeremy
Truck Year
Square
Truck Model
CUCV
Engine Size
Small
My '07 Forester has it. I still expect it roll back when I'm pointing uphill. Have had the car now for almost 6 years and still not used to the feature...lol...
Honda must've been later to the game.
 

roundhouse

Full Access Member
Joined
Apr 5, 2014
Posts
669
Reaction score
527
Location
atlanta ga
First Name
justin
Truck Year
77,78,79,80 ?
Truck Model
K10
Engine Size
350
My '07 Forester has it. I still expect it roll back when I'm pointing uphill. Have had the car now for almost 6 years and still not used to the feature...lol...
The 17 Chevy company truck I got assigned has hill start
And it’s an automatic
 

hatzie

Full Access Member
Joined
Dec 6, 2011
Posts
566
Reaction score
451
Location
NH
First Name
David
Truck Year
1976
Truck Model
k20
Engine Size
6.5
My '07 Forester has it. I still expect it roll back when I'm pointing uphill. Have had the car now for almost 6 years and still not used to the feature...lol...

Subaru had that feature in 1984. My 1984 GL two door hardtop had it. Nice feature on steep hills.
 

Swims350

Full Access Member
Joined
Jul 30, 2010
Posts
4,351
Reaction score
811
Location
Logan WV
First Name
Chris
Truck Year
1983
Truck Model
K10
Engine Size
none
a lil info we had on straight 6 with 3 on the tree, ours got converted to floor shift with an indy universal kit first thing worked great. Held up for years thru like 3 straight 6's. I'm not sure on rear gears ours had a 12 bolt and like 4.10's it was posi, but the vin decoder on lmc said our truck came with a 350 stock yet when we got it in the early 90's had a 6 and had every different color body panel possible. We later did a mild built 350 in front of that same floor shift 3 speed and it was a beast having those gears. We finally blew it apart with about a 6-7k rpm shift without clutch'in LOL Not sure if it was the 3 speed trans or the rear but it had gear oil all over the trans crossmember.

Now with that said, the saginaw 4 speed car trans is the same length, as the 3 speed truck trans, same driveshaft yoke and mount location everything. not sure on say a t-10 or maybe a muncie 4 speed. That's an option if you don't like 3 speed or it dies. We put in a 4 speed after we killed the 3, and later found out that a th350 short 6 inch tail is the same length, same spline shaft as well, and I think the trans mount is the same also, so again another possible swap if need be.
 

MikeB

Full Access Member
Joined
Apr 4, 2014
Posts
1,745
Reaction score
935
Location
Justin, TX
First Name
Mike
Truck Year
1969
Truck Model
C10
Engine Size
355
... the saginaw 4 speed car trans is the same length, as the 3 speed truck trans, same driveshaft yoke and mount location everything. not sure on say a t-10 or maybe a muncie 4 speed. That's an option if you don't like 3 speed or it dies. We put in a 4 speed after we killed the 3, and later found out that a th350 short 6 inch tail is the same length, same spline shaft as well, and I think the trans mount is the same also, so again another possible swap if need be.
Yes, that's true of Muncie 4-speeds. Those with the more common 10-spline input and 27-spline output will also work with a 3-speed Saginaw clutch disc and front driveshaft yoke. And any 60s-70s Muncie 4-speed will bolt up to a 3-speed bellhousing.
 

Dan MacDonald

Junior Member
Joined
Sep 8, 2018
Posts
5
Reaction score
1
Location
Nova scotia
First Name
Dan
Truck Year
1974
Truck Model
C10 custom
Engine Size
250
Any info on adjusting the linkage would be super helpful. Hard to find anything about it. 1974 c10 , bought it , drove it home . Was a bit sloppy but I managed. Parked it in my driveway and tried to move it the next day and it’s not going on the right gear I select . Tried to put it in first gear and I’m pretty sure it was actually 3rd because it didn’t want to pull away without stalling. So I crawled under and manually put it in first, reverse, first , reverse until I got it parked where I wanted it. The guy I bought it from said it could be fixed up(adjusted) in less than 20 mins. HELP LOL
 

DoubleDingo

Full Access Member
Joined
Jul 3, 2012
Posts
10,019
Reaction score
14,164
Location
Right where I am
First Name
Bagoomba
Truck Year
1981, 1965
Truck Model
81-C20 Silverado Camper Special-TH400-4.10s; 65-C20 with 4:57 gears and Borg Warner Overdrive
Engine Size
Carb'ed Vortec 350; 1972 L48 350
It is a quick adjustment. Check out this video

xc_hide_links_from_guests_guests_error_hide_media
 

bucket

Super Moderator
Staff member
Super Moderator
Joined
Aug 3, 2010
Posts
28,961
Reaction score
23,479
Location
Usually not in Ohio
First Name
Andy
Truck Year
'77, '78, '79, '84, '88
Truck Model
K5 thru K30
Engine Size
350-454
Any info on adjusting the linkage would be super helpful. Hard to find anything about it. 1974 c10 , bought it , drove it home . Was a bit sloppy but I managed. Parked it in my driveway and tried to move it the next day and it’s not going on the right gear I select . Tried to put it in first gear and I’m pretty sure it was actually 3rd because it didn’t want to pull away without stalling. So I crawled under and manually put it in first, reverse, first , reverse until I got it parked where I wanted it. The guy I bought it from said it could be fixed up(adjusted) in less than 20 mins. HELP LOL

At the end of the steering column (under the hood) there's a collar with a couple bolts that hold it in place. From what I remember, you simply loosen the bolts and rotate the collar to take up the slack in the shift levers. Then tighten up the bolts to lock it in place again. Iirc, it was easy to tell which way tightens everything up because there's an angled slot that one or both of the bolts travel in.
 

DoubleDingo

Full Access Member
Joined
Jul 3, 2012
Posts
10,019
Reaction score
14,164
Location
Right where I am
First Name
Bagoomba
Truck Year
1981, 1965
Truck Model
81-C20 Silverado Camper Special-TH400-4.10s; 65-C20 with 4:57 gears and Borg Warner Overdrive
Engine Size
Carb'ed Vortec 350; 1972 L48 350
For some reason my incomplete response posted when I opened a second tab to search for the video. Anyhow, mine was having trouble finding gears too. I used that video to get it shifting properly again. But now it needs some fine tuning so I'll be doing it again.
 

Dan MacDonald

Junior Member
Joined
Sep 8, 2018
Posts
5
Reaction score
1
Location
Nova scotia
First Name
Dan
Truck Year
1974
Truck Model
C10 custom
Engine Size
250
I watched that video about 15 times a couple days ago, the linkage in the video seems to be different than mine. I’m guessing it was an earlier year. But maybe same theory? I’ll give it a try , fingers crossed!
I’ll try to post a picture of what mine looks like.
You must be registered for see images attach
 

75gmck25

Full Access Member
Joined
Oct 13, 2016
Posts
2,018
Reaction score
1,811
Location
Northern Virginia
First Name
Bruce
Truck Year
1975
Truck Model
K25 Camper Special TH350 NP203
Engine Size
5.7
For those of you trying to get shift linkage aligned on a GM squarebody truck, you should also take a look at replacing the cab support bushings. The cabs settle quite a bit over the years as these bushings deteriorate, and that moves the shift linkage out of adjustment (cab moves but trans stays in the same place). When I replaced the bushings on my cab it suddenly made it much easier to get my TH350 linkage back into alignment. It also helped a lot with noise level, since my cab floor pan was contacting the transfer case and transferring drivetrain noise directly into the cab.

Bruce
 

Dan MacDonald

Junior Member
Joined
Sep 8, 2018
Posts
5
Reaction score
1
Location
Nova scotia
First Name
Dan
Truck Year
1974
Truck Model
C10 custom
Engine Size
250
That would make sense, because the cab support bushings in the one I bought look brand new. So that’s probably one reason I had to adjust it. Also I noticed the little black bushings at the end of the shift rods are BEAT TO DEATH, anyone know where to get these bushings? So I did what the video shows to do and VOILA ,IT WORKED! it’s not perfect but it will actually go into gears now. May just need a little more adjusting . Big thanks to all who helped !
 

Dan MacDonald

Junior Member
Joined
Sep 8, 2018
Posts
5
Reaction score
1
Location
Nova scotia
First Name
Dan
Truck Year
1974
Truck Model
C10 custom
Engine Size
250
I found this somewhere on this forum, which someone has said the bushings are the same as bushings on other years.

You must be registered for see images attach
 

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
41,856
Posts
903,621
Members
33,370
Latest member
mitchell1128
Top