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Any ideas on why I have a hard time shifting into 2nd and 3rd gear about 70% of the time? This is a 6 cyl engine with a three speed trans.

Thanks

Need more info on the nature of your problem.

Clashless shifting with a non-synchro transmission is a skill developed over time and with practice, it's not called a crashbox for no reason. Might just the lack of sufficient experience and developed skill be your problem? Are you sure the clutch is fully disengaging when the pedal is at the tie board? What is the clutch pedal free-play? What type and viscosity of gear oil is in the trans? At what approximate road speeds (or engine rpm) are you making the 1-2 and 2-3 shifts?

Gail and I were out driving our 1927 526 convertible coupe today. We have discovered that if you count to 5 (and let the rpm drop...)when you slip into neutral, the transmission will slip into second or third without any grinding.
Try it...and enjoy driving your 533!

Pedal is all the way to the floor board when we try shifting.
Per the manual the play is within the specs.

Seems that the issue gets worse as the car heats up. We also noticed that the car would not drop into 2nd or 3rd gear --when completely stopped-- without some grind.

Seems to me that the clutch is not fully releasing.

The likely culprit is the pilot bearing. I had the same thing with Jepson's car. What happens is when the car is cold the shaft freewheels in the bearing hub and as it heats up it drags due to expansion.

However, it is not necessary to wind those motors. You can shift into second as soon as the car gets moving and into third shortly thereafter. The owner's manual has more information on that. I like gear whine so I always liked to rev in the lower gears and with practice it can be done without grinding using double de-clutch methods. Billy Hirsch's car was like a fire engine. Just great.

I had previously asked the OP about what road speeds he was making the shifts at, but the question went unanswered.

HI-

Speeds appear to be inconsequential at this time. I had the guy shifting at ~ 15 and ~25/30 MPH. I can't tell as the speedometer is currently not working (it is on the list...)

The guy that is driving my car has 8 classic cars (Ford and Chevys- 1920s to 1940s) and has driven Packard's before and has played the double clutch game. His point of concern is that, if the car is stopped and not moving, you should be able to move the gear shift through all of the gears without grinding the gears. He believes it is a bearing that is failing or worn-out plate springs that have lost their tension and become more sloppy as you drive the car and it heats up.

I hope this helps.



BTW-If you have any good leads on repair shops for 1928 Speedometers, send em my way.

Any idea where I can find the pilot bearings and springs?

I already have call Kanter and Max.

For the bearing first place I'd try would be George at Olcar Bearing, Southern Pines, NC.

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One other note. While you have the trans out the front and rear bearings are standard numbers and not Packard specific. They should also be replaced. Correct alignment of the input and output shafts is very important for the crashbox trans. I've even put shims between the oil pan and bell housing when I found minute alignment differences. Jepson's car had a 31 trans in a 1930 car and so it was never quite right. Those cars were virtually hand built and swapping transmissions is not always a perfect fit.

One other note. Let's suppose the trans is out and the pilot bearing is good. None of my reference books mentions alignment of the crankshaft and trans input shaft in a manual trans car. Yet think of the problems that will cause especially in a crash box. So if the cluster gear is dropped the alignment can be checked by installing the trans and turning the main shaft with the clutch disengaged. It should turn easily. Things are getting time consuming at this point, but that's the way it is getting some of this stuff to work.

I've had Packard transmissions brought in that were missing parts or had parts in the wrong order. If something isn't there it can be hard to notice what isn't there.