I need a manual transmission expert

To temporarily get yourself mobile again you are going to have to pull the shift lever out and reset the shift rails to neutral and reinstall the shifter handle. You will have to loosen the boot and pull it up out of the way. Looking where the shift lever goes into the top of the trans you will see the there is a "ring" around the shift lever. Push down on this ring and give a turn counterclockwise (I think), it is the retainer clip for the shift lever. Once this clip is loose the shift lever will pull out of the trans. Take a flashlight and look down inside. You will see the shift rails and the notches that the shift lever rides in. At this point the notches will not be aligned because the trans is in gear. Take a long screwdriver and line them up (shifting out of gear) so that the shift lever can be reinstalled. The trans should now be in neutral. Basically your shift rails and/or shift lever are worn, allowing the end of the shift lever to come out of the notch during a shift. Best solution is to replace the rails and/or lever. Cheapest solution is to have the end of the lever built back up a little by a welder. You should also replace the retaining clip if it looks worn, but it is rarely the problem.

"My other car is a BULLDOZER"

I don't think you have a big problem, you've just got it stuck on the detent/lockout pins. Remove the
shifter knobs from the tranny and t-case. Remove the floor plate with the shift boots over the
transmission. Push down on the retainer at the base of the tranny shift lever and turn (counter clockwise
I think) about 1/4 turn. The shift lever will come out.

You will now see 3 shafts with slotted tabs. Line up all the slots in the middle, remember that they work
the opposite of the way they are shown on the shift knob. To shift into reverse, you would move the knob
to the right and back but this moves the left rod forward.

When you have all the shaft slots aligned, put the shift lever back. While you are here, you will see the
two tapered pins that hold the shift lever base in, wrap a hose clamp around the housing to keep the pins
from coming out. You may have knocked one of these out when you put your foot against the shift lever.
Try the shifter, if it works replace the cover.

Don't force anything, the shift rods should move rather easily.

Mine's been that way the 13 years I've owned it and the previous owner told me about it. Mine doesn't
make it all the way out of reverse sometimes. I have to shift it back into reverse and move the rod to
the neutral position.

The end of the shift lever should be flat on each side.

/wwwthreads_images/icons/tongue.gif Hi Nut....glad to see that you got going again so easily. The shift gate problem you experienced is due to.....and I say this gently.....uh, sloppiness. Yep, when you do not "draw" the perfect "H" pattern with that lever when you change gears, you rub the sides of the rails and the lever and it wears them out, and eventually there is room enough to squeeze through, leaving the shift rail close enough to the detent that the ball POPS IT BACK and PRESTO you are in gear but the stick says "neutral". This was a BIG problem with badly worn Brownies in older trucks. If the driver got sloppy, the wear allowed him to leave a gear behind and he was screwed. Ol' Dave would have to crawl under with a pointed bar and get it all lined up again for the driver while he drank coffee in total denial and oblivious to what had happened. There was, occasionally, some cussing about this little phenomenon, for all the good it did. Just remember to run a nice, crisp, pattern with that stick and you'll be fine./wwwthreads_images/icons/crazy.gif

CJDave
I never believe any statistics unless my moonguys /wwwthreads_images/icons/crazy.gif/wwwthreads_images/icons/wink.gif made 'em up themselves.

Then again, with my SR-4, my "H" turned into an "h" awful fast, losing 3rd gear. This, in turn, caused my shifting to become erratic ("Get in there you $%^&**!"), which caused me to wear the fork off the bottom of the shifter, which eventually broke. OK, so it was probably more than that. It didn't help that 2nd was there only on upshifts and reverse was a hold in pattern. I welded the shifter and beat on it some more, but the tranny refused to die. We drove it home with vice grips and screwdrivers, got kinda used to them, but cold with no tranny plate. Still have it if interested, shifts well (and will throw in the screwdrivers as a backup), still no 3rd, but heck, who plows in 3rd anyway.../wwwthreads_images/icons/smile.gif

JEEPN
'81 CJ-8 Scrambled!
GM151/SM465/NP205/7" Lift/33" Swampers/D44's F&R 4.10's & Lockrights

/wwwthreads_images/icons/tongue.gif Every now and then you can find an automatic ransmission shop where one of the guys likes to do manual shifts too. You can go door to door and find out. HOWEVER, it is rare for the chain-store shops like AAMCO to do manual shifts. ALSO...if you want to get it real tight again, there are about five places you need to build up with weld; the tranny guy won't want to, only YOU will. The shift rails are usually a little harder and they are often OK, the shift LEVER is not. It will need the nose built up, the little notches where the pins go, and maybe even the case cover where the pins go into the tower will have to be bored and bushed or bored and larger pins made. It CAN BE DONE.....I've done quite a few in trucks and pickups. I have even done a few Brownie remote shift towers. It is SO NICE when you get it all back together and the shift lever doesn't wander all over the cab.....lessee.....was that third?.....oh DRAT.....the shift lever knob knocked out the gas gauge..../wwwthreads_images/icons/crazy.gif

CJDave
I never believe any statistics unless my moonguys /wwwthreads_images/icons/crazy.gif/wwwthreads_images/icons/wink.gif made 'em up themselves.

DuaneD,
A few years back, I had a '72 Commando with a T-18 in it. It was noisy, and my neigbor told me he'd help me rebuild it. I got a Jeep manual with an exploded view much like the ones in 4WD Hardware's catalog. We took it apart, and while I was waiting for parts, my neighbor took off to Florida for the winter! He didn't tell me that he was leaving in a few days.........You know, I put that transmission back together myself, with the help of talking to a few guys who'd had a transmission apart. I must have done it right, because I had that Commando for quite a few years after that. I didn't have this great source of information then, either.
I guess what I'm saying is that if you're mechanically inclined at all, you could do it with the help of the guys on here. The hardest part was taking the big snap rings off. I didn't have proper snap ring pliers. I would definately go buy some now, and I just may take this bugger of mine apart when it gets warm outside.
The parts are all available from 4WD Hardware, but I'm not sure if they are the best place to buy them. Anybody have any info about that?

Loose nut behind the wheel
Another right-wing conservative.....
Born and raised in Jeep-Town

/wwwthreads_images/icons/laugh.gif nice going Nut! Nothing like a self-taught, self-done project like that. Sometimes you need a dummy shaft to load the cluster, but heck, I was knocking transmissions (truck five-speeds)in the head in high skool.(didn't know I shouldn't be doing it)/wwwthreads_images/icons/crazy.gif Uh....dat wuz back in d' fifties./wwwthreads_images/icons/crazy.gif ERK! And I'm STILL wrenching? What am I, nuts? Oh well, at least now I do it for recreation./wwwthreads_images/icons/crazy.gif

CJDave
I never believe any statistics unless my moonguys /wwwthreads_images/icons/crazy.gif/wwwthreads_images/icons/wink.gif made 'em up themselves.