Hey fellas I have an 89 Iroc with a manual transmission. We threw out the stock 305 tpi and dropped in a carburated 383. We fired up the car and it sounds good, but as we were ready to test drive it we noticed that it won't shift into gear. If the car is OFF, then yes we can shift. If the car is ON, we can not shift. Further, if you put it in 1st gear (for instance) when the car is off, and then turn the car on (which implies you push in the clutch pedal first) the car jerks forward, even with the clutch pedal pushed IN. This obviously should not be.

Any thoughts? If it is relevant, we did purchase a new clutch. Also, the flywheel is stock, but we had it resurfaced for the project. I appreciate your help guys

 

I would assume something is wrong with either the clutch linkage or the clutch assembly in the trans. It's clear the clutch isnt doing anything. You need to work your way through that system and find out where the problem is.

 

Sounds like the clutch master cylinder or slave cylinder have someone push the clutch pedal and see if the slave cylinder is pushing the clutch fork.

 

Well I had someone push on the clutch pedal and I can verify that the slave cylinder is indeed pushing on the fork. So I'm still not sure what the issue is.

 

Does the pedal feel normal?

If the hydraulics are working it sounds like something is fubar in the clutch. You'll have to pull the trans out and see what's going on. Make sure everything is there and installed properly.

 

Yes. The clutch pedal feels normal. And as I described, the car shifts normally when its off. When on, however, I can't seem to slap it into any gear.

 

That means something is wrong with the clutch or the assembly of it. I can get my t56 into any gear without even depressing the clutch as long as the engine is off. It's when the engine is on that the clutch makes a difference, and yours is clearly not.

You'll probably need to take it off because something is way off, but I've got no idea what.

 

you know what actually, today we were under the car and removed the tranny and noticed that one of the small "clips" thats on the clutch fork (which holds firmly in place the release bearing) was broken. think this could be it?