ok i have a borg warner 4 speed with a old hurst shifter on it...ive been driving it for about a year. now i shift hard from 2nd to 3rd and the shifter misses pulling second out of gear and tries to push 3rd. in gear and as a aresult it just gets stuck in second until i go under the car and effortlessly pop second gear back into neutral by pushing on one of the tabs hangin out the trans. anyone ever have this problem...every bolt on the shifter looks tight...is my shifter bad? and if so, is there a easy way to install a new shifter with all those threaded rods...i know it takes time to get all the gears right

 

Yup, happens (or used to anyway) all the time. Classic old 4-speed problem.

Last time I had one that acted like that, I sent it back to Hurst, and they rebuilt it. Seems like it was either free, or so cheap that it might as well have been free. That was a long time ago though, I'd say at least 25 or 30 years. I don't know what their policies are these days.

You might want to call them and see if they'll still do that.

When you put it back in, adjust it carefully using a 1/4" drill bit, and put new bushings and clips in it.

 

ok thanks for the reply... i will call hurst and see...now what do you mean about a 1/4" drill bit? and do you keep going through the gears to make sure they are all smooth? can i just take out the clips but leave the 3 pieces right where they are on the threaded linkage?or is that near impossible...i did it with a old saginaw trans and blew it cause i was in 2 gears at the same time..

 

ok just went on hurst web site...seems they charge 90.00 to rebuild a shifter....that sux and i also see what your talking about with the alignment holes and putting a 1/4" drill bit through...thanks again i want a t-56

 

To adjust the shifter, you take the rods loose from the transmission end; shift the shifter and the transmission into neutral; then, at the bottom middle of the shifter, you stick the drill bit all the way through. Move the shifter parts as necessary to allow the drill bit to go all the way through and come out the other side. Then, you screw/unscrew the little thingy on the end of each rod, until it just exactly drops into the hole in the arm on the transmission. You might also find that one or more of the arms is actually on backwards / upside-down.

You might find the instructions on Hurst's site, maybe in the install kit section.

$90 sounds like a pretty good deal to me. Priced a new shifter lately? And next to a $2000 or more T-56 conversion, it sounds like an even better deal.

Try adjusting it first, and see if it's better; if it still does it, use Hurst's service.

 

This is external linkage isnt it? LOL, yup my 1981 Chevy pickup has a Warner 4spd, and it does get stuck in 3rd. yup Inline 6 250cid single barrel carb.. the whole enige was rebuilt, but that tranny is so HI-geared its not funny, its hard enough to take off in first, and you can in second but have to be pointed down hill, and to take off in third, HA! Nnnno.