Three speed manual, not shifting

[Modman]

Hi everyone, I’m new here. My name is Mike and I’m just hoping someone could shed some light on an issue I have with my 65 Ford F 100. I have a three speed manual overdrive transmission that shifted fine until one night I came home and could not put it in reverse, or any gear for that matter…I removed the linkage from the bottom of the steering column, and can manually move the levers on the side of the transmission into each gear. However, even with all the linkage disconnected, I cannot move the shifter on the steering column through the traditional H pattern. I can move the shift lever up and down, however, I cannot pull it toward me to engage first or reverse… In other words, it feels like there is no neutral gate if that makes any sense…I have a suspicion The problem is in the column, but I was hoping for some input before I take the column out and pull it apart to rebuild it. Thank you in advance for all your help.

[Chris430]

Hello Mike and welcome. It has been many years since I've been into my 65 F100 steering column. What I remember on mine was the slot in the tube was worn out letting it go in between gears. You can get it freed up but as you've likely figured it will get hung up again. You can use a wire welder or a stick on low amps and repair the slot yourself if that is what is going on with yours. I am working on getting a T85/R11 transmission and hardware for my own truck. Curious if yours had the 3.70:1 9 inch or the 5 lug 3.54:1 Dana 60 rear?


You'll find posting traffic is somewhat slow here but we have heavy visiting traffic. Lots of knowledge posted. I think somewhere in here the moderator swapped the R11 OD from the T 85 over to a Borg Warner 4 speed transmission.,

Chris

[Modman]

Hi Chris, thanks for the help… I hope to
pull the column soon and see what’s going on… I believe this truck came with a 3.25:1 rear it still has the tag on it… I think it’s the perfect ratio, since the truck cruises around 1600 or 1700 rpm in OD on the highway…. I tried to attach an image of the rear tag…. I hope it’s visible.

MIKE