Hello all..

I have a 1968 Pontiac Firebird Sprint 4BBL, 3 speed Hurst floor with Saginaw trans.

The floor shifter is stuck in 2nd gear. The car has been sitting for a long time. Due to my health situation I need a mobile mechanic who hopefully is familiar with Firebird OHC's to get the transmission freed up so it shifts and also to perform the procedures necessary to do a cold start from being in a dormant state for a long period of time.

Process includes draining and replacing the fuel, draining and replacing the oil, replacing or topping off coolant, new battery and attempting to start it. Based on the history of this car, I do have faith that it will start!!!

Unfortunately, I am forced to sell this car but not until I know whether it will start or not. That affects my sale price. Selling this car hurts bad and not an easy thing to do given my father bought it when I was 7 years old. Lots of memories and fun times. My father loved this car. It was his daily driver, then my mother's daily driver, then my daily driver for many years. We all loved this car and could always count on it to start and run like the devil, leaving many V8's in its wake. No joke.

Anyway, I need a mobile mechanic in Southern California. One that is familiar with Pontiac OHC's would be nice.. Quote me a price and lets work out a deal. I am very honest and fairly easy to work with and I expect the same.

Thank you!

Scott

Ooops, forgot to add my phone number: 714-465-8836

Scott,

Not sure if this will help but it might be worth a try...sometimes when you leave a car in gear and put it into storage the clutch freezes to the pressure plate.

To test for this try the following:

- jack up the back end and put it on blocks
- make sure park brake is off
- depress clutch all the way
- have someone try to turn either rear wheel
- if you can turn the wheel then your clutch is not frozen to pp
- if you cannot turn the wheel then the clutch is frozen to pp

Try towing the car to break it loose.
- attach tow strap to front of car
- depress clutch
- have tow car drive slowly forward
- clutch should break loose.

Good luck!

I have a friend in the San Diego area that may be able to help and knows that oh6 bird well. His father owns one.

Chief , thanks for the props.

Scott,
I'm San Diego/ too far away to really help you.

Could also be the shift linkage is worn out or maybe just out of adjustment?
The bushings in the shifter tabs that the shift rods connect to eventually wear out and the shifter will not coordinate properly/ will hang up in or between 1st & 2nd gear.
A person can get under the car (raised safely ) & lightly tap on the trans lever tabs to get the trans & shifter back to a neutral state.

If it is wear on the shifter's selector lever pin & slots that has to be addressed by removing the shifter from the car and performing an overhaul on it.
If there are no replacement parts or replacement shifter available the worn areas can be built up by carefully building them up by welding ( use mig or tig process or gas weld there. NOT STICK) and the carefully grinding the slots & pin back to original size.
Just bear in mind that welding on tempered or hardened parts changes the metallurgy and to get good wear from the weld repair the piece should be re heat treated or re- tempered.
I've had to do this before with some cheap aftermarket shifters (SparkOmatic comes to mind) when there was no other way to effect a repair.
Best to get all the wear & slop out of the shifter & linkage before adjusting the travel length on the rods

I can send you the factory adjustment procedure for manual trans floor shifter if that will help out. I think I have it lying around hear some where.
PM me and I'll email you the info.

Other thing I have seen happen is the one of the stands for the release fingers on the pressure plate/clutch cover has broken and the clutch will not fully release when the pedal is pushed in (Borg & Beck style) . The trans will be stuck in gear. Broken / missing segments on a diaphragm spring type clutch cover will also cause the same problem. Only fix is to pull the trans, remove the clutch disc and pressure plate assembly and check for damage.

If you are getting full pedal travel and can actually see the clutch throw out bearing lever moving the clutch linkage should be OK.
Hope that helps you & your mechanic trouble shoot the problem.

Some other useful Pontiac OHC sources for you.
Pontiac OHC Six Forum
https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/sohcsix/

POCI OHC Cammers Chapter
http://www.ohc6.com/