I expected this to be bad, as the PO, which bought the car 4 years ago hoping to restore it had actually bent the shift lever trying to get the car out of reverse. That is stuck when you bend the lever! I did not know what to expect...but what I got is worse than anything I have ever seen.
The easy part was the clutch lever was welded to the shaft. That was new, but actually only took 1 minute with a grinder to take care of. In fact, it was so easy that I may just weld them on from now on...no more pins to worry about breaking...
But now the bad. There are no broken parts, and rust is minimal. But, most of you are old enough to remember Steve McQueen's movie "The Blob". Well, I know where the blob went after they dropped it in the artic...it is in my OD! I have never seen anything like this. The tranny had about 1 quart of yellowish oil, about the thickness of 90W. But under that oil is, well, tar.
This makes dis-assembly very difficult, as it is essentially glue. You cannot move any part quickly. Instead, you have to put pressure on it and walk away for 2 hours. The tar then slowly oozes and allows the part to move. It took 12 hours to remove the OD from the tranny, allowing the 8 strong springs to push the tar. It took 3 hours upside down for the countershaft to drop out. Tapping or hammering is a waste of time, as the blob is hard as a rock if you try to move it fast, as with a hammer impact.
I almost changed the solvent in my cleaning tank before starting this job. Thankfully I didn't, as this will contaminate anything it touches...
Has anyone seen this happen?