Super Bummed.....

[Surf Charger]

Brought my Charger to my buddy's shop back in the beginning of April to do a few things (tune carb, brakes, etc). Only driven it once..and that was limping over to the shop. Turns out the tranny had to be rebuilt. That was April and its still there. He had a local shop (mopar guys for 20+ years) rebuild my tranny. Got it back, reinstalled and no 3rd gear. Reverse worked fine. So after reworking all of the linkage, 3 different valve bodies, 2 torque converters, two complete rebuilds on the tranny...still no 3rd gear. The shop owner that rebuilt the tranny even brought a spare transmission from another Charger that he had rebuilt and that one didn't even have 3rd gear.

So my buddy who is doing most of the work on my car is now working with another Mopar guy with 30+ years of experience to troubleshoot as he doesn't want to deal with tranny shop number 1. Now they are running a few tests to see if there is any pressure when in 1, 2, D.

Stinks b/c the engine runs awesome with a new Edlebrock carb, new gas tank, new exhaust and headers. Brakes were reworked...everything is great except no 3rd gear. My buddy told me worst comes to worse, if they still cant

Sorry I had to vent. Only had one chance to drive the charger and that was when it barely made it a mile from my house to the shop. He's not charging me for any of the work. I have a parts car with a '69 torqueflight. He said worse comes to worse, he will have his close friend rebuild that a make it right...no charges. Just a bummer waiting for it as it sounds and runs so good.

[c00nhunterjoe]

Have they airchecked it? If the valvebody has been out twice they should have applied air to aleast see if the clutch is applying. They may have cut the seal on install. Its not hard to knick it.

[dodgey68]

this might sound silly, i had a 904 rebuilt and it didnt get third gear either, after a lot of stuffing around we found out the valve body was a 72 model and was in a 68 case , the only difference was a small 1/8 hole in the 72 model valve body which dodnt allow it to change , as far as we could work out??  hope that helps?

[myk]

It is depressing but I consider it growing pains typical of an older car-project.  When I first got my Charger in '94 it had flawless paint and body but the motor was running on 7 cylinders, had no 3rd gear on the 727, and the electrical system was barely functional.  Brakes, suspension, and just about everything else was neglected and showing it.  It took about a year for me to get that thing up to a dependable daily driver status and I was soooooo sad because I spent a year and a half flipping hamburgers at McDonald's just to save up enough money for the car and I ended up driving my mom's '87 Escort GL most of the time.

We here are all too familiar with the pain of not being able to drive the wheels off of our cars when they're down for nonsense like repetitive malfunctions, but hang in there.  Hell, I had been without my car for 6 months, I just got it back in time for the cruises/shows but now I'm sending it away again to be completely rewired.  Before you know it you'll be ruling the streets with that awesome car and that's what you have to do: stay positive, determined and looking towards that one day...

[1974dodgecharger]

It is depressing but I consider it growing pains typical of an older car-project.  When I first got my Charger in '94 it had flawless paint and body but the motor was running on 7 cylinders, had no 3rd gear on the 727, and the electrical system was barely functional.  Brakes, suspension, and just about everything else was neglected and showing it.  It took about a year for me to get that thing up to a dependable daily driver status and I was soooooo sad because I spent a year and a half flipping hamburgers at McDonald's just to save up enough money for the car and I ended up driving my mom's '87 Escort GL most of the time.

We here are all too familiar with the pain of not being able to drive the wheels off of our cars when they're down for nonsense like repetitive malfunctions, but hang in there.  Hell, I had been without my car for 6 months, I just got it back in time for the cruises/shows but now I'm sending it away again to be completely rewired.  Before you know it you'll be ruling the streets with that awesome car and that's what you have to do: stay positive, determined and looking towards that one day...

thats a pretty story man.....

[Ghoste]

Stay strong, you'll get through this but there will be another setback to take its place.  The pains are big with these old cars but so are the rewards when you get by the hurdles.

[Dino]

You don't need 3rd gear to roast the tires so go have some fun with it for a few minutes on the shop's parking lot, it'll make the bad feelings go away for a while.  At least this isn't costing you anything.  If it was I'd say leave it and find another trans on CL that works.

[Surf Charger]

You don't need 3rd gear to roast the tires so go have some fun with it for a few minutes on the shop's parking lot, it'll make the bad feelings go away for a while.  At least this isn't costing you anything.  If it was I'd say leave it and find another trans on CL that works.

Hah. My friend told me to come by anytime to run it up and down the street just to get a feel for it. He feels really bad that its taken so long. He and his close friend have never run into a problem like this before. In fact my friend that is doing all the work has a '69 Plymouth GTX that he's had since he was 13 (he's now 45) and it only has 32,000 miles on it...all numbers matching. So he's very familiar with mopar stuff as well.

Thanks for all of the tips and encouragement. Its just a bummer that its so close but not quite.

this might sound silly, i had a 904 rebuilt and it didnt get third gear either, after a lot of stuffing around we found out the valve body was a 72 model and was in a 68 case , the only difference was a small 1/8 hole in the 72 model valve body which dodnt allow it to change , as far as we could work out??  hope that helps?

I'm going to run this by them. My transmission case is a '72 I believe. Engine is original to the car..but I guess the previous owner swapped the tranny at some point and it was shot. My parts car is a numbers matching '69 RT (wrecked in '79). Its in rough shape...needs to be completely reskinned. I was thinking about pulling the tranny out and having them use it.... but I'm still playing around with the idea of restoring the R/T a little bit at a time so I would prefer not to. 

Have they airchecked it? If the valvebody has been out twice they should have applied air to at least see if the clutch is applying. They may have cut the seal on install. Its not hard to knick it.

They have air checked it if I recall.  

[Cooter]

If one cannot deal with these little set backs, then one should get out of the hobby IMO. Sorry if it sounds harsh, but this is life with a resto/older car. They give you trouble. You will NEVER be able to fully enjoy the car, for about the time you are doing so, BAM! Some crazy text messaging b*tch slams right into the side of it. Be thankful it still sits in the garage at this point.

[Surf Charger]

If one cannot deal with these little set backs, then one should get out of the hobby IMO. Sorry if it sounds harsh, but this is life with a resto/older car. They give you trouble. You will NEVER be able to fully enjoy the car, for about the time you are doing so, BAM! Some crazy text messaging b*tch slams right into the side of it. Be thankful it still sits in the garage at this point.

Didnt say I couldnt deal. Just venting. Trust me....Im used to setbacks. Ive had a '71 Land Rover, '68 Impala, '71 Land Cruiser, '69 Bronco......Ive had my share of setbacks. The Charger was always my love and passion but I didnt have the funds in my younger years. Finally got my dream car....just antsy to drive it....thats all.

[b5blue]

Surf, drive it, then drive it more! It's very important to keep this crappy gas moving in the system. Plus it keeps your mind out of the funk! 

[UH60L]

If one cannot deal with these little set backs, then one should get out of the hobby IMO. Sorry if it sounds harsh, but this is life with a resto/older car. They give you trouble. You will NEVER be able to fully enjoy the car, for about the time you are doing so, BAM! Some crazy text messaging b*tch slams right into the side of it. Be thankful it still sits in the garage at this point.

Didnt say I couldnt deal. Just venting. Trust me....Im used to setbacks. Ive had a '71 Land Rover, '68 Impala, '71 Land Cruiser, '69 Bronco......Ive had my share of setbacks. The Charger was always my love and passion but I didnt have the funds in my younger years. Finally got my dream car....just antsy to drive it....thats all.

I love the original Broncos.  My brother had a Baja edition (72, I think) that came all red white and blue with a black hood and suped up engine from the factory.  I was only about 10 years old when he sold it.  He is 59 years old now, and I think that's the only vehicle I ever saw him speed in (or get a ticket in, hehe).  Wish I had that thing now, probably a collectors item.