3rd speed blues

[gjack3xxx]

Hi my 67 3 speed 2wd truck keeps getting stuck in gear or stuck and shifting is not possible. In the past when this happened I was able to get under the hood and move linkage manually so that I could at least get going again.

Now its stuck in 1st gear and I will try to at least get it unstuck again for now. I have read some of the tech article and the repair for this looks like a job.

Looking for advice/suggestions. Is now the time to look for updated column and switch over to power steering ? How difficult is the repair for this ? Based on the article it looks pretty involved to try and fix the shifting mechanism. Is a later model 3sp a better setup or just same deal ?

The other though I had was going to another column and maybe going automatic trans, but not sure I want to tackle this.

Thanks !

[basketcase0302]

=gjack3xxx
Hi my 67 3 speed 2wd truck keeps getting stuck in gear or stuck and shifting is not possible. In the past when this happened I was able to get under the hood and move linkage manually so that I could at least get going again.

Now its stuck in 1st gear and I will try to at least get it unstuck again for now. I have read some of the tech article and the repair for this looks like a job.

Looking for advice/suggestions. Is now the time to look for updated column and switch over to power steering ? How difficult is the repair for this ? Based on the article it looks pretty involved to try and fix the shifting mechanism. Is a later model 3sp a better setup or just same deal ?

The other though I had was going to another column and maybe going automatic trans, but not sure I want to tackle this.

Thanks !

Very first thing to look at is the health of the cab mounts, (especially the DS) as it's a well known cause for shifting issues.
Because the cowl area is left unattended-unmaintained, leaves tend to accumulate in the lower kick panel area rusting it out just like the cab mount areas.
Next area is the steering column that always causes shifter issues, (not to be a pacifist but the PS change is more expensive than repairing what you have when you consider cost of the column/PS box/steering arm/pump/pulleys/belts/etc.
Edit: if you can pull the column and inspect the hard parts shaft linkages etc. and they appear good the rebuild here would def be the route I'd take.

A floor shift 3 speed is def a quick "bandaid fix", (as if the cab mounts are rusted you'll soon start having Z-bar issues with the clutch linkage as well).