1963 Transmission / Brake Issues & Update

Hi Bill,
I have rebuilt my engine and it runs beautifully. I have also rebuilt the brakes on my car. However, when I shift the gears my car don’t move. I have tried the following things thus far.
-Warming the engine and checking the transmission fluid levels
– Dextran and F type fluid
-used 8 quarts of new transmission fluid
– cleaning the transmission filter
-changing the bushing on the shift shafts
-replaced a leaking seal around the dip stick
Here is a thought and it is not good one. My last mechanic wanted me to rebuild the transmission. I declined and decided not to because the car was moving at the time but I did not have the brakes fixed yet. I hope he didn’t sabotage the car to make me want to rebuild the transmission.
There are no visible leaks. What would you recommend. Please feel free to call me if you have time. Many of my parts were missing when I bought this car and you all have been a huge help to me.
Sincerely,
Almost there…
David
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Hi David –
That sure is not fun! You don’t advise us if the issue appeared immediately after the brake repair, the engine overhaul or the transmission service or if only after all three were completed, so It appears that you will need to first make some checks related to all of the work that was recently performed. Assuming that the dipstick and tube are correct for the transmission and that the transmission then has the correct amount of ATF installed for it to operate I would carefully inspect the manual linkage from the transmission to the shift lever. I am thinking of possible internal transmission Shift Shaft or Shift Valve problems at this point. If all that is correct and the levers are selecting the shift ranges correctly and positively you should then shift into neutral (engine off for safety) and with the help of an assistant with the parking brake off try to push the vehicle by hand forward or reverse. If the car rolls freely then I would assume that the brakes are released and that the problem must be inside the transmission. If it cannot roll however then you will need to find out why the brakes are locked. If this transmission was performing properly before these repairs and maintenance procedures, something must have been done incorrectly or omitted. Any further ideas from Lincoln Land without further diagnosis and information on your part and may only serve to confuse you at this point. You may even need to consult your local transmission expert. If you do find some further useful information please call our office and George will ask one of our technicians to speak with you. In any case please let us know what you find.
Sincerely,
Bill
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Hi Bill,
Thanks for getting back to me. I had the engine rebuilt and installed. It was moving fine but I had no brakes at the time. I then took the car home for a while. Letter I noticed the engine would struggle to start. I took the car to a different mechanic this time. He insisted the engine needed to come out a be put in again. So he did that and the car starts right up now. Still the car had no brakes and the transmission dip stick was now leaking and need a new seal. I had him fix this. At that time the car would still move since I had no brakes I could not really test the cars performance.
I had the brakes totally overhauled. They work properly now.
The problem I am having is when I move the shift from Park to Reverse to Neutral to Drive and to D1 nothing happens. It feels like the shift glides right over by he gears.
The car do roll in Neutral as you suggested and it holds in place when it is in park. Also the car only starts in Park and Neutral as it should.
I replaced the shift bushing and movement of the shift appears to be fine.
My thought was the shift linkage needed to be adjusted but I am told the steering column might be the issue or there might be a shift gear box. At this point I am lost. Perhaps I will take the car to a transmission place next. I love the old car so much. I really want it to run properly. It will be a joy to own when it is.
Best wishes,
David
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Hi David –
Taking the car to a GOOD transmission shop at this time is a good decision. It should be diagnosed by a competent on scene transmission expert. I am sure that you understand that we at Lincoln Land can only make suggestions based on your information submitted but we cannot do the actual diagnosis from here.
Your comment that the mechanic corrected the hard starting issue by removing and reinstalling the engine is interesting.
Please let us know the results of your transmission diagnosis and please tell your transmission technician that we have the parts available for the shifting mechanism as well as the internal transmission parts.
Sincerely,
Bill