I would try a few other things before digging in to replace synchronizers. I am neck deep in rebuilding a Ford T18 4-speed right now that I got out of the pick-n-pull. Sitting on the floor it was hard to shift. One of the reasons is that all the grease in the top of the transmission was all dried and causing the synchronizers to stick.

I would see if you can get it into 2nd with the motor off. Push in the clutch and start the engine. Then try to exercise it in and out of 2nd to see if it will loosen up a bit.

Congrats on getting it running around the neighborhood. That is a big step.

Regarding the brakes. Sounds like you need to bleed them….. better.

Have you drained & refilled the transmission fluid(probably gear oil)? This could be an opportunity to flush the transmission with diesel if the oil is really nasty(like chunks of stuff in it).

will.mcg said:

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Regarding the brakes. Sounds like you need to bleed them….. better.

Have you drained & refilled the transmission fluid(probably gear oil)? This could be an opportunity to flush the transmission with diesel if the oil is really nasty(like chunks of stuff in it).

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My money is on this. He replaced practically every brake line on the truck and the master cylinder. That would be where I would look. The approach on that is bleed the wheel closest to master cylinder first and work your way to the wheel farthest from the MC last. Also, make sure you bench bleed all the air from the MC. (This is a good activity for fathers and kids or husbands and wives. Or get your cool dad involved)

Then look at adjust the brake shoes. Based on posts above, then probably need adjusting too.

Well that explains one thing! I thought I was supposed to bleed the brakes starting at the wheel farthest away from the master cylinder. So I did it backwards. I'll try again the right way.

I did a bench bleed before I installed the new master cylinder.

I adjusted the shoes to the point where I could feel some slight resistance when spinning them by hand. And then I had my dad press on the brake pedal and made sure that it completely stopped the rear and offered more resistance on the front (although it did not completely stop them.)

Farthest first is probably a better way.

I don't have power brakes on my '70 and they feel pretty tight when everything is done right. Granted you need to press on the pedal like you mean it but it doesn't have a ton of travel to it.

Power bleeders were a great invention

I'm not sure you can use a power bleeder on one of these because to add brake fluid you move a spring clip off the top of the brake cylinder and the entire thing is exposed. There is no reservoir that you can attach the power bleeder to.

They sell adapters

You get anything done this weekend?

Piggybacking with my '70 F-100 but I brought her back indoors for the first time in 3 years. The wood was moved out of the way first, of course.

The goal is to pull the gas tank and dump the gas inside which is several years old in the hope that it'll make it easier to get it to run right. It ran last year but was difficult to get it to idle even after rebuilding the carb.

Otherwise this truck needs an oil change pretty bad.

will.mcg said:

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You get anything done this weekend?

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I got a lot done, but not on the truck. My preoccupation with this truck has put me behind on a few projects around the house, so I'm going to be primarily working on those for a few weekends before jumping back in.

The Fife said:

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Piggybacking with my '70 F-100 but I brought her back indoors for the first time in 3 years. The wood was moved out of the way first, of course.

The goal is to pull the gas tank and dump the gas inside which is several years old in the hope that it'll make it easier to get it to run right. It ran last year but was difficult to get it to idle even after rebuilding the carb.

Otherwise this truck needs an oil change pretty bad.

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Nice truck! Good luck!