How do you put 4spd cover back on

[1971ford]

I pulled my 4sd's shifter/cover (Shifter tower? the silver part that bolts to the tranny that has the shifter attached. It's the top of the tranny) to pull the cab off the truck last week and I don't know how to put it back on.
I got it on, but it isn't on correctly. You can move the shift lever and it doesn't move like it should. How do you put this thing back on the tranny???
The tranny is in a gear right now, i can't turn the driveshafts... and i can't roll the dang truck. I'll have to pull the driveshaft to be able to roll the chassis because i can't get it in neutral...

[FordTruck]

I ran into that same problem when I pulled the top cover on the NP435 in my highboy. I just looked online for a picture of the trans in neutral and moved the gears inside and the forks on the top cover to match and got it working. It takes awhile but eventually you'll get it.

[1971ford]

hmmm thanks i'll try that. any chance you have that pic handy of the gears in neutral?

[70_F100]

Ryan, the best way is to first remove the shift lever. Leaving it attached will make it more difficult to reposition the top cover.

Assuming you have a NP435, what I have always done is take a large pair of channellock pliers and open them up just enough so the jaws lay on top of the outer edge of the shift lever retainer. Push down on the pliers and retainer, and the jaws should create just enough friction to allow you to turn the retainer counter-clockwise about 1/8-1/4 turn. The retainer, shift lever and spring should then lift right out of the top cover.

Remove the cover from the transmission, and, looking down through the shifter hole, align the slots in each of the "dogs" on the shift rails. That puts the cover in neutral.

Now, to get the transmission into neutral, you may have to jack up the rear wheels or push in the clutch (rear wheel thing is probably easier if you're working alone). This will relieve any residual force on the gears. The sliding clutches (synchronizers) for the forward gears will be large, somewhat thin "rings" in between each of the gear "pairs" (1st & 2nd, 3rd & 4th). These "rings" should be centered between each of the pairs of gears. You may have to use a pair of screwdrivers or pry bars, one on each side of the synchronizer, to shift the synchronizer into neutral. You should easily be able to tell which way each of them needs to slide to get to the neutral position. For reverse, you'll have to look down near the bottom of the transmission at the rear on the left hand side. You'll see a small gear with a groove in it. That's the reverse idler gear. At this point, you should have the forward gears in the neutral position, so if the driveshaft will turn, you won't need to mess with the reverse idler. If the driveshaft won't turn, use a long screwdriver or prybar to reach down to the reverse idler and slide it backwards (IIRC) until it disengages. Once you have everything in neutral, the driveshaft should turn freely, as I'm sure you already know.

With the transmission itself in neutral, and the top cover in neutral, it's as simple as setting the cover back on, aligning the 1-2 and 3-4 shift forks with their respective synchronizers. The synchronizers should align with slots in each of the shift forks. The reverse fork should pretty much be in alignment if you have the others in the right place. You may need to "wiggle" the cover a little bit to get the reverse lever to go in the slot on the reverse idler. Install a couple of bolts finger-tight in the cover and make sure you can still turn the driveshaft. If so, insert the shift lever into the top cover, making sure that the "finger" slides down into the slots in the "dogs" on the shift rail. Reinstall the retainer, once again using the channellock pliers, and test it to make sure it moves side to side properly. If so, install the rest of the bolts in the top cover, and you should be good to go!!

Now, if you've got a T18, it's pretty much the same, except the shift lever retainer just screws off and on, the synchronizers have slots that the forks ride in (vs the slots in the forks), and you will have a lever inside the transmission at the left rear for reverse. The basics of properly installing the cover are the same.

Hope this helps!!

[1971ford]

damn, why didn't i just pull the shifter off in the first place and not the whole cover

Thanks for the tips though, I'm printing that out and will give it a shot

[70_F100]

damn, why didn't i just pull the shifter off in the first place and not the whole cover

Would have been a WHOLE lot quicker and easier...

[1971ford]

I'm going to try it the fordtruck way first and see if it goes in easy and if not i'll do it the 70_f100 way

[FordTruck]

I'm going to try it the fordtruck way first and see if it goes in easy and if not i'll do it the 70_f100 way

[ Image ]

That's the exact same picture I used. The hardest part for me was getting the forks on the cover right cause some how they got moved around amd getting the reverse fork down it there without knocking it into a gear.

[1971ford]

How do i know if i have it on right without driving it?
I got it on in 5 minutes of just aligning the gears and arms and dropping it on... but not sure if its right. I can wiggle it left right through neutral. I can shift to 1, 2, 3, 4 and reverse. It's all there. But A couple gears, the throw isn't very far at all but maybe it was always like that..

[70_F100]

Just crank it up, put it in each gear position and ease the clutch out.

As long as it goes into every gear and back to neutral, you should be good to go.