First drive report

[John Helgesen]

Today was the big day. Not since 1972 was my 356b on the public roads, but today we changed all that. Early this morning I torqued the lug nuts on the new tires, checked the oil, put a tool kit in the trunk and connected the battery. We made a short drive up the block to check it all out, then headed out of the subdivision. First stop was the gas station to put a few more gallons of fuel, then I took the wife a few more blocks up the road for coffee. In total we put about 20 miles on the car.

Brakes were good, acceleration was good, tracked straight.

My one concern is the transmission. We get a growl at speed, 3rd gear and up. At fisrt I thought it was a wheel bearing in the front, but I tracked it down to the shifter and the tunnel. Any suggestions on tracking this noise down?

Thanks,

[Thomas Sottile]

I would look at the shifting bushings I am sure they need replacing, front and at the transmission. Tom

[John Helgesen]

I've already replaced all the shifter bushings, front and rear. Made another drive this morning and noticed the noise when the tranny is engaged, plus it is quieter while not accelerating.

[Thomas Sottile]

Try running it for a while maybe 200 miles or so, see if the noise lessens, lets hope it needs some meshing in. Tom

[Bill Simmeth]

Congratulations on the first drive! Hope the tranny just needs settling in as suggested.

[John Helgesen]

One other thing on the tranny, I've got valvoline 80/90 gear oil in it right now. Wanted to put a few miles on it then switch it out to swepco 201. Might that quiet it down?

[Ron LaDow]

John,

"My one concern is the transmission. We get a growl at speed, 3rd
gear and up. At fisrt I thought it was a wheel bearing in the
front, but I tracked it down to the shifter and the tunnel. Any
suggestions on tracking this noise down?
Thanks,
John Helgesen"

If it's not in the trans, and only in 3rd-4th, you've probably got metal-to-metal contact between the shift linkage and the tunnel. First, just try loosening the shift 'tower' and move it as you can one way or the other. It'll only move a very small amount, but that's all it takes. Try the opposite. Finally, you can loosen the front of the coupling and adjust the top of the stick just a hair to the left.
Thanks,
Ron LaDow

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[John Helgesen]

Made a small adjustment to the shifter location before we went out , made a huge difference in the noise. Found if I pushed the shifter knob to one side or the other, the noise changed, so I'll continue tweaking till I get it the most quiet. Maybe I need to adjust the reverse lockout location too, since I had to remove it to change the bushings.