How to tell if First gear teeth are Damaged?

[Chevyguy]

Originally Posted by MEDIK418

I've rebuilt three of these things and what you're describing was typical of all three of the ones I did. The problem with them was two-fold though. There was enough wear in the bearings that the entire mainshaft would move back and forth when tryint to shift the thing. This caused the driver to push the shifter a little harder to keep it in gear. This I presume wore out or broke the shift forks and pads. All the pushing after a while was wasted effort since most of the effort went into moving the mainshaft back and forth. It would have to be a really strange deal to strip the teeth out of the inside of the slider. I'm not saying it can't happen but as good as the blocker ring and engagement dogs look that you can see, I can't see the slider being much worse. If it were mine, I'd overhaul it while it's out. Then again, if there's no end play in the main shaft, maybe a close inspection and repair of the forks might work. If it were me, it would get a new kit before my tired old body crawled under the thing again.

Thanks for the reply, the mainshaft seems pretty tight, but I will double check for any play. I would not have guessed something like you described would happen.