On Thu, 5 Jan 95 04:10:39 CST I said:

> >This morning, at about 15 deg F, the '78 bus started sluggishly but, and
> >here's the thing, I couldn't get it into reverse.  The pattern is, as you
> >know, down-left for reverse and I could not do the "down" portion.  Well,
> >actually, I eventually did but at great effort.  Really, it was the down that
> >I could not do.  Once rolling, shifting was a little sluggish, but I am sad
> >to report that a 20 min drive did not change anything with respect to the
> >no-reverse problem.
> >
> >Might cold to contemplate lying in the street doing major work, but what is
> >the diagnostic reading on this?

And Joel Walker, kind soul, wrote back:

> the only thing that affects the down pushing on that thing is the big spring
> ... and how the heck the cold could affect that, i can't see. maybe somebody
> greased everything with the wrong grease and the grease just froze?? i've
> heard of that happening once on another car. is it possible that the little
> screws on the plate at the bottom of the shifter have come loose, and the
> plate is wandering around a little? this can really mess up the shifting.
> 
> if it is the grease freezing, be careful using solvent/gasoline to clean it
> up in this cold: gasoline can really hurt your skin when it/you are cold.

I am puzzled but pleased to report that since
that first message, we've had a spell of warm
and now it is again cold.  And what happened?
As soon as it warmed up, the problem went away.
Now that it is cold again, there is no problem.
In short, a transient.  For the life of me, I
can't see where I had water to freeze and cause
this, but I've got no other hypothesis.

Probably the last you'll collectively hear, but
if something else happens / is found, I'll be
back in touch.

--dan
'78 bus