Place a 812 in neutral with no engine start?

It is so perfect a location I was convinced it was stock. Mine is slightly rectangle looking like something from the factory cut. The oval emblems I have seen other than the two piece L29 medals have the mounting screw mounted at the top as if gravity will pull them closed. I also recall a mention that were added in 1937 as we were not the first owners getting stuck in gear.

Balinwire - that is only on covers that have been modified. Putting that hole in there was an idea that was spread around back in the 1960's.

Behind the oval drive cover emblem is a large shaft access hole. By moving the emblem over you can get a coat hanger in and pull the rod to the neutral position.

Appreciate all the responses. We did not want to ride the clutch for a mile. We also were aware that engine start was required, however we do not start vehicles that have been sitting this long. As with all things in life, there are multiple ways to skin the issue, and for the record we do own many ACD materials. With over 54 cars, it's more or less me just having really bad memory and free-associating solutions from other models for no apparent reason. Thank you for solving our brain-fog.

From our mechanic:
"I did not want to pull the front bumper or that front nose, so I stuck my hand back in there underneath the front nose piece and pulled (probably) 5-6" on the plunger rod that goes into the front of the vacuum canister. Then I slid the shifter mechanism over to one side and hit neutral (you'll know when you hit it). All in all, about 30 seconds once we stepped back and used our noggins."



Thank you again for the advice.

It only takes a few minutes to remove the front bumper bar assembly which has two bolts holding it. Then the gearbox sheet metal cover can be removed . There are two bolts at the top and two bolts or screws with nuts at the bottom.
Check out the You Tube film showing 810 Cord gear changes.

The main vacuum cylinder sits on top of the gearbox and connects with the gear lever. All you then have to do is pull the lever on the cross shaft into the neutral position by hand.
When the film starts the gear lever is in the neutral position.

I’ve never tried it but you might be able to disconnect the the two rubber hoses from the shift soilnoid and depending which gear the Cord is in now, by using a air compressor air hose nozzle, blow air into the main shift cylinder to move the lever either forward or backwards. However as George suggested, the easiest way is to depress the clutch pedal. Depress the clutch pedal to the floor and cut a piece of wood long enough to keep clutch depress on one end with the opposite end of wood catching the lower lip of the dash.

The engine creates the vacuum needed for the trans to shift. You must start the engine. Have it running before any vacuum in made.


Gary Parsons.

Manually engaged the vacuum pump. I’ll speak with the mechanic tomorrow for a more formal explanation. Thanks for the ideas everyone.






imgur.com/a/jddI9RH

As already posted. Push in the clutch or drop the front bumper and remove the transmission sheet metal cover between the fenders. No amount of moving the steering column "shifter" will do anything. To make that work you need vacuum, engine running and press down on the clutch to initiate the shift. The clutch linkage has a switch connected to it that allows the shift to happen. You can place the shift lever in any position but it wont make a shift till the clutch is pressed down to the floor. There are 10 wires in the shift harness that sends electrical messages to 10 different items at mostly different times. It can be very complicated at times. Our club sells a very good booklet specifically about the transmission rebuilding and shifting. Its $10.00 and worth every penny of that.


Gary Parsons

George. That’s a much better idea....

how about pushing the clutch in

Sounds like you’ll have to drop the front bumper and then remove transmission cover and manually move the transmission shift lever into neutral.

Good afternoon,

We are attempting to push a 812 from our museum and have come to a stump. Is there a way to place the car in neutral without using the engine? There is 6V power in accessory, however the box does not appear to be responding to input. My brief understanding and hasty research leads us to believe that vacuum power is required. The vehicle hasn't been running for about a year, so we would prefer to push it rather than dry starting it here.

Beautiful car, feel ashamed to be so naive about this..any insight would be most appreciative.