Hi Everyone,
I bought an 88 samurai had the engine rebuilt runs fine. But I am having problems with the trans, it will shift fine and then it seems like it start to get it in gear. Then it will not go into gear like the clutch is gone ( had brand new one put in with the engine work) . The only way that it will go into gear is to put the transfer case in neutral then back to 2h grinding all the way. Other times transfer case work smooth as glass Help  :'(

My guess is you need a sloppy shifter fix. Don't wipe out your transfer case fighting your transmission. Then you'll really be sorry!

-Adam

Hey there,
Have you tried adusting the clutch cable/pedal freeplay to make sure the clutch is disengaging from the engine fully? The cables do stretch/come out of adjustment over time, especially if you got a new one when you did the clutch/rebuilt the engine. I've had an '88 Samurai and a '90 Tracker that would both start doing that same thing when the clutch was coming out of adjustment. They would both get to that "borderline" area where sometimes it would shift fine, other times it would grind/not go into gear. My Tracker nearly stranded me in a mall paking lot one day when it came so far out that I couldn't get it into gear at all without turning off the engine. Luckily, I had my tool set in the truck, adjusted it right there in the parking lot, and was on my way again.

Thanks for the advise, adjusting the clutch how much play should have in the pedel ?

The clutch pedal should sit roughly even in height with the brake pedal and have about 1" of freeplay. Pedal height is adjusted under the dash with a adjusting bolt/locknut(hard to see on a Samurai, right above/between clutch/brake pedals) and freeplay is adjusted where the cable connects to the clutch arm on the transmission with a spring-loaded adjuster nut(on Samurais only. Trackers adjust where the cable attaches at the transmission housing with 2 locknuts/threaded cable housing).
Hope that helps!