babbah

On occasion (for the past 43 years!) my 67 Vette's Muncie 4 speed shift linkage binds and gets stuck in first gear. The shifter itself will move somewhat but I can't finesse it back to neutral to reposition the 1/2 sift lever back to neutral. It jambs and remains that way until you get under the car to push the 1/2 gear shift lever forward back from 1st to neutral,

So you have to jack up the drivers side of the car, crawl under and reach the 1st-2nd gear lever that is stuck in the first gear position and push it forward to the straight up (neutral) position.

Someone has to press in the clutch in as well to release the engagement of 1st gear at the same time.When the lever is placed back, the shifter is fine again, until the next time. It is a royal PITA and quite embarrassing as well. I have had enough of this!

This only happens when I'm parked or parking, when I'm driving it at speed thru the gears all is well, it never jambs. I have the linkage on the short throws which I like, but now I'm thinking about moving the shifter rods back to the factory "Long Throw" position to see if this alleviates this 4 decade old problem.

The shifter when its not binded shifts well and the is no slop and its smooth. On the short throws it does take more arm effort but it is "crisp".

Can anyone tell me if I put the linkage back to Long Throws will this binding issue be resolved? Also how much further are the throws in the shift linkage long throw position? Its been to long for me to remember.

I don't want to have to call the Auto club again to lift my car so that I can get under it to release the first gear shift lever.

Has anyone had this issue on short throws or long throws and what did you do to resolve it? HELP!!! Thank You All!

wombvette

The shifter has some wear and if you slide it to the inside when going from reverse to forward, the shift ball will slip through the gate and lock up. It just needs a little tightening up. This is a very common problem, but not serious. It will never happen if you pull straight down out of reverse and straight across the gate.

babbah

Can anyone tell me if I put the linkage back to Long Throws will this binding issue be resolved? Also how much further are the throws in the shift linkage long throw position? Its been to long for me to remember.

JohnZ

No, it won't. The issue is excessive lateral slop due to wear between the surfaces of the lower shifter levers and the housing, which can be cured with a rebuild kit than contains two different thicknesses of interlock levers (Volunteer Vette has the kits). In the meantime, pull the shift lever straight rearward, then laterally across the gate when coming out of reverse as Wayne noted above, and it won't hang up.

You have a PM.

Brian Edgeworth

New to the forum. I have this issue but it happened while I was driving. I was in 2nd and when I went to shift to 3rd, the shifter came to the mid region (like it was in N) and would not move anywhere else. Car was still in 2nd and would not shift anywhere else, not even N. Drove it home and took off the covers from the top but do not see the issue. But there is two hex heads that look like they could be hitting each other but since I cannot move the gear shifter around, I cannot tell if they meant to be like that.
1963 with the 340hp engine and the 4 speed (I assume that means Muncie). I did not understand what it meant by going under the car to move it by hand.