Stock shifter on my 72. Car has 60M miles , car is very original and I don't believe its ever been adjusted. it shifts fine but is notchy compared to Hurst shifters I've had on other Muncie's. I thought it might need adjusting. Have the car up on stands and looking underneath it looks like it would be impossible to get the adjustment gauge anywhere near where it needs to go. Its very tight with the exhaust pipes and the shifter is directly above the trans cross member. Am I missing something? I've worked in tight places (ie. long tube headers and a Procharger with twin intercoolers on an LT1 Firebird) but this looks challenging to say the very least. Any help will be appreciated. Thanks!

 

Two ways I've done it and yes, it's a tough fit. The FSM calls out for a gauge that is 0.644 inch wide, made of sheet metal that you can either bend 90 degrees, like an "L" that's at least 4-5" on the vertical and maybe an inch max on the horizontal. Funny, how it shows it going from the side, with the only way of getting in to it is from the top, yet the only way you can get to the shift levers, to adjust them, is from the bottom! The other way, is by 'feel' and that takes awhile (lost my homemade 0.644 "L").

 

That makes sense. Wish me luck.
BTW, can the shift plate on the console be removed to insert the gauge from the top?

 

OK, I checked the FSM and this how you do it. First, you put the transmission in Neutral and remove the shifter boot. The instructions call for loosening all the rods, so they pass freely through the swivels, with the shifter free, you can then insert the 0.644 feeler gauge, from the top, all the way, though each gate from Reverse, thru 1-2 and then 3-4. You then adjust nuts on the rods, via the swivels and about the 'mid point' of the rattle of each lever as it sits against the neutral position of the rotary tab on the trans. Reverse first, then 1-2, then 3-4.

 

That's how you're going to have to do it.

 

Here's the tool I designed, but in retrospect, I would've made it a lot longer out of a single piece and bend that into the abbreviated "L". But I already cut it out to 0.644 and I wasn't going to do it again!

 

Awesome. That looks do- able. Thanks loads

 

Just sharing a mod, that I did (not that my patina'd '74 is worth that much, so why not?). If you're Bloomington Gold, or have a car, that a judge will look underneath it, but I doubt anyone will even know it's there, even them. But it sure makes life, very easy when adjusting the shift rods on these cars. Should've come from the factory that way, IMHO. Easy to get to, just by pulling down the carpet by the gas pedal.

I cut out a 12" x 4" hole in the fiberglass transmission trouble starting 3" back from the accelerator pedal. I then cut a 13" x 5" aluminum panel from sheet metal. Next, I shaped it over a sand bag. I had to notch it at the top, to match the contour and then bend that area back (see picture). Next put 5-6 clip nuts over the fiberglass around the edge of the hole. Then center the panel over it, tape it tightly and then go underneath the car and using a scribe, push the scribe through each nut hole on the bottom of each clip and scratch well, the underside of the custom panel. Remove the panel, make a punch mark in the center of each scribed hole and drill out, so that screws can go through and hold the panel in place. Attach and push carpet back up.

In retrospect, I would've made the hole 3" longer to the rear or parallel to where the shifter hole starts. PS: 13x13 should read 13x5 (doh!).