Hi all! I was out happily cruising on this beautiful day, took off nicely in first gear, hit second, and went to shift to third when the shifter came up but couldn't hit third. It got all sloppy and flopped between the 1st & 2nd gear positions.

Something messed up, and I was caught in second gear. Thankfully, I was only a few miles from home, and managed to cruise it back. I jacked up the car and found that there must be some pin / clip thing that is missing that holds the rod to the that flat bar on the side of the transmission. All I could do that that point was move those bars and put it in neutral.

Unfortunately, the rod that slipped off it was now jammed down below some switch on the side of the tranny and the exhaust. After messing with it from both the bottom side, and top side by trying to move the shifter around, I finally got it unjammed.

However, now the shifter won't go back up into its original location. It's positioned WAY back towards the rear of the console and doesn't seem to move or engage anything when I try to do something with it. It won't move or lock into 3rd, 4th, or reverse.

I was hoping this would be as simple as finding and replacing the missing pin / clip piece that holds the linkage to the bar, but now I'm not sure what's up with the shifter and have no idea where to go from here. Plus, it looks way tight up under there and I can't really access anything on the bottom of the shifter to even see what might be going on.

Any suggestions on where to start or how to get this fixed would be appreciated. I'm slowly learning my way around the car, and am barely competent enough to be dangerous but not any good.

It's a '69 with a 350 and 4-speed. Thanks!

Allen

 

I have been having the same kind of problems with mine. I adjusted it per the shop manual with the gauge but my shifter is so sloppy its getting hung up.

2 choices, replace it with a Hurst Competition Plus or rebuild/replace the factory one.
I decided to order the rebuild kit from Corvette Central and rebuild my existing one. Fortuneatly for me I have a bolted crossmember so its fairly straight forward for me.

For yours you may have to remove the left pipe to get enough room to work up there...its tight for sure!!

 

You have a bit of a problem there, but everything can be fixed. Messing with the shifter is not for the faint of heart, due only to the limited space you have to work in. I also hesitate before tackling any job that I am not familiar with but once I get into it, everything always seems to fall into place and the job gets done. Then you are an expert.

You should put the car on jack stands, not just the jack. Do you have a copy of the '69 AIM - Assembly Instruction Manual? It will show you how the shifter mounts to the frame and how the linkages attach to the tranny. Those spring clips are readily available. The switch you mentioned is for activating the backup lights. The corvette shifter works very well when clean and properly adjusted. It can be removed and restored on the bench, if required. Zip has instructions with pictures for restoration on their website.

 

You have to work the Muncie shifter puzzle ,its not as difficult as a Rubix cube.
The end of your shifter opposite the **** is out of the "slot". You might have to disconnect the lever that came loose. In the shifter itself move 1-2 lever and 3-4 levers to opposite ends of the shifter,this will expose the neutral gate "slot", now move the shifter end into the slot and move shift lever back to neutral,now move all levers to neutral and reconnect the lever that fell off.

 

Is this as literal as going underneath the car again and trying to position the things on the bottom of the shifter and then manipulating the shifter up top from the passenger compartment? Which way do they need to be?

Once that is done, then all I need is the pin / clip for that rod that fell off the flat bar on the transmission?

I'm a bit discouraged at the moment. I don't know why that linkage fell off, and just want to get it going again. But the shifter being way low and not in the right position concerns me.

 

It is possible that one of the two bolts holding the shifter to the mounting bracket, or those holding the mounting bracket to the frame, have come loose...especially if Bubba the mechanic was in there before you.

Your 41 year old car needs a full-time mechanic. If you don't feel like getting your hands dirty, then you are going to have to pay somebody else to do it for you. It is that simple.

 

Yes , if what has happened is what I think has happened.
Its difficult to explain without pics of the inside of the shifter. I did some searching on the internet and can't seem to find any pics I can use to help.
Lets try this. In the shifter are 3 levers,each lever has a neutral SLOT that a POST slides back and forth inside of when the shifter is in neutral.
The POST is supposed to stay in this SLOT and this SLOT moves back and forth (with the lever)depending on the gear you are in.
In your case I believe the POST has slipped out of this SLOT and is forward of all the levers. When all the linkage is in place (and the shifter is tight) its impossible for the POST to come out of the SLOT , but if one piece of the linkage falls off the levers can go further than intended and the POST simply comes out of the SLOT. No damage , no bending , everything is fine but just needs put back into the correct positions.

I guess I should make a video.

 

Thanks for the additional tips. It makes sense. When that pin / clip thing disappeared, the shifter definately moved more than it should have - with my help as I was trying to figure out what the heck happened.

I guess I need the combination (position)of where the sliding levers need to be and how to work the shifter back in to place. And figure out how to be under and above the car at the same time!

 

Actually you should be able to (for instance) move the 3-4 forward and the 1-2 backwards , then get in the car and move the lever up very slightly and to the right and the post should fall into the slot picking up the 3-4 , then move the shift lever forward to neutral, get under the car and move the 1-2 to neutral , the post should be captured in the neutral slot. Then put your piece of linkage that fell off back in place, put a cotter pin through the hole to hold it and find or order the proper clip and install when you get it.

 

I will tell you this happens to me on occasion while reinstalling a shifter ( makes me cuss to ) if I'm not careful. If you ever have your shifter completely out you will understand 100% in about 2 seconds.

 

It sure doesn't look that easy to remove due to lack of space to work.


So, to start with, I should disconnect the linkage to the 3-4 tab on the tranny and then try to find the magic combination (position) to get the shifter back where it needs to be?

Sorry for the basic questions. I'm just trying to get this figured out. Thanks!

 

Removing the 1-2 and 3-4 levers from the transmission shafts (unbolt them) will allow you to make sure the tranny is in neutral. You can use a wrench on the shaft stubs to shift the tranny 1-N-2 and 3-N-4. I assume you are not in reverse. If somebody can move the shifter in the car for you, then you can move the disconnected shift rods underneath back and forth until the shifter slides back and forth (sideways) thru the neutral gate. I suggest you attach that disconnected rod to the lever with a new clip before attaching the lever to the tranny shaft. Like Roger said, if you could get the shifter out of the car you would understand in a minute how simply it works. You should not have to adjust the shifter rods and hopefully your backup light switch is not damaged or disconnected. I will look thru my photos and see if I can find a few of my disassembled shifter.

 

Here are some pictures of the disassembled shifter. Notice the square tip on the end of the chrome shift handle, then notice the square notches that it slides thru on the three internal pieces as well as the spring spacer.

 

Roger and Faster Rat,
Thank you for your help so far!

The pictures explain what Roger was saying - possibly that end of the shifter handle is out of the notches, which is why it's laid so far back now and won't get into position. Now I just have to figure out the magic combination to get it re-aligned up where it has to be first. And then hook up the shift rods to the transmission again.

At some point during when I was moving / yanking the shifter around, the loose rod ripped a wire off that back-up switch. Looks like an easy fix.

 

I feel better. Based on the help above, the shifter seems to be engaged in all the correct slots or gates now.

It looks like I just need that pin / clip setup. Is it something like a local NAPA or decent auto parts store should carry?

It's for the 1-2 shift rod that has a slotted end that slides over the flat flat on the transmission.

Also, those flat plates have TWO holes. Is each one for changing the 'throw' of the shifter - short throw and long throw?

 

Yes the holes are for changing from normal shift to short shift. I've bought the clips at Advanced before , never tried NAPA but they should have them.

Glad you got the shifter straightened out.

 

I'm gonna opt for the 'short throw' position. I just had the clutch changed out, and when I got it back, the shifter seemed different than it was before and was hitting on the console plate. I'm thinking it used to be in the short-throw holes previously.

I moved the 3-4 gear rod to the short throw spot. Now I just need the pin and clip for the other, and hopefully will be cruising again. I'll see what auto parts stores are open on Labor Day.

 

Nothing better than a story with a happy ending.

 

Hijack!

'73, M20

If my stock Muncie shifter is set up properly (centered and works fine) can I simply move the rods to the sort throw holes without re-centering... or do I need to play around in one of the tightest areas known to man and re-center the shifter before moving the rods to the short throw holes?

Either my legs are too long or my right arm is too short...It's always a bit of a stretch to get 1'st and 3'rd.

Thanks
Bob.

 

Hi Bob,
Some have said you can simply switch to the other holes without realigning the shifter. I always count on relaigning so I haven't tried just changing to the other holes.
I would suggest to just try it,it will only take a few min to switch, Then just try the shifter while sitting in the garage , if the neutral gate is not smooth from right to left then you will either have to realign using the special tool or just switch the arms back to long throw.
Roger
ps , thanks for the help with the antenna