My 1973 corvette is fighting me every once in a while getting out of reverse. It always seems to go into reverse fine, but every 3 or 4 times coming out of reverse it jams up and the shifter won't move or the transmission locks up and won't move (jammed between forward and reverse I presume).

I tried just lubing the linkage thinking it was gummed up, but it doesn't seem to have helped. Is this in need of a shifter rebuild, or a simple adjustment?

 

Is this in need of a shifter rebuild, or a simple adjustment?

Could be either one, depends on the mileage and type of driving the car has seen. I think Mid-America has a rebuild kit for the OEM shifters.
Have you checked to make sure the shift levers are not loose on the trans?
Terry

 

Everything seems tight....I guess i just need to do some research, try and adjust, and if that doesn't work get a rebuild kit.

 

make sure your shifter is adjusted where neutral is right in the middle. mine had similar issues until i went in with the shifter allignment tool. it should not go into any gear unless it is in neutral in the first place. you are not getting it into neutral completely when you jam it into reverse, resulting in getting stuck into 2 gears. it does take some small fingers and pretzel paws to get up in there.. especially with exhaust in the way.

see the chassis service manual for the procedure

 

Thanks for the responses. I'll give that a try before i purchase anything.

 

My 73 did the same thing, I rebuilt and adjusted the shifter, like driving a new car again. The old pins and shims were just plain worn out and full of Rust & crud

 

i have somewhat the same problem.
when the transmission cold, all gears work fine.
but when hot i have trouble putting in reverse gear. the other gears are ok.
what do you think? linkage? clutch freeplay adjust?
thanks

 

Being it seems temperature related almost makes me think there could be issues in the transmission or clutch I'm not too sure though. Do you have plenty of free-play in the clutch hot and cold?

The issue I have doesn' seem to change with temperature, and mine has no problem going into reverse, just out of reverse. I'm going to rebuild my shifter --- our local corvette expert says that is what he recommends and this forum seems to back it up....can't hurt on a 38 year old car with 115,000 miles!

If you don't get any response maybe you should start a new thread detailing your issue. Good luck!