69 shifter troubles.
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Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 97
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From: Wellesley Island New York
69 shifter troubles.
The shifter is giving me a lot of trouble. I can find 1st and 2nd pretty easy. I can find reverse just find. Once it is in reverse, I have a lot of trouble getting it back to 1st and 2nd/3rd and 4th. It seems stuck between neutral and reverse. Is there a trick that I am missing, similar to the trick to get it into reverse? I've got it out of reverse/neutral stage before by just wiggling the shifter like crazy until it finally popped out. This is very frustrating, any help would be great.
Mike
Mike
Heel & Toe
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 17
Likes: 0
From: ontario
I just purchased my 69 stingray with manual 4 speed...the car was stored for 1 year plus so I found the shifting linkage under the car needed some spraying and things loosed up a bit....but I am having trouble shifting back into 1-4 from reverse position I find I hear a clunk getting the shifter back into 1 postion but than everything seems fine 2 is a little stubburn ....I going to drop it into a tranny shop hoping it's just a small adjustment...clutch was just done ..Codi
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 7,123
Likes: 433
From: Gladstone MO
C3 of Year Finalist (appearance mods) 2019
Could be wear. The shift levers (in the shifter) are pretty simple. Basically just a bar with a slot. The lever has a tab that fits in that slot to get each gear. with wear the slot in the bar gets longer and the tab on the lever gets smaller. At some point, they can slip past each other.. They have rebuild kits that have enough new parts to repair all of the wear.
Before you get really wild about rebuilding the shifter, check the rod ends/bushings for wear and follow the alignment steps in the manual. I've seen the bushings beat so bad the rods were almost cut in two.
Before you get really wild about rebuilding the shifter, check the rod ends/bushings for wear and follow the alignment steps in the manual. I've seen the bushings beat so bad the rods were almost cut in two.
Safety Car
Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 4,101
Likes: 10
From: NorCal
Pretty common when the arms are out of adjustment. The shifter is a boooger to get to from underneath, but the step-by-step in the manual is good. Mine was a mass of washers, worn ends, bad plastic bushings and nails(!) used as pins. I welded up and then ground down the various worn spots on all the ends, cleaned up the rods and replaced the nails with Hurst style "curly" clips plus wave washers. Added a little lube and it works great.
Every once in a blue moon it'll hang from reverse to first, so I carry a 9/16 wrench so I can reach under and pop the 1-2 arm back in nuetral
. Worked for me.
Hans
Every once in a blue moon it'll hang from reverse to first, so I carry a 9/16 wrench so I can reach under and pop the 1-2 arm back in nuetral
. Worked for me.Hans
