69 with Muncie 4 speed, won’t go into reverse. Tightened shifter bolts under consol. Tried to crawl under car to adjust linkage but seems impossible. Videos on line all show it done with tranny on a bench. Thoughts? Possible on a lift?

 

There are others better versed im sure but can share my experience.

Is it the shifter not going into reverse or the transmission?
I recently went through similar issues, my shifter had developed allot of wear between shifter levers... I was going to rebuild the shifter with a repair kit but found a rebuilt original shifter local with a kit recently installed.

I removed the shifter and linkage from the car, installed the new shifter and re-adjusted the linkage, I have side exhaust so a little easier in the tight area, I did remove exhaust bracket with trans mount for more room to adjust.

I made my own shifter guage to lock the shifter in neutral and set linkage to transmission neutral (1/2 lever and 3/4 lever straight up and reverse lever all the way forward)
shifts much easier now... big difference for me.

you can get under the car and physically set the trans to neutral and check all bolts and connections for tightness, check transmission linkage connections and shifter to bracket bolts for tightness, I would also look at the shifter pivot pin and G clips, perhaps you have something loose with an easy tighten to fix or maybe you will need to re-adjust linkage to neutral... I did that but still had some shifting issues after driving a bit.

After all was done I still had stiffness going into reverse... I discovered my reverse key release cable was binding severley, I disconnected and removed it and shifts into reverse very easy now, I just received the new cable and will install next time its up in the air.

I hope this helps a little

 

Think I can fix without lift? I jacked the car up and it’s small and tight under there to get to linkage

 

Whatever you do, make sure you have the car fully supported on jackstands and/or have taken other measures to be sure you don’t get pinned under the car. Safety first!!!

 

I did all mine on jack stands, for the small effort if you do have to adjust linakage its worth supporting the trans and removing the trans mount and exhaust bracket.

 

You definitely need some kind of lift to get under the car you probably just have some worn bushings or came loose from the trans all together

 

There are no bushings in the shifter and linkage system... unless its been converted to Hurst.

OP you say you can't get the car into reverse... is it the shifter not physically shifting into reverse or can you shift into reverse at the shifter but the trans doesn't go into reverse gear?

 

Just for clarification,

Is this a new condition and it suddenly stopped going into reverse. Or is the car new to you and it never has gone into reverse since you got it?

Are you pulling up on the T- handle?

Asuming that it does need a linkage adjustment, you really have to do it from under the car. You can, and I have made the adjustment by feel, but there is a tool that you can make at home to do a proper adjustment. It slots into a groove on the shifter when all the plates are in neutral to allow you to adjust all three of the linkage rods. It is a total Pia to get it into place unless you know exactly where it's going. Personally, I was never able to figure out where it was supposed to go until I decided to rebuild the shifter and had it sitting on the bench. At that point it's quite obvious how it works. It is still challenging to get it into place. It helps to move the exhaust out of the way if possible.

 

I put my 69 up on wheel cribs and had enough room to work under there but its tight. A Quckjack 5000TL makes that a breeze now with more than enough room.

Unscrew the shifter ball, pull the spring and see if the reverse lockout rod slides up & out easily.

Been a few years but IIRC there are three levers sticking out of the driver side of the Muncie that the rods attach to; the front is for 3rd/4th and the middle 1st/2nd. Those have three definite positions, the middle/vertical being neutral. The rearmost is a two position lever for reverse/neutral. I'd first check to see that 1/2 and 3/4 really are in neutral then I'd see if I can move the reverse lever manually - disconnect the linkage rod if need be.

Don't use cotter pins - for whatever reason when using them I was having fits trying to adjust the linkage and it wanted to move into two gears at once locking the thing up. Use these G-clips that actually belong on there and it might save you some of the grief I had: GM Muncie Hurst Manual Four 4 Speed Transmission Shifter Rod Spring Clips

Also, why you are at it why not set the shifter up for short throw? The shift levers on the tranny have two holes in them to attach the linkage and the difference between them is night & day - from old farm truck to what a 'vette should be IMO. It doesn't take much adjustment to make a difference. Lower holes are for short throw.

If you determine it's the shifter, maybe the reverse lockout rod is jacked up somehow, it really isn't that hard to remove the entire shifter. I cleaned, lubed and squared mine up in a vice and set it up for short throw and it's really slick and dependable now. You can make the neutral lockout tool yourself out of an old feeler gauge or the like.

 

Before you get too far into this unscrew the shifter ball and see if the spring is sitting on top of the T-Handle. Sometimes people take it apart and put the spring in first and then the T-handle and then it doesn't work correctly. If that happened, you have to fish the spring out and it tends to fall to the bottom of the handle. A wire with a small hook on the end can help to get it out.
When you unscrew the ball, it should look like this.

 

Remove the ‘T” Handle and look at the end, where the round shaft is matted to a piece of pot metal. I had trouble getting into reverse on my 73, and it was the pot metal on the end of the shaft. I fixed, tightened the pot metal part and then ordered a new shaft, it was maybe $ 15.

 

I think I get the car on 4 jack stands, pull the tranny cross member to get at the linkage to adjust. Seems like a lot.

 

69 4 speed has a fixed trans cross member and can`t be removed, only auto trans cross member can be removed .
Steven

 

You should try to determine where the problem is... shifter, linkage, transmission, reverse key lock cable?
still dont know if you simply can't shift into reverse or will it shift into reverse but the trans doesn't get into reverse... will it go in forward gears no problem? Did this just happened one day or any history?
you may have to remove part of your exhaust, support the trans and remove trans mount and exhaust bracket to get the room you need if adjusting is what's needed.
as said if you just disconnect the reverse linkage rod and you can manually shift into reverse by the lever the issues is in the shifter.

 

That's not how it's done.
Crossmember if original does not come out and linkage adjustment has to be done with everything in place.
You need to get the car on a lift or high jack stands.

 

It’s definitely the linkage not going into reverse. The bolts from the shifter to linkage were really loose. T handle moves smoothly. Tried to raise the car enough but damn, it’s too tight. May have to trust a shop

 

Search recent 4 speed transmission thread. I post the procedure all the time.