Hi,
I bought an low mileage 85 Corvette in the fall of 86 as a toy to play around with. Well some issues had to be addressed in the 90s so the car was kept in storage in the fall of 2000 until this year.

Changed the fluids and have driven about a thousand miles and got the bug to change things again.

I bought the $20 short throw kit. Of course the instructions say the linkage may need to be adjusted - Don't know why they can't tell the truth and say MUST be adjusted.

Problem one How does the shift **** come off? I am used to that other auto maker where they just screw on and off. didn't want to damage the ****.

2nd issue. I loosened all the linkage and put in an alignment pin in the shifter and made the adjustments according to the manual. So far so good. Now if you put it in reverse it sticks and you can not move it to neutral. I watched the linkage while shifting and some reason when you go into reverse it moves the 1/2 rod a little - enough to cause a bind. If I move the 1/2 rod a hair back everything works until I try reverse again. Car on lift not running. I sprayed a little wd-40 and it seemed to help

If I hold the 1/2 rod by hand while shifting into reverse everything shifts fine.

Is there any type of adjustment or cleaning procedure for the factory shifter?
Joemc

 

To remove the shift ****...

Pry the shift pattern off the top of it, front and back sides of it, carefully with a small flat blade screwdriver, try to not chew up the leather. Once that's out, you'll see a metal piece sticking out. You need to pull that straight up with some mini-vise grips. It's a bitch. I had to remove the roof and stand up on both seats and tug. When that's off you can unscrew the shift ****.


For the shift links... be absolutely sure there's no slop on the shift links. Mine had slop right out of the box. I shrunk up the slotted ends with a ball peen hammer until they fit the trans snugly. If these have slop you will never get the neutral to stay aligned.

I had no luck using a tool in the slots. I adjusted everything by hand until it moved smoothly left to right. You can do this without even pulling the console apart if you understand how the linkage works. Try adjusting your 1-2 rod a little forward or backward and see if that helps.

If the 1-2 gate is moving around, make sure the adjustment nuts are tight. Otherwise it could be slop in the shift rods from worn pivots. I don't know what your options are here. I pulled my whole shifter out and stuck it in a press then shimmed it to take the side to side slop out between the plates.

Don't use WD40 on anything. It sucks for lube and only attracts dirt.

 

thanks to everyone. I found the problem. When I installed the short shifters links, I went by the diagram for the install which is backwards. The linkage was at the end of the adjustment. I got the factory ones and they have 'out' printed on them. Reversed the aftermarket links and everything lined up and the adjustment is near the middle. I made a piece of metal to fit the shifter using the dimensions in another post.
Adjusted the rods and now shifts great.

wanted it to be ready for the last autocross - my luck it was a short twisty course that was 1st gear only

JoeMc

 

I know you've solved your problem, but just a point of clarification for others reading this or searching later. If you have an OD button on top of your shift ****, you DO NOT want to pull up on the thinner T-shaped metal piece sticking up towards the front of the car. That's a rod that threads into the OD switch. Unscrew that one. Pull up only the beefier looking metal piece (more rectangular than rod shaped) towards the rear of the shift ****. Sometimes, the bigger piece is corroded/discolored and not as easy to notice because it doesn't stick up like the OD rod.