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My shifter seems kind of locked up. Should you be able to go thru the gears without depressing the clutch? Another issue is reverse. So I have the rod that goes down the tube and a spring on top (have to rework the **** for the spring). How does that rod work and where does it go? Also maybe the ignition cable is locking it out. How can I tell if its in the locked position.
Originally, the car had to be in reverse to remove the key from the ignition. That's what the linkage in the first picture does. Most people just remove that. The other one is for the lockout collar around the shifter stick. You need to pull up on the collar to be able to put the shifter into reverse. It's really sloppy without that rod, and it's easy to grind it in reverse, when all you're trying to do is get it into first. Put the rod down the shifter tube with the spring on top, and the spring goes against the inside of the **** on top. I replaced my **** with a T-handle, and I had to put a ball bearing on the top of the spring to have it depress enough to actually work. When it works, it works well, and when it doesn't it sucks. If you can find someone else with a 4+3 Corvette, have them show you how it's supposed to work. Good luck with this!
Yea I would like to remove that feature for reverse and the key if someone can walk me thru it. When I put the reverse rod down the shaft it doesnt seem to engage anything. At this point the shifter is "locked up"
To be fair, the down position of the rod is the "normal" position, and the driver lifts up on the collar to move the gate aside to allow the shifter to go into reverse. Not having messed with it myself, I believe that the rod connected to the shifter on the right side goes to the steering column to connect to the key to allow the shifter to move. Perhaps try disconnecting the rod, and see if playing with the mechanism there will free up your shifter.
I think the shifter is only half the issue. The ignition seems messed up. I see the lockout cable on the drivers side of the steering column but does nothing when the key it moved, which is an issue. The key does not spring back in start position and does not go to the lock position when the key is pressed in. I think the column may need to come out. Good news is its an 85 before the vats key.
4+3 shifter
