2005 Manual. Shifter is really hard to get into first, I have to pretty much slam it hard to the left then feel its way into first. This works sometimes, but usually it is in third, and this is not good at a stoplight, especially on a hill, I worry about my 1 year old clutch.

anyhow, I had another thread, responses about replacing shifter box, bushing. I have the bushing ready to go.

i have the shifter all exposed and the center console off, etc. see attached video, but there seems to be a lot of slop in the shifter, as it moves around a lot with me not touching the clutch. Something does not seem right. I also see where the rod connects towards the back of the car seems like there is front to back slop.

After watching a video on replacing the shifter, I do not see a pin at the front of the shifter from the black tube to the shifter base

can someone please help me? I am very worried and this is my daily driver and my dream car.

thank you in advance

 

Replace the entire shifter and lower box, with MGW shifter and its new lower box.
https://www.mgwshifters.com/shifters/corvettes/88

The down and dirty, the upper shifter shaft ball assembly is compression loaded to top plate, that the rubber section doing such, wears out over time. the second problem is that the side rods on the top plate section, to side ball side slots gets enlarged as both wear, and this creates more slop as well.

Yes, you could pull the top plate, drive the rivets out to band aid more pressure to the ball, but still will have problems with worn side pins and enlarged ball slots for the side pins.

As for MGI shifter, your going to reuse the old inner lower housing rod, so make sure to gleam polish it, before you reinstall it in to the new housing. Also since the new box does not come with alignment pin, make sure to get aligment plate, so you can index the lower housing to rest of shaft before you lock down the rear coupling bolt. If planning on keeping the car a long time, then add a replacement set of nylon bushing for the lower box as well.
Myself, have a lathe that I can use to use to polish the oem lower rod, and if need new bushing, then easy to make a set out of self lubercating plastics like EP that fit the rod like a glove.


The last one, is the upper shifting shaft itself. If you find that the shifts throws are too short, or too hard for your liking, then you can can thread the shaft up, to lenghten the throws, and make shifting easy since this give you more leverage.

The last one, is to make sure you cut the rubber top cover correctly.

If, once you are done with the install, but find that the last of shift into gear is a bit too knotchy for your taste, then you can add a copper washer to the trans detent, to soften that engagement. Look up anti venom mod, and its the single copper Dorman 65277 cooper washer you want to use.

 

You have wear in the lower portion of the shifter; the box, this is a typical issue that all these cars have. You can go with an aftermarket short shifter that has a lower box option or upgrade / rebuild the box you have. It's likely that you also have some slippage taking place due to the clamp that connects the shaft in the box to the linkage. You can probably realign the shifter and reinstall that bolt on the clamp properly and solve the issue for a while but the slop in the box will continue to accumulate and the same thing will happen over and over again. Upgrading the box and the bottom bushing on the shifter will eliminate a lot of the sloppy, vague feel of the stick; it will feel much better and it will stay that way for the life of the car. I have a couple different options, if you would like to discuss let me know, I'm happy to answer anything I can.

If you want to get the car going short term, I'll copy the notes below for aligning the shifter, don't worry about that pin and don't loosen the box. Pull the shifter off the box, clean and re grease the bottom pivot bushing, clean the threads of the linkage bolt and reinstall using RED Loctite. Follow the instructions below and your shifter will still be nice and floppy but you'll probably be alright for a while.

Here's a stock shifter that has been cut down a little to reduce height on the upgraded box / bushing:



Shifter Alignment:
With the box centered and the shifter mounted to the box you can move the stick and see how the shaft from the box moves in and out. There is a small notch towards the rwd end of the shaft; this slot needs to line up with the bolt hole on the linkage collar. The bolt must travel through the collar and through that notch. This will position the stick correctly centered fwd/rwd. Center the stick right to left and insert the bolt into the collar, making sure the bolt travels through the notch in the shaft. Confirm the stick remains centered in all directions as you tighten the linkage bolt. This bolt is to be torqued to 22ft/lbs. You can break the collar if you over tighten this bolt and you will not be able to or lose the ability to get into first or reverse if this bolt does not remain tight. This is why we use RED (not blue) Loctite on the threads of this bolt and why it is important to clean the threads first.
Once you get this bolt tightened, test the car. Drive the car forward or backwards ten feet or so, then try shifting into every gear. Sometimes you won't be able to get into some gears without moving the car ten feet or so. It may be a little harder than you would like to get into first or reverse, that is normal. If you can get into every gear the alignment is correct, even if it requires a bit more force to get into first or reverse. This is because the box is not broken in yet, it will ease up after 100 miles or so as it breaks in.
After you have confirmed that the shifter is aligned correctly, center the stick one more time, remove the bolt from the linkage and apply a little RED Loctite to the threads, now it's finished.

Troubleshooting:
Usually you'll get all the gears on the first try, if not you have to adjust the box or the shifter depending on what the problem is. If you can get into the upper gears (1,3,5) but not the lower gears (2,4,6) it is a box issue (no adjustment needed for the shifter). If you can not get into 1,3,5 the box needs to be moved away from 1,3,5 (slide the box towards the back of the car).
If you can not get into first or reverse it is the shifter that needs adjustment ( no adjustment needed for the box). Loosen the bolt on the linkage and push the shifter a very small amount (about 1/16 in.) away from the gear you're having trouble with. (Towards the driver's side, for example, if you're having trouble getting into reverse).
Tighten the linkage bolt again, drive the car ten feet and try getting all the gears. If you go too far you will be able to get into reverse but you will now have the same problem getting into first instead, this means your adjustment was too big.

 

I'm sure that you mean MGW. In my experience that is the best shifter on the market.

Tom

 

The rod is slipping where it is clamped into the linkage. You can see it in your video. Sure, replacing shift boxes and bushings is nice, but the slipping clamp is the immediate problem.

You need to recenter the lever with the gearbox in neutral and tighten the clamp.

 

Mark your shaft / clamp with a marker and you'll be able to see the slipping shaft inside the clamp, it happens at the end of it's range of motion. The shaft, the clamp and linkage need to rotate the same amount.
You can cheat your shifter a tiny amount to one side or the other to get a little more engagement into either first or reverse before you tighten it down. If it's hard to get into reverse move the stick away from reverse (towards the driver's side) a tiny bit, (1/16in or so ) to counter the slop in the box. This will give you more engagement into reverse. Don't use more than 24# on that bolt or you'll crack your clamp.

 

Sure enough the bolt holding the shifter to the rod was loose. I pulled the shifter out, cleaned, replace the bushing from TD and lubed everything I could with lithium grease.
I used an allen wrench to hold the rod centered,
All is great now, it's like a new car!

Thank you all!

 

i recently ordered a mgw flat shortthrow shifter for my c5, i made sure to enter the correct specifications of my car but in the lower kit i was sent a top billet piece that isnt in any forum or tutorial i looked at the plate isnt open like others ive seen instead it has a piece of metal covering the area that should be open with an exception of a very small slit on the right side. So idk if i got sent a piece that wasnt finished, I just dont want to put it in my car and have to take it out again

I recently ordered a mgw flat shortthrow shifter for my c5, i made sure to enter the correct specifications of my car but in the lower kit i was sent a top billet piece that isnt in any forum or tutorial, the plate isnt open like others ive seen instead it has a piece of metal covering the area that should be open with an exception of a very small slit on the right side. So idk if i got sent a piece that wasnt finished? Just confused lmk if anyone has any idea. Thanks