Shifter Mechanism put in Backwards?

[OpelNewb]

Just as the title says it would appear that the shifter in my 73 GT is in backwards. The reverse lock out locks you out of the forward gears so you have to pull the lock up to get it out of reverse and into the forward gears. This also makes it very hard to keep the car from accidentally being put in reverse when you want first gear and then you have to screw around and lift the lock to get it back into first. Any thoughts? I can take a picture of the shifter and post it for comparison if need be. Thanks Again Larry

[BQS4]

Larry;
With the stock 4-spd, it's just a simple matter of lifting up the shift boot, unhooking the return spring, then pop the "C" clip holding the pivot shaft for the shifter, and pulling out the pivot shaft and flipping the shifter 180 degrees, and reassemble. Total time to do this, about 10-15 minutes.

[OpelNewb]

Well I can't tell exactly what is wrong with this thing or if it even is together right at all. Here is a picture it looks strange to me cause of the angle it is at and someone has taken it apart before. The return spring was not on it either appears to be missing.
http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/c...l/IMG_1278.jpg

[namba209]

It's not that hard to tell how it's supposed to work. Just pull up on the reverse lockout ring and see what moves at the base of the shifter. Then look at where the lugs are on the tranny the lockout block hits, so it won't go into reverse. Then assemble the shifter back on the tranny so the lug block has to raise to go into reverse. If the bend of the shifter is too far to the right, remove the bolt at the base of the shifter and rotate the locking lug 180 and put the bolt back in. BTW there's supposed to be a tapered pin in that hole. But it's apparent the dreaded PO had a hand in this.

[OpelNewb]

Namba it also appears that something is bent cause I put it together everyway I could and still can't make it work right. I am thinking that the piece that is now held on with the machine screw is slighty bent. There just isn't enough space to move the shifter over to the locking block. If the bend was less it would work fine. I was hoping that someone would chime in with a picture of what it should look like. I also plan on replacing that pin the machine screw won't last for long. BQS4 was right though it only takes about 10 minutes to remove and replace it. So far I have removed and replaced the part about 10 times though. Thanks for the info.

[namba209]

I'm wondering if the lockout lug is not raising up enuff to clear the lock. I had the cable in mine break. During the repair process, I found a setscrew in the plastic ring that locks the cable in place. I replaced the cable with a stainless steel bike spoke and adjusted the travel of the lugs by raising or lowering the spoke and locking it in place with the setscrew. I can't look at mine or take a pic, I loaned out the tranny when I swapped out the whole package. HTH.

[OpelNewb]

I just had the entire locking mechanism apart and now I can be certain that something is bent. I am hoping that I can get a whole other assembly I dropped mine on the ground while working on it and well the knob shattered. Needless to say my wife is going to be pissed.

I did figure out that it was clearing the lock but it was going into the reverse gate before it even crossed over the lock. I took it apart and put it together the other way so it would clear to go in forward gears and I can't get the pin in at all. Now I know why the PO put it together the way it was.

So in short if anyone has a complete shifter I would really like to buy it!

[wrench459]

Ok I'm going to take a stab.
First off
tailhousing is the shifter rail bolt on or cast into the housing?
The GT shifter upper part is straight. But may have three different offsets on the lockout.
Now the lower again I've seen three different angles (piece that has a sheer pin).
Now the yoke on the tail housing ..Sorry to tell you again three different ones.
I'm sure theres more that I'm not aware of.

[OpelNewb]

I found the problem. The upper part of the shifter was bent. Right above the collar that the locking part retracts into. Making it impossible to install correctly in the car. It would hit the right side of the shifter opening. So since I dropped my shifter on the ground and destroyed the knob I am getting another one. I may have been able to salvage mine but I would rather just replace it.