Sloppy seconds... and thirds, '74 and later shifter related Options

[tomeric914]

I searched but could not find... I have a '74 with side shift and ALL fairly new bushings. If I grab the linkage and move it from the firewall back, everything is nice and tight. The shifter though has roughly 4" of play side to side at the knob. As of a couple weeks ago, third has become difficult to find

There does not appear to be any support for the shift rod inside the tunnel other than the firewall bushing. Is this correct? Is there a better solution?

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[Dr Evil]

The shifter itself has bushings that may need replacing. If you are getting no play in the rod back from the fire wall to the gear box, start with the shifter. However, did you replace the U joint bushings at the firewall end of the rod? When these start to go, you will get what you are describing. Also, they are often no replaced with the others.

[tomeric914]

Doc - Thanks, I did previously replace the U-joint bushings and verified last night that they are intact and tight.

Looking inside the tunnel, the shift rod moves left and right when the shifter is moved right and left. Is there no other support other than the shifter and the firewall bushings?

The shifter assembly itself is decent. Nothing broken or loose that I can see.

There is evidence of the linkage contacting the clutch cable tube but only to the point of removing some paint.

I can reliably find second, but third often is fifth instead.

I've recently driven a stock low mileage '74 914 and there is very little movement at all in its shifter mechanism. There's got to be a way to get mine to this point.