1972 - 4cyl - Original Tail shifter - Just changed all the shifter bushings and am in process of getting alignment right on shifter rods. Thought I had several, if not all gears so put car back on ground to test. What felt like reverse was reverse ... but what felt like second was also reverse...and what felt like third was also reverse...anybody have an idea of what I did to cause this. Nothing appears unattached fom the selector through the firewall. Could I have somehow gotten the shifter fork at the transmission hung up in reverse? Anyone else that has a thought, please pass it on before I start opening everything up again.

Does it ever get into neutral, or is the transmission itself stuck in reverse (implying that something in the linkage is disconnected)?

It would be easier to have a helping hand along with an extra set of eyes. Disconnect the shift rod from the trans and manually engage each gear to ensure you have full engagement in the trans - which I believe you most likely do. Then work backwards and verify where the linkage is falling short in selecting gears. I had a fair amount of "sorting" with my shifter/trans recently. Completely different system but the process to tweak was similar. If I had to guess...something was installed backwards and once found, be an easy fix.

Tony

If you "flip the diff" when you put it back in, you can have reverse in all forward gears and fwd in the one rev gear.

But it doesnt sound like your exact symptoms and you didnt say that you took apart the diff.

That was my first thought

Thanks for the response. Nope never touched the diff...just lifted the rear shift rod out and put it back in the same way it came out...thinking I must have done something there to deserve this!

Thanks to all responding....every little comment helps!
I do have neutral but when shifted to where gates for 2nd, 3rd, 4th or 5th are usually, I get reverse. Nothing on this car has been apart other than the shifter rod(s)...no need to this point. It has always run as good as a 914 can for the past 41 years

shift the trans at the rear of the trans, not with the cabin shift lever. . if you can't get it in a forward gear, the trouble is in the trans.

Shifter rod cone screw missing?

Put the cone screw in myself. I think the fact that the rod (when observed from the access panel between the seats) is rotating and moving fore and aft would indicate that the cone screw is in ...right?

Sounds like you missed one fastener at the rear so you are stuck in the reverse gate.

Sounds like you're off in the linkage still. Inspect the whole line. Put it in neutral at the tranny and redo your shift setup. Have fun!

Thanks...will start again after the holiday. My back needs a day off!

If you want another tail-shifter to play with, I have one cheap. Picked it up about a year ago as a backup for my -6; didn't realize the trans is different between the -4 and -6. So it's taking up garage space right now.

Thanks for the offer....will let you know if I'm in that much trouble. If normal, I probably did something stupid and just have to work through it .....already been through similar process with entire fuel and brake systems....again my fault for letting the old girl sit for too long without my attention.

Before I dig in again to find what I did to cause this, is there some way of telling I'm in neutral other than removing the shift rear shift rod from the cage, randomly moving the tranny cage about and running the car?

That's the first thing I would check. May not be oriented correctly.

It's not random.

Think of it like this.
Inner, outer and middle
Then up and down.

So, disconnect the long rod from the rear of the tranny.
Grab the short horizontal rod and push it in and out, you will feel three potential positions, land in the middle, you are in neutral
Up and down should be free at that point.
Car should roll freely.

I forgot what it looks like.

Look from the drivers side.
Pulling out, or pushing in will get you into inner, outer or middle gates (the thing sticking out of the tranny once you have the rod removed)

Turning it clockwise or counter clockwise gets you into gear.

As you move the shifter it pulls or pushes that long Rod forward and backwards.
As you push the shifter handle in the car left and right to get into the gates you twist the Rod which pulls and pushes on that Rod at the tranny.

Make sure you have the tab on the end of the long Rod properly engaged in the slot of the little Rod, or that the tab still exists, it may have broken off...

Thanks again.

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?act...t&id=503595

This should answer all questions. Chapter 1. And appendix diagrams.

Thanks to everyone that replied...just as most of you suspected, it was something simple. During the rigors of trying to adjust the tunnel rod alignment, I suspect we pulled the ball(s) and socket(s) apart at the rear of the firewall. The tranny was in reverse when it happened thus the "all reverse" result. All back to quasi-normal and trying to find the sweet spot for all the gears. Many thanks again!