I was driving a couple of days ago and all of a sudden I had trouble shifting into 4th gear. The gearshift became incredibly sloppy with side-to-side movement and I can move the shifter side-to-side at least 3" while in gear. Before I climb under the car, is there a specific bushing I should order and where is it located?

check your coupler bushing after firewall under engine bay that has the rubber cover.

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Could be the bushings in the coupler shown above, or very likely that one of the cone screws lost it’s grip. There are several in the whole assembly and it is not unusual that they work loose. Sometimes suddenly with little or no warning.

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#’s 23 & 26. 26 seems to be the most likely to loosen.

Thanks

My money is on the knuckle bushing shown

Hi gereed75 and ndfrigi , I just ordered replacement shifter bushings and have a question regarding the coupler bushings. I decided on the brass bushing instead of the plastic (perhaps the wrong decision) and just found out that they are back order until June 30th (or longer). What is the best replacement bushing for the coupler body-Delrin bushing or the Poly Graphite bushing?

Thanks-Rick

For me I just like the stock kind and not the brass one. For me the brass can damage the rod/pin (#3 on the drawing) of the coupler instead of just the bushing. Anyway the stock kind bushing will last for many years. That is me and not sure with everyone.

i think i answered this on another thread but this exact same thin happened to me a couple months back, felt the same as you described, it was the coupler bushing just disintegrated. i had trouble getting the pin pressed out, it was rusted in pretty good, so i initially gave up and got a new bar and had a Rauch & Spiegel billit. ours with derlin bushing installed onto it, but went back to trying to get the pin out , bought a press since no one would mess with it for me , and with soaking in PB blaster and the. using some heat, finally it came free.
personal i don’t think the factory ever considered these as something to be pulled or replaced easily. there are splines cut into it that cause it to be slightly larger in middle to hold it in once pressed into place. that makes it hard to get out of the bar 45 years later.
anyway sorry for the long explanation but i disagree about the brass bushing.
i tried 3 other types they all felt loose, soft but i ordered the brass ones and installed them once i did get that pin out, and it was actually fairly easy to press in, if it’s lined up correctly. and the shifting feels awesome!!! but i now have new firewall and rear bushings too. there are others here i know that have used the bronze ones and are very happy with them.
look on e-bay they are in stock there. i had the derlin ones installed into the new bar that has the Rauch & Spiegel coupler, and it’s super nice, designed for racing
etc so it’s pretty tight too, you would be fine with the round hole derlin, just don’t damage the coupler. have you removed the bar from the car and tried to press out the pin yet?

No I haven't disassembled the linkage yet, still waiting for parts.
-Rick