My shifter was broken at the weld, so I replaced it.

I followed the directions someone posted about replacing the springs, which worked like a charm.

Now, I'm trying to get it all back together. My engine is out for a rebuild so the shaft is loose.

1. The linkage to the shifter, should that be set at a certain angle? And how tight should that nut and bolt be?

2. Trying to get the shaft in the linkage seems to be impossible. I can only think of trying to set it and then tap it in from the firewall. But I can't do both things at once. Am I missing something here?

Thanks,
Victor

So I caught a blurb on Pelican to remove the armrest tray and the small plate at the firewall. I can access the shaft at that point. At least now I can be working from one side of the firewall. I wrestled with that for a while today until I could not lay on my belly any longer. Tomorrow I'll try again.

It does go on in a certain ‘angle’, but you won’t know that angle until the rest of the shift mechanism is in place. Why? Because the rear shift rod connects to the transmission with no room for adjustment there. The rear shift rod connects to a shift coupler at the firewall (in the engine bay). The front shift rod also connects to the shift coupler. Again, no room for adjustment on those pieces. So the only adjustment is on the shifter where it meets the front shifter rod. This is all assuming a side shift transmission. A tail shift transmission has a shorter front shift rod that connect to a smaller front shift rod under the plate on the inside of the car under the center cushion.

As for getting the shift rod into the shift mechanism, if you’re having trouble, pull the shifter out and make sure the opening that the shift rod fits into isn’t gunked up and that the pinch bolt hasn’t been tightened so much the shift rod won’t fit. Since the engine is out I’d personally do this outside the car. As in, pull the shifter out of the car, pull the shift rod out of the car (just slides right out of the bushing in the firewall and take it to a table and do it there. Make sure it all connects easily and then go put it in the car. That way when you’ve got the transmission in the car and are buttoning everything up you’ll know the front shift rod will easily slide into the shifter and you’ll be ready to make the adjustments. As for final adjustments there are many threads on here that discuss how to do it. Personally I use Clay Perrine’s method. It’s an easy one man job that takes all of 15 minutes if you’re going real slow.

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Personally I use Clay Perrine’s method. It’s an easy one man job that takes all of 15 minutes if you’re going real slow.
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Thanks, @Rob-O . I ended up opening the gap slightly and that seemed to allow it to go in easier. All back together now as far as it needs to be.

I will keep this reference on hand when I go to reassemble.