Ok, I've been adjusting the shifter in the cabin per the various shop manuals. Currently, I can get every gear except 4th. Even the slightest of changes doesn't seem to work. If I take slightly larger adjustments, my shifting becomes R-1-2-3 or 2-3-4-5. So, yes, 4th is possible and I was able to use 4th for a couple of months prior to this sudden blockage (for lack of a better word). It's as if a rubber bumper was placed in front of the shifter where the 4th gear position should be.

Now, this car is of questionable past and shows signs of neglect. 1-2 gears need to be eased into otherwise they grind. I do have a rebuilt tranny that I kept from my last teener but I really don't want to install it unless I really have to i.e. the failure is in the original tranny. She's still driveable, it would just be nice to have use of 4th gear.

When I dropped the engine/tranny to fix the oil leaks and clean everything, then put it back into the car, I installed new shifter bushings and cone screws, and liberally greased everything. Could it be that I put the engine in slightly askew? Suggestions/help please.

All the shifter bushings?

Also look at where the rear shift rod goes thru the ear on shift dog plate....is the hole rounded out allowing the bushing to move around?

Bent rear shift rod?

Hey, I'm all done.................

Dude
If you have to "ease" into first and second, the tranny's a little worn.
Since you know, you've another tranny,put her there!

I would agree with the easy ones first.

Shifter bushing in the bottom of the shifter...ball cup bushing and the ball cup bushing at the end near the tranny.

I would re-check all the bushings.

I would check for proper shape of the shifter rod...

Basically you are not gettingenough radial movement when you are shifting..

It could be hitting something in the tunnel (loose clutch tube)

It could be a loose clutch cable.

Or, and this is what I had to do....
the shifter rod had moved a bit on the shaft...
You need to remove the gear set from the tranny (can be done with the motor in the car) and set the shifter rods back to spec.

Rich

I was thinking more of an interference within the tunnel like the seat belt bolt.
But then again if you can get R123 or 2345 then you have a bad set of plastic bushings in the coupler (forward part of the aft shift rod as it goes through the fire wall) where the front cone screw is.
When my coupler took a dump that was exactly my symptom.

yep I overlooked the one Joe described when replacing bushings, and the added load took it from sweet shifting to non-shifting in about two days. That one is a little challenging, but not expensive or complex. Good tech article on Pelican Parts iirc....
Under the car where the shift rod assembly enters the firewall inside a rubber boot, there is a hard bushing made of something that just crumbles entirely when it fails. The bushing is held in place by a pin that must be pressed out in a vice, so the whole shift rod assembly has to be pulled out of the car. For me, the worst part of the job was getting the rubber boot back on. It truely seemed too small, but eventually I got it back on there.

I would bet on the coupler bushings first, but there is another possible culprit.

The spot weld that holds the shift rod together could have broken. It's back by the shift console on the side of the tranny.


Do the coupler bushings first. Make sure that you take the pin and use a chisel to rough up the center of it before reinstalling it. Otherwise it will back out, and you will have shifting problems again.

Thanks for the suggestions (printing them out & putting on the "to do" list). I'll follow thru when the weather isn't as chilly. I'll just have to ride my motorcycle when it's sunny out...darn