I replaced all of the bushing (firewall, universal joint, shift rod on the tran housing) and I am still having a problem getting it into gear. If the car is not running and I moved the shifter I can no longer find 1st gear after I start the car. The shifter moves way farther than it should and it does not feel like it is engaging. I can normally get 4th and 3rd still. After a bit of hunting for gears and fighting with it for a mile or two it starts to shift OK. This last time I was unable to get 1st and 2nd was grinding and would pop out. This lasted for over 10 miles until I got home. I could still get 3rd and 4th. After hitting 3rd and 4th it seemed to help getting back into second but I could not get 1st until I got home. It seems like the linkage is missing the shift as it moves a lot farther and feels soft (less back pressure). Any ideas, I need to narrow it down to the linkage or the transmission. I have another used tranny with 80K on it so I have some parts to play with.

One last thought, does the shift consoles attached to the tranny go bad, or have any bushing that can be changed out beside the one for the shift rod.

did you change the 2 cone screws? it could also be an alignment issue with the linkage.

side shift, correct?

Welcome to my hell. Mine is a special case so I couldn't help much. Losing 1st and 2nd completely while hitting every stop light on the way back to my house really sucked.

It's ok I will have my problem beat real soon.

I really like the patrick motorsports metal firewall bushing. Probably not where your issues lies but sure should clean up some slop.

yes, sideshift. When it goes into gear there is little slop. Overall, it shifted well before this issue.

Rear shift rod has been known to be bent.

The point where the shift rod attaches to the shifter is or at least for me was crucial too deep and you miss gears and visa versa.. the throw has to be able to reach foward and rearward also the angle at which when you tighten it can lock you out of gears or create some slop feel really short tight acan make it so you have to hook on a second gear downshift.. we are talking under a centimeter here.. etc.. pelican has an article on this though after some trial and error i found a somewhat easier way at focusing on first and second firstly and making sure you can still get fully over into the 4th and 5th region completely (truthful;ly the pelican article leaves some to be desired but it will give you an understanding.. once you find it you will feel better but struggled.. if it was shift before you started the changes then it is more than likely mis- allighned.. double check all is tight and corectly in place first.. one cone screw or a fallen bushing would make it impossible to allighn properly..

So I took everyones comments and checked it out. It appears that the shift console on the tranmission is not moving up far enough to hit first. If you look at the 1st pic, this is when the shifter is in the first positon a lot farther than normal and the car is missing first. The second pic I helped the console move up and engaged first.

My questions is: does the shift rod move the rod up on the transmission or is this part of the transmission. I guess i need to know if the transmission is the issue or alignment. Dr. Evil (tranmission god) took a stab before I took the pics and suggested it may be the engine/trans mounts. Any more suggestions before I dive in and figure this out would help. Beyond mounts, is there a procedure for adjusting this??

When can I come over and fix it??

When ever you want to. I just checked and it is like 45 min not 30. I am going to try and see where I can get by adjusting the shift rod. Tell Zach you are taking his car out to tune it better. Be back in a couple of hours.