Brian- I'll try that. So, if it were working properly would I have
to pull up on the shifter to get into reverse?
Yeah, unless the mechanism is worn (as you suspect). Or is it push
down? I think the 4-sp and 5-sp trannies differ in this area. Once
I'd gone through the Frankenheap's shifter everything started working
a lot better. With the slop in the bushing repaired the necessary
actions got a lot crisper. (Heap had a nasty twist in the knob because
one side of the shaft was unpinned in the plastic bushing. Really
unpleasant to use.)
Where is the "worn plastic bushing" and how do I get at it and fix it?
It's socketed in the top of the shifter mechanism, where the shaft
holding the knob goes in. I believe there is a collar that unscrews
from the top that releases the shaft/pin/bushing assembly. Looks
like a 50-cent part that's meant to be replaced from time to time,
but isn't necessarily easy to come by!
My notes, such as they are, are in
http://cathey.dogear.com/frankenheap.html
on December 14, 2005.
-- Jim
