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Thu Dec 26, 2002 6:50 pm

I recently (6 months ago) picked up a stock 61 and I have problems shifting the car into 1st and 3rd. Somethimes it goes in easy but most of the time I have to struggle with it. Help with this is greatly appreciated.

Thu Dec 26, 2002 11:58 pm

Is it hard to shift the shifter, or will the shifter move and not actually shift? Because if it's on and off again I'd guess it's the shifting coupling that connects the shift rod to the transmission. check that. sometimes the set screw backs off and makes for sloppy shifting, it even could come off and you'd be stuck in whatever gear you were when it happened. I think you can access this underneath your rear seat, there is an access panel. I've also heard that the access panel is on the bottom of the car, but I could be wrong. if this doesn't help check the fluid level in your transmission if this is still not the case, you got me???

Fri Dec 27, 2002 7:16 am

Remove the shifter housing and look at the stop plate. Is the raised lip to the right? If not you need to unbolt the plate and rotate it so the lip is on the right. Then you'll have to loosen and tighten the plate as you move it a little one way or the other until the gears fall into place nicely. If the lip on the plate is already to the right, and moving it around a bit doesn't help, then the problem lies elsewhere.

Fri Dec 27, 2002 9:15 am

The last thing you should check if all of these things don't make any difference is the shift rod bushing. At the top of the tunnel just to the rear of the shifter, there is a steel bracket with a nylon bushing in it, held in place with a metal clip ring. You have to withdraw the shift rod through the front access hole at the rear of the tire well in order to replace the bushing. Here is a link to some replacement instructions. Scroll down to "shifter bushing replacement."

http://www.thebugshop.org/gotech.htm
If this ends up being the problem, good luck with your repair. It doesn't look all that bad.

Chris
JHC

Fri Dec 27, 2002 5:32 pm

Thanks for the info...I tried playing with the shifter and plate. That seemed to have fix it once I found the found that sweet spot. The plate was on correctly, but I think the shifter needed to be aligned correctly. I forgot to mention in the original post that I have recently changed the shift rod bushing. I probably messed up the shifter sweet spot when I did that. Thanks everyone for the replies.