I have a 67 Camaro with a muncie M20, it was completely rebuilt last
winter and a new Hurst Competition Plus shifter installed. I've never had
problems with it until now. Two day's ago a guy interested in buying the car
came over and took it for a test drive and obviously hadn't driven stick in a
long time !..anyway , I took the car out for a drive last night and while driving up a hill and shifting into 3rd gear the thing jams on me and I had to drive it all the way home in 2nd gear as it wouldn't go into any other gear.
Once I got it home I managed to free the linkage underneath the car with a
large flat screwdiver and it seemed to be working again. I just took the car out tonight and after driving 3 blocks it only goes into 3rd, 4th and reverse now ! 1st and 2nd just moves freely with no resistance at all and doesn't engage. the whole drivetrain has 200 miles on it at most. could the shifter
be broken or need adjusting ??

You're going to have to get underneath and let someone shift it with you watching. In neutral, the front two levers on the sideplate should be pointing straight up. The reverse lever should be pointing forward. Let them move the shifter between first and second to see if the lever is moving.

You can try adjusting the shifter but it sounds like there's more going on. Disconnect the linkages from the arms on the shifter. Line up the arms and put a 1/4" drill bit through the alignment hole in the shifter. Next put the all the transmission arms in neutral: Front two staight up and reverse lever all the way forward. Then adjust the linkage ends so they go in smoothly at the shifter body arms.

Thanks Steiner,
I got under the car this morning and found the middle linkage on the
bottom of the shifter had fallen out, the bushing was still there but the clip was gone. I used a washer and cotter pin to secure it until I can
get a new clip and some metal bushings. :)

Hurst sells a metal bushing kit and comes with spring-loaded clips.

I used to run the metal bushings, but found they had a tendency to rattle. The plastic ones do not usually rattle, but they wear out over time. For a car that only gets driven occasionally, I would probably use the plastic ones. A car that is a daily driver or gets driven often might be better with the metal ones, and just turn the radio up. :)

That's why the spring-loaded clips get used, they take up the slack so the metal bushings don't rattle.

A nice glob of white lithium grease is good to use, too.

Let me know if you need some springs. I think I've got a few left over that I could mail you so you don't have to buy some. The steel bushing kit from Summit comes with some but with handling you have to pay about $18 to get the whole thing.

Have had similar happen... kinda...

Reverse rod popped off while engaged. Could still shift it into first. I didn't think you could be in 1st and Reverse at the same time, but you can. Car wont move anywhere though :noway:

Drove the car around in R to get it back in the shop, then quit cussing the trans guy when I realized I screwed up :clonk:

ever watch a newbie try and shift an Hurst shifter, dam it, they try so hard to push it across the neutral gate, if only they would let the shifter do the work, I have tried to explain this so many times, that going from second to the third only involves pushing the shifter forward, let it drop into the 3-4 gate all by itself, for some reason kids just don't get it......... I feel for you, having some one break your car.......

ever watch a newbie try and shift an Hurst shifter, dam it, they try so hard to push it across the neutral gate, if only they would let the shifter do the work, I have tried to explain this so many times, that going from second to the third only involves pushing the shifter forward, let it drop into the 3-4 gate all by itself, for some reason kids just don't get it......... I feel for you, having some one break your car.......

Funny you brought this up. Just last night, my wife drove the '69 for the first time and had a death grip on the shifter and was trying to shove it from second to third. We got that down good, but then came downshifting. She drives a Porsche manual tranny, but never downshifts, so we worked on that. She did have a big smile on her face when we were done :thumbsup:

What, let the shifter do the work!!!! It's a stick......you're supposed to have the fun! :)

Super Silent When you installed your new hurst shifer did you notice where it was made? I went to buy a new hurst and when I took out of the box it said my in china. I just left it lay on the counter.

coupe