1969 chevelle shifter help or Question?

[jasonL78]

So a friend of mine bought a nice 69 chevelle 396 4sp car and is having problems with the original Muncie shifter & linkage. I have never worked on 69 shifter with the reverse lock out rod. So I have a couple of questions. This shifter has a tone of play which I don't think is correct. I tried to line it up the notches which were way off and got it to shift but it gets stuck in reverse once in a while. I advised him to change it over to a Hurst shifter gate assembly. So my question is does the hurst shifter use the reverse lock out rod? I turned him onto the kit Ground Up has with the muncie handle on the hurts gate assembly. Anyone have it in there car?

[Xplantdad]

Rick Eckenrode...you out there?

[olredalert]

----Are you talking about the steering cloumn lockout rod??? Unless my memory is completely gone there is no reverse lock-out rod (so to speak) on a 69 Muncie shift assembly. The 69 style shifters have never been known for their robustness. Anyone here on the board that drove these cars the way they were supposed to be driven back in the day has probably hurt one or more. They often get caught in two gears at the same time. A Hurst shifter has no steering column lock assembly with their shifters that Im aware of. You can restore the muncie shifter but you will end up babying it and that just isnt right, IMHO!!!......Bill S

[CC Rider]

My '69 has an original Muncie bench seat shifter. You don't "need" the reverse lock out rod for the Muncie or the Hurst. It is there so you can lock the shifter when the column is locked by turning the key to the lock position. I guess it was a theft deterent.

The lock out rod I'm referring to connects to the reverse lever bolted to the trans and attached to the backdrive assembly that ultimately connects to a lever on the steering column.

My shifter assembly was refurbished and works well as far as Muncie Shifters go. It's very tight for a Muncie shifter. I've learned to shift without jamming it, and I've played with the gate adjustment to help with the 2-3 shift.

Since the shifter is attached to the crossmember, it's imperative the gate adjustment be done with the suspension loaded, ie, don't raise or jack the car and let the suspension hang in the air. Make sure the stop nuts are TIGHT or the shifter will jam between gears. Keep the assembly lubed.

The folks that bought that kit from Ground Up seem to like it.

[TDW]

I have a Hurst CP shifter in my 69 L78 Chevelle. The reverse lock-out-back drive is hooked up and works flawlessly. I would suggest that he try to find one of the earlier model Hurst shifters. The new ones are made in China and are no-where as good as the older American made ones. I called and spoke to the "techs" at Hurst about a brand new shifter that I bought for my 55 Nomad. It was a sloppy piece of junk compared to the real Hurst ones. They said "that's the way they are now", good luck.

[jasonL78]

Thanks guys just trying to help a friend out. Yes I am talking about the rod that goes up to the steering column from the reverse lever or arm. You don't need it. I thought he told me in order to get the key out it had to be in reverse. If this arm is disconnected wouldn't that cause a problem. Again not my car just trying to understand this rod or anti theft device.

Thanks again

[jasonL78]

Ok another question? The 4 speed console I think is missing something but I am going in blind here. When I removed the top console plate because the slider was sitting funny to me? It wasn't hooked to the bottom of the top plate like my 68 nova did. It was just laying over the shifter handle. Everything was all sloppy? It has this oval piece that goes over the shifter handle and sits down around shifter boot and the slider was on the top of that then the top plate. This can't be correct is it? Is he missing something.

This isn't even my car and feel bad for my friend he paid a lot of money for this car. He has a car that won't move and the endless little things that I think the previous owner should have taken care of before he sold it. The car was just finished and none of the little bugs were worked out yet.

[TDW]

Jason, the collar on the steering column has to be in the home position(rotated all the way to the left), for the key to come out of the ignition. Lots of guys have removed all the mechanism for the lock-out. All you have to do is keep the collar in the home position, which can be rotated by hand when everything is disconnected.

[Woj]

That reverse lock out rod also twists the column to activate the back-up lights on the '69 Chevelle. You can remove the rod/linkage and manually put the column into the reverse position, but you will have to disable the reverse light switch. That means no back-up lights.

Phil Woj.

[Postsedan]

Get yourself an original reverse lock out rod, call Crash he may have one.
The repop kits they sell will work for a short time and then you`ll get frustrated and buy an original.
Just as Tony said about the steering column must be in the home position, plus this also avoids the colomn from moving to the reverse postion....in resulting you driving with your reverse lights on.

Dan

[jasonL78]

I see.. that all makes sense. I will pass it along to him. He isn't going to be happy with spending 40 +K and having a car with no reverse lights. Just the type of guy he is. I will give hime the options you have guided me with. Thanks again for all who replied.

So what about the console top plate and slider? What are you guys using?

Jason

[orig69ss]

About 1970 I went and bought a Hurst Comp. plus to put in my chevelle the Muncie was sloopy and I was tired of it, so I went to local speed shop and got my Hurst shifter. I have used that lock out link age with both shifters with no problems,also in the kit was a pin for lining up the linkage . The Hurst was in my car til we restored the car in 1995, then went back to the Muncie ,thinking about putting the Hurst back for a Day2 look. Chuck

[jasonL78]

Does anyone rebuild the Muncie gate assemblies?

[Material_Boy]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: jasonL78</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Does anyone rebuild the Muncie gate assemblies? </div></div>

Jason, Volunteer Vette Products in Knoxville Tennessee use to rebuild Muncie shifters. They did a shifter for me but that was 20+ years ago. Not sure if they still do it. I believe they are the manufacturer of the Muncie repro shifters for Vettes. I just put one of their repro Muncie shifters in a 65 Vette that I bought. Works flawlessly. Go here www.volvette.com. (http://www.volvette.com) The problem with the Muncie shifter in a Chevelle, as previously mentioned, is the shifter is not attached directly to the transmission but rather to a bracket attached to the cross member. Lots of potential problems here especially if the shifter is already worn out. At the end of the day a Muncie shifter is still a Muncie shifter. You can only improve on these things but so much. My advice FWIW would be to put a Hurst in it and obtain the adapter that is available to use the stock Chevelle lever. Good luck to your friend.
Dave