Shifter / 4 speed behavior

[gbullman]

Had something pretty odd happen this afternoon that I think was somehow my doing.

I normally sit at lights in neutral with clutch out and shift into 1st when the light turns green.

Today at 1 light I believe I was applying a little extra left force when trying to go into 1st and something in the shifter or transmission “got stuck”. I was able to get to neutral but not get in any gear. After a few times (maybe 20-30 seconds of trying) of putting it in neutral and leaving the clutch out I was able to get into gears again and pulled away in 1st, shifting fine.

I kind of think I started moving the shifter into reverse but not far enough left to overcome the lock out when trying to shift into 1st.

I’ve had this car 3 1/2 years, driven it about 13K miles and have never experienced anything like this. It was concerning to the point I was thinking we might have to push it off the road.

Anyone experience anything like this or have some idea of what might have happened? Car is a Corsa with the quick shifter, believe all original as far as shifter and transmission with 82K miles on it. Thinking at a minimum I’ll lube the rear bushing for the shifter tube.

Thanks in advance.

[sethracer]

Gary, did you install a quick-shifter kit? The one with a spacer and a rod extension? Maybe something is coming loose. Are the front and rear plastic bushings in good shape (or replaced with metal.) Make sure the pin is still a tight fit.

[gbullman]

Seth,

It is the original quick shift that came with the car. I need to inspect the bushings and pin / coupling. This is first time I’ve had any issue with it so haven’t paid that much attention to it so far. It wouldn’t forward or backward into any gear but if I felt for neutral I could find it. Drove another 4 or 5 miles to home after this incident without issues.

My first car in the 70’s was a 65 Monza 4 speed so I had long ago familiarity with shifting a Corvair when I go this one. My experience is finding gears in a Corvair is a little vague but I’ve never had an issue with this one, including many spirited fast shifting run ups through the gears.

Looks like time to get underneath this coming week.

[66vairguy]

Gary --- The quick shifter kit Seth mentioned has a spacer about an inch high the original shifter base sits on. Do you have that?

For decades it has been said the LM Corsa came with a "quick" shifter, but in fact a few folks proved it is the same as the basic 4 speed shifter, but with a chrome lever. I think Seth mentioned you could use a LM 3 speed shifter to shorten shifts, but my old memory might be incorrect.

If it is the original Corsa shifter there are a number of "fixes" that can improve things. One thing I've learned from others is the shifter lever "ball" that fits in the tube bracket head wears. I have that issue on one car that I have to fix.

See SCC/Corsa West article about fixing some of the wear issues.

[RexJohnson]

All 4sp levers that I know of were chrome. The 65 3sp lever has the pivot ball higher on the lever giving it a longer throw to make it more bearable to shift. If you put this lever in a 4sp car you will have a quick shifter. I looked in the parts book years ago and it listed the 65 Corsa 3sp lever with a different part # and said chrome. That would be a rare shifter. That is maybe where the myth came from. The chrome shift boot is the only difference between the Corsa 4sp shifter and the other models.

[gbullman]

Talk about learning something new every day! My car has the original Corsa shifter which I now know is a standard shifter with chrome base. With a 40 year gap between driving a Corvair, my current car’s shifter felt like it moved less and I bought into the Corsa quick shifter myth that Rex describes.

So my plan is to get under the car and check out the bushings, assuming I have to drop the tunnel cover to check things up front. Also going to closely check the coupler and pin for play.

Only other observation to pass along is this car has always had a bit of a clunk going into 3rd gear only. Spirited runs through the gears and 3rd always feels a little different and you sort of feel it in your seat as well as through the shifter.

Like I said initially, 3 1/2 years and 13K miles and this is first time I experienced anything like this.

Thank all for the info.

[JohnDB]

I'll put in my guess for the shift rod coupler to be coming apart - or the holes where the pin runs through the shift shaft starting to elongate - or both. When I rebuilt my shifter I was amazed how much slop was in the coupler I took off compared to the new one.

[RexJohnson]

When the couplers were new they had 1 round hole and 1 oval. This was probably to allow for any production miss alignments.

[joelsplace]

Was the oval was fore/aft so it didn't make the shifter sloppy? Up and down makes it sloppy.

[RexJohnson]

Yes, front to back.