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Removed the rubber that was at the bottom of the shift rod and took it out for a spin - same result - popped back into neutral


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i'll try the grinding method tomorrow with a buddy who's got the right equipment.  hopefully we can knock those old bushings out as well and press the new ones and pin in while we're at it.

at least two variables are eliminated.

thanks for everyone's help!

"There's your sign"

after dinner and a couple beers it shifted into 5th fine... maybe i just muscled it in there with some liquid courage and didn't baby it

Looks like you have a short through selector stick with a short eared guide. What that means is your selector has a longer section under the cotter pin and the guide ears (where the cotter pin anchors) is short. Common for people to swap these selectors to get a shorter through when changing gears. The problem is it can bind and you need to remove (grind) sections for clearance.

It looks like your could be hitting. I can't really see fresh marks on the selector. To check, you can put it back together with cotter pin in place and slide a piece of paper down in there. Push it into 5th hard a couple of times and check the paper for pinch makes. The clearance you need is about the thickness of cardboard used in a Kellogs cornflakes packet.

Cliff (siteunseen) posted photo's of the selectors on another thread on this site. Can't find it now.

I don't know what the rubber hose is doing on the selector. I'd remove it.

5 hours ago, FunkytownZ said:

Removed the rubber that was at the bottom of the shift rod and took it out for a spin - same result - popped back into neutral


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The popping back out of gear is a concern.  Once the shift mechanism pushes the coupling sleeve in to place there are a variety of small parts that are designed to hold it there.  The shifter and other parts are released from duty and should just sit there until your hand puts them back in to action.  It hsould either go in to gear and stay there or pop out immediately.  

I think that we're all hoping you don't have a deeper problem but once you freed the lever from all encumbrances you should have been able to put it in to 5th and have it stay there.

I would think that you should be able to "feel" the shift detents fully engage, that is the shift lever in 5th should not feel like its bound up but rather has a bit of "play" after getting into gear. This is what I ended up with after careful grinding of the shift lever. Now on mine it was a ZX transmission with a Z shifter, I would that if all the parts are OE then mods like this would not be needed.

Looks like you have a short through selector stick with a short eared guide. What that means is your selector has a longer section under the cotter pin and the guide ears (where the cotter pin anchors) is short. Common for people to swap these selectors to get a shorter through when changing gears. The problem is it can bind and you need to remove (grind) sections for clearance.
It looks like your could be hitting. I can't really see fresh marks on the selector. To check, you can put it back together with cotter pin in place and slide a piece of paper down in there. Push it into 5th hard a couple of times and check the paper for pinch makes. The clearance you need is about the thickness of cardboard used in a Kellogs cornflakes packet.
Cliff (siteunseen) posted photo's of the selectors on another thread on this site. Can't find it now.
I don't know what the rubber hose is doing on the selector. I'd remove it.

It could be that or a ZX transmission possibly, right?

The pics I posted of the marks were after I cleaned them... they had some fluid in the mark when I pulled the rod out, which leads me to believe it's still hitting


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4 hours ago, Dave WM said:

I would think that you should be able to "feel" the shift detents fully engage, that is the shift lever in 5th should not feel like its bound up but rather has a bit of "play" after getting into gear. This is what I ended up with after careful grinding of the shift lever. Now on mine it was a ZX transmission with a Z shifter, I would that if all the parts are OE then mods like this would not be needed.

Mine to.  ZX transmission with a Z curved shifter. The ZX shifter stood straight up in my car.

I have a 1978 5 speed. The shifter I pulled from a 5 speed 280Z at the pick and pull looks like the 3rd from the right.

Shifts perfect. No grinding needed. Others caused 5th gear issues.

7 minutes ago, Lumens said:

I have a 1978 5 speed. The shifter I pulled from a 5 speed 280Z at the pick and pull looks like the 3rd from the right.

Shifts perfect. No grinding needed. Others caused 5th gear issues.

 

I'm not sure which one I have but if I had to guess it's the middle pair.  I'll know tonight.

Do you have an extra of the one right set?