Does anyone make a shifter for 71 vette other than Hurst?
 

My dads 71 vette is 350/4 spd (muncie m22 I believe it is.) He has a Hurst shifter in the car right now and hates it. We're not sure if its cause its old or what but it rattles really bad and often times doesnt want to come out of reverse or go into 1st.

I'm not sure if this is a common problem. Should I start by getting him a new install kit maybe? bad bushings?

Had one in my 1969 Vett and it was perfect. Nice short throws and very positive with no rattles. Might be old with worn bushings and such. Get a new one and it should be an improvement.

Rebuild it. It's not complicated.

I discussed it with him and hes decided hed like to go back to the original ball shifter with the t handle reverse lockout.

He will hate that worse. From what I remember the stock Muncie rods are non-adjustable.

I just put the Comp/Plus back in my Nova with the steel bushing pack and it's nice and tight. Hell, for FREE you can take off the little springs and bend them to give more "push" and that will tighten it up.

Hmmm maybe I'll have to talk to him.

Yeah, that reverse/first issue sounds like a worn bushing/weak spring is letting the 1-2 shift rod hang low enough to interfere with the reverse rod.

Rebuild it or send it back to hurst for a rebuild, the original muncie shifters have so much slop.

The factory Hurst shifter on my 70 SS396 kept having the bolts back out and it would get sloppy until it would bind trying to get into reverse. And one of the bolts was too long and had washers to hold it tight but that caused it to stick out too far. Are you sure all the bolts holding the shifter to the trans are good and tight and the correct length bolts? The factory Hurst shifter handle did not actually bolt to the shift but actually clipped into place. The Competition Plus actually bolts the handle to the shifter. Your best bet is to have someone under the car and watch as it gets moved from gear to gear, you will have a better idea of where it might be hitting or binding up if that is the problem.

Yep I'm gonna take a gander at it with him before we do anything. I'll definitely check what you guys are suggesting. Probably get new bushings and such for the rods and see if that helps for $50 rather than $450.

The "race" version of the bushings (steel instead of nylon, has a little increased vibration in the handle) is 10 bucks...

Back from the dead on this one. Since its gotten bad to the point where he cant drive the car hes ready to do it.

Where can I source one of these bushing packs? Having no luck on summit.

Thank ya sir.

And take your time adjusting the rods, too. Have somebody in the car shift and somebody else watch for interference. Use a 1/8" drill bit in the alignment hole.

I actually got the alignment tool from a guy at work :D

Well I put the metal bushings in and added a wrap of electrical tape between the shift stick and the clamp on the shifter and wahlah. Perfect shifts, no more hanging up in gears, 0 rattle.

Tis a beautiful thing now. Its funny how f'ing bad the guy that did my dads trans lied to him about the shifter bushings. I kept telling him "let me just take a look at it to be sure" and he kept insisting it was fine and he need a new shifter. This is why I dont trust mechanics I dont know personally.

O and one of the rod ends didnt even have a spring clip in it. It was shimmed with a fender washer and had a coder pin through it :rofl:

Thanks for all the help and input guys

Glad to hear you cleared it up! With a little patience adjusting the hurst isn't that bad. The guy who had my car before me managed to install the reverse rod upside down (!) and he had to cobble some wierd switch for the reverse lights. A few threads backed out, a new angle on the shift plate, and it's good to go now.