Manual Shifter Adapter

[AceShooter]

So moving onto my next opportunity.

1st is difficult to get into, not impossible just not as easy at 3rd or 5th.

From looking around it appears that I have a spacer on top of the transmission and from what I think is some type of shifter extender. Body lift is 2.5” (hopefully soon to eliminate or lower to 1” or 1.25”). The resistance to shifting into 1st I believe is the bezel that holds the dust boot down. I’ve dremmeled as much as I can to give more clearance but still running just enough to catch at times.

It looks like if I rotate everything to the right about 90 degrees to the 3 o’clock position I might have easier shifting into 1st.

Has anyone ran into before? Or is there any reason not to give it a shot?

Picture is from passenger side so 3 o’clock would be straight down.

 

[Jerry Bransford]

Odds are not good that shifter kludge is the reason it doesn't shift into 1st gear easily. That's kind of a trait of some of the 5-speed transmissions, especially the AX-15 used until 2000. Mine had that issue & I never was able to fix it, it's usually caused by something inside the transmission itself. Someone once opined it was caused by the idler pulley the transmission's input shaft sits in but I greased its needle bearings after checking its condition and the difficulty shifting into 1st gear persisted.

 

[AceShooter]

Yeah the only thing is if I take the boot and the bezel that holds the boot on it shifts fine. When I add it back in it gets hard to shift into 1st.

 

[Jerry Bransford]

Yeah the only thing is if I take the boot and the bezel that holds the boot on it shifts fine. When I add it back in it gets hard to shift into 1st.

That's a good indication that it won't be hard to fix. My recommendation is to move the console slightly forward, it's only held to the sheet metal tub floor with a couple sheet metal screws and a bolt or two. Or try replacing the rubber boot with a leather boot which is more flexible that some say fixes that problem.