Shifter rattles at 60+ mph

Looking for a weekend project.. My Muncie 4spd shifter rattles at 60+ mph.. Now don't tell me to slow down, I get that from my wife.. But,

Any ideas? I looked underneath and it's like impossible to get to the shifter, from the top is just about as hard.

I was thinking polyurethane, but not sure where it would go... Any ideas???????

She's a 72 LT1 original set-up!

Its the nature of Muncie linkage to rattle, its usualey the reverse lock out T-handle, take the ball off remove the spring and t-lock off by sliding upward, put the ball back on and take it for a ride and see if it still rattles, be careful not to go into reverse when going from 4th to 1st, if the rattle is gone then maybe one wrap with electric tape may help for a while.

Humm   sounds like a simple solution.. I'll give it a shot!      Thanks

Change it over to a Hurst Indy shifter.  You'll be amazed at the difference. No rattles, short, sharp shifts and it mounts directly onto the box rather than that stupid frame bracket that is a PITA.

 

It looks close to original other than being a little shorter and no reverse detent T-handle.

Hello donw-under

Thanks for the advice.. It's something I thought about!
Don't you have to pull the transmission to install the hurst shifter?

No you don't, pull the top of the center console that holds you heater control, lighter,ash tray, pull the rubber boot that is under the leather one, jack the car up and install stands and remove the linkage from under the car, you might have to loosen the trans mount bolts to jack the rear of the trans up a bit to remove the muncie mounting bracket that is bolted to the rear crossmember. Hurst makes four shifters the one you want is the "Competition/Plus"model and install kit, the Indy model may requier floor mods. anips38524.5652893518

What anips said.  I've used the Indy kit and if you shim and trim the mount to the box, and also the stick to the gate mechanism you shouldn't have any problems.  I got my Indy shifter really cheap, so rather than spending the extra on the competition unit I just played a bit.

If you want to do it, I agree with anips to get the competition unit.  The biggest PITA is getting the original Vette shifter mounting bracket out.  Especially if you have tru dual exhausts, there's lots of stuff you have to loosen off.  Make sure you just loosen off though as some of the nuts and bolts for the muncie mounts are in pretty tight places and are a real PITA to get back in if you undo them all the way.  If you use your AIM you will be able to see the exact bolts to remove to get the shifter bracket out.

 

In the end, it makes a sloppy Vette muncie shifter feel like a race car.

Now if I remember right when I put a new clutch in the car I had to remove the trans mount, the exhaust hanger, and let the tail housing back down and let it rest on the cross member to be able to get a wrench on one of the bolts that held the Hurst shifter mech. onto the tail housing to remove and install it, when I got the car it had the Hurst shifter already.

Hey guys, thanks.. sounds a bit more than a weekend project but well worth the effort... Give me a couple of week(ends) and I'll get back to you with the results!