I-6 gear shifter problems

A while back, my I-6 got stuck in reverse. When in neutral, it was in reverse. The shifter seemed to move like it was in neutral, but I don't think it ever got as far as the 1st/reverse shifter fork. If you put in any other gear, then it was in two gears and would not go anywhere. I recently got around to the job of taking the shift lever out to investigate. Gettin the shifter pin out and pulling the shift lever out was easier than I thought it would be. Stuck a screw driver in there and lined the rails back up. The end of the shifter lever looked ok to me, but the cross pin seemed to have a lot of wear. I made a new one from a 7/16 inch bolt which seemed to fit the hole in the shifter. But...the hole in the transmission cover that the pin goes through seems like a loose fit to me. Is there supposed to be a bushing there or is the hole wallowed out, or is a fairly loose fit there normal?? I put it back together and drove it around testing all the gears. Seems to work good now,(being careful while shifting gears) but do I need to do some more to tighten thinks up? And is the home made pin from a 7/16 grade 5 bolt going to be OK?

That is a good fix. Putting a thin shim or bushing into the wallowed out tower holes could be useful as well. If it is not egg shaped it could be easy. Don't let loose shim pieces get into the trans. Jim

I found the "sloppy shifter" fix kit on E bay and ordered that. Looks like it's made to clamp in the bigger holes where the metal plugs are located in the tower. That should take care of the wallowed out holes in the shifter tower. If it works, I think that kit is a bargain at $20 which includes the shipping.