Richmond 5 speed Help needed

[USrowboy]

Some 4 months ago, a spring in the linkage of my fairly new Richmond 5 speed broke, dropped into the base of the linkage and made shifting impossible. I had to be towed because of a 50cent spring. Removing the seats, tunnel and back panel, as well as the shifter and mounting support cost me 6 hrs of my life.

With fewer than 5 hrs driving on the car since, I have a new problem. There is "play" in the shifter to the tune of 3inches almost in the first four gears and about 2 inches in 5th gear. It is driveable, but since I got it home without a tow, and with the cold coming in, that's it for the (short) season.

Any thoughts on why a shifter might have a lot of "fore and aft" play in the shifter? There is not a problem shifting, and there is no lateral play. The clutch doesn't slip. And in general, it seems fine except when in drive, there is that fore and aft play.
Will this require access to the top only of the trans or are we talking taking the Trans out of the car? Any thoughts, experience in this area would be appreciated.

Thanks
usrowboy
PS: I rarely get aggressive while driving. I'm not a quick starter, maybe a little over the speed limit, but I baby the car.

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by USrowboy

I have a new problem. There is "play" in the shifter to the tune of 3inches almost in the first four gears and about 2 inches in 5th gear. It is driveable, but since I got it home without a tow, and with the cold coming in, that's it for the (short) season.

Any thoughts on why a shifter might have a lot of "fore and aft" play in the shifter? There is not a problem shifting, and there is no lateral play. The clutch doesn't slip. And in general, it seems fine except when in drive, there is that fore and aft play.
Will this require access to the top only of the trans or are we talking taking the Trans out of the car? Any thoughts, experience in this area would be appreciated.

My first guess is that a bolt came loose holding the shifter housing onto the side of the tranny, allowing the for and aft play. Definitely put lock washers on the bolts that attatch the shifter to the side of the tranny. The other is that the shifter stick could be loose where it attaches to the shifter just below the shifter boot.

Take the shifter boot off, and take a look while you move the shifter, or support the car, and look underneath while someone else moves the shifter.