I am the new owner of a 67 firebird convertible. When I bought the car, I could have sworn that you had to press the shifter button in order to shift gears. Immediatelly upon buying the car, I had the transmission serviced and a couple other nits tended to and now the shifter freely moves between all gears without pressing the shifter button, even out of park.
I did a search a while back, and while I can't find the post again, I thought I came across some postings discussing that this problem could be a loose cable in a 67.
I haven't been back to the mechanic yet, but he claims that there is no cable between the shifter and transmission and that the shifter must be broken and need some internal rebuilding. Any thoughts or pointers would be greatly appreciated.
There is no cable, it is a linkage to the transmission. And yes you need to push the button down to release from park or to go to reverse from neutral. It sounds like something is screwed up in the gear shift itself.
Yes, no cable in '67, there is a direct linkage. But on the other hand, you have a tranny that was not available in 1967, so there is not way of knowing for sure if you still have the original '67 shifter or not. Is the handle 1 piece chrome with the entire top section being a black plastic button? '67 Firebird floor shifters are exactly the same as '67 Camaro shifters.
It can also be that the shifter detent is so badly worn that the shifter is slipping. It could be that the shifter tang that is released with the button is so worn that the lever is moving freely. It could be that the shifter bushings that it rides on are totally shot allowing the lever to be loose and sloppy and therefore not riding on the shifter detents anymore. It could be that either broken springs inside the handle or gummed up grease is not allowing the button mechanism to pop back up.
2012 Mustang Boss 302 #1918, Competition Orange. FGF replacement 2006 Mustang V6 Pony, Vista Blue. Factory ordered. 2019 BMW X3 (Titled to the wife, but I'm always driving it for her. So I'm claiming it) Old projects, gone but not forgotten: 1967 FB 400, original CA car. After 22 years of work, trashed by the guy who was supposed to paint it. I had to sell it. 1980 Turbo Trans Am 1970 Mustang fastback, 351C 4Bbl, auto 1988 Mustang GT, 5 speed 1983 F-150 4x4, built 302 1994 Chevy K2500 HD 4x4, 454 TBI
Which was not introduced in any GM cars until the 1969 model year...
As Salmon stated, this transmission is clearly non-original to the car, which could likely result in confusion for you if you were searching for past problems with shifter buttons on 1967 Firebirds. There is nothing wrong with having a non-original trans, though (unless having a #'s matching car is a priority for you...which I hope it was not...cuz it seems yours is not.) I have a TH350 in my bird, too. Most would consider it an upgrade over the original 2 speed Powerglide your car was likely built with...depending on which engine it had. 400's got TH400s instead of the Powerglides that most of the smaller-engined 67's got.
I agree with your mechanic. Indeed there is no cable related to the shifter, just a linkage between the shifter and the trans. And for a TH350, if your car was properly converted when installed, there should also be a kick-down cable leading from trans to the carb...but realize this particular cable, while necessary for proper downshifts, has absolutely nothing to do with your shifter. So if the button is not holding it in park, indeed this should be a shifter issue, and not a transmission, or linkage, or cable issue.
I believe you'll need to do some shifter disassembly and inspection to really trouble-shoot it.
