Hey all, I have a 1981 camaro sport coupe with a 305 and a thm350 automatic. I just put the transmission into the vehicle this past week and was doing some test driving, I backed it out of the garage and did some laps on our property before we set off into town for the full test. On the way there I was going about 60 in what I believe to be second (shifts were very soft and almost unnoticeable, can’t say for sure what gear) and parked at a gas station. After coming back out I attempted to reverse out of the spot and it would not do anything. Park works great, neutral does its thing, low 1/2 and drive all work and put load on the engine but reverse doesn’t cause a drop in rpm because of load and acts like another neutral. Fluid is at the correct level, shifter and linkage are all adjusted and I can hear the trans click with every gear change, so the rooster gear sounds like it’s interacting with the lever arm just fine and shifting through the gears properly, but I don’t have any reverse! I can still technically get around in the car but I would much rather be able to go backwards to. I’ve heard a park/reverse pawl could be the issue but then why does park hold the car quite well? If anyone has had this issue and solved it, I’d be very glad to know or else I’ll be dropping the trans again for the second time this month... (700r4 stopped working altogether) looks like I just don’t have great luck with transmissions

 

the lights should still work with that shifter without any wiring modification, the neutral safety and reverse lights work off the rod linkage from the steering column to the transmission, the shifter should only change the cable and the shifter itself, if you disconected that rod that will also stop the column from locking.....so be careful