I just bought the car and it is in fairly good condition except for a few things. It's tricky getting into first and the parking brake wont tighten the "Automatic" way. so if any one knows how to take apart the gear shifter and how to manually tighten the Parking brake cable, that'd be awesome. Thanks in advance.

 

assuming this is a std transmission you are talking about.

first gear is not syncromeshed. so it is designed not to go into first until the car is almost stopped. this is to prevent damaging the engine from a miss-shift into first at high speed.

the drum brakes should be manually adjusted at the star wheel in the drum at both wheels before adjusting the cable.
if the drum and shoes have to much clearance, the ebrake will be loose. the automatic adjuster will take forever to make up this distance.

you should never have to adjust the ebrake cable unless the cable is replaced. if you adjust the cable now without setting the service brake correctly...when someone replaces the rear shoes the ebrake will be to tight.

 

Hey, thanks for the reply, it doesnt go into first gear very well, even at a stop. Any tips on how to take it apart then?

 

does it go into gear normally when the engine is not running?

 

No, it doesn't.

 

then is sounds like an internal trans problem and not the clutch.

You may want to price out rebuilt or used. It may be worth it to spend a bit more and not overhaul it yourself. I have done this myself, saved
$600 but the time spent wasn't worth it IMO.

If you really want to tear into it; find a rebuild manual from the a transmission rebuilders association.
autorepairmanuals.biz is a good site to check.