Ok, so I got the engine/transmission out of the 79, and bolted up the 82's tranny to the 79 engine. Stuck it all back in the car, and now the shifter wont engage any gears! It is like it has no gate, and cannot access the gears themselves! I was trying to scoot it to the back of the garage to make room for a few more cars and it wouldnt budge out of gear! help!

 

Macro cell phone pics, sorry

 

Pull the shifter back out, and make sure the shift rail is centered.
Sounds to me like it was in gear, and you missed the rail.

 

when you take the shifter out, the rest for the shifter ball wont go past center.

 

pics:





Could this plate help? I dont know if it is from the 79 or 82, Thinking it is from the 82.



and a good shot of the cars, last one (I am proud, what can i say?)

 

the red arrows are pointing to the drivers side.

 

The shifter position is different between the SA/FB trannys. Make sure the tranny is in neutral and the slot in the large ball lines up with the index pin. Shifters will not interchange either.

 

It is the FB tranny, with the FB shifter.

 

Question. Did the shifter move okay before you installed it in the car? Are you sure the shifter isn't damged now?

 

moved perfectly fine. shifter was never damaged, I will see if the flat part would go in it (last pic). Hopefully that would be it!