I recently inherited a 1979 Camaro Z28 (all stock) after my grandfather just passed away. He kept the vehicle in storage only driving it in the summer. After I recently tried to get it out of storage, I noticed the transmission is locked up. It will not come out of reverse. We think he may have done something simple to it so nobody could steal it from his storage unit with ease. Could he possibly have disconnected something? I looked around, inside and underneath, and dont see anything that looks like it was disconnected. Any suggestions as to what might be wrong? Thank you.

Chad
cdfiu@aol.com

 

I had a 79 T/A I did alot of work on. Does the Z28 have a 350 turbohydro (automatic) or a 4 spd?

 

It has a 4 speed manual. 350 ci engine.

 

Are you just trying to put in into neutral without turning the key on? I think that the old cars had an interlock that made you put the car into reverse to turn the key off completely, and I think that would keep it locked in reverse.

If you DO have the key ON though, and it still won't come out of reverse, maybe the shifter or the shift linkage is seized in position if the car has sat for a long time?

Otherwise though, turn the key to the ON position before you try to pull the shifter out of reverse.

 

Thank you for your reply. You are right. the car has to be in reverse to remove the keys from the ignition. A friend of my dads is going to try to make it out here next weekend. Until then, I will keep trying to figure this little mess out. Thanks Capn Pete.

Chad