I still don't know what column you're talking about.

 

there are 3 rods....one goes to the LOWER STEERING COLUMN...OPEN YOUR EYES AND LOOK MAN!!!

 

A) Don't be a douche. Keep it up and I may not feel like helping you in the future.

B) The steering column is in the front of the vehicle. It houses the steering shaft and runs in between the steering wheel down to the gearbox. As far as I know, the shifter has nothing to do with the steering column. At all.

C) There are three rods. One for the 1/2 shift fork, one for the 3/4 shift fork, and one for reverse. Each rod connects the shifter mechanism to it's proper lever on the outside of the transmission case.

Unless 71-73 models have some m/t-related function I'm not aware of on the column, I don't see why you'd have anything running up the tunnel, around the firewall, and connecting to the steering column, unless it was a neutral safety wire.

 

I couldn't figure out what "column" was being discussed either, unless it's a tubular shifter with an adjustable length link that lifts a lockout bar or tab clear of some slot or hole so that you can actually move the lever laterally into the "R" gate.

IIRC, the '67 had something like that running to a collar with little finger grips that you lifted. But it's been decades since I saw that and there's not enough description here to tell me that he's looking at something similar.

kg - how about providing a pic? Maybe none of us have access to precisely what you're looking at and trying to describe. What you have may not be model-year correct or even OE. Highlight the part in question, so we won't make any more mistakes . . . . . .


Norm