shifter help

[RagingPanda]

I posted before and this is an update with new problem. The car is a 78 280z but I have a 79 5spds. At first I had the straight shifter but the transmission insulator won't fit so I got a "z" shape shifter. Everything seems great but now going to 2nd is really hard and near impossible into 4th. It's not like it won't go in but it feels like it barely goes into 2nd & 4th so it popped right back into neutral. Here are some images. The first pic is the straight shifter I had before. The "z" shape shifter now

[evildky]

I'm a bit confused, the pic's appear to be from 2 different cars, one with a cut tunnel and one without, and the layback shifter appears to have been cut and welded? homeboy shortening? homeboy rethread?

as for the gear engagement issue, I am guessing it's not that it's hitting the opening or anything else right? will it go in gear without the lower boot? the boot pulling it forward? did the trans engage with the other shifter? you using the correct stock pin through the shifter? a smaller diameter bolt might allow for too much slop to engage properly

[RagingPanda]

the first picture is my car but I just use the other pictures to show what shifter I'm using. It's not hitting anything and no tension from the boot because I don't have one. The transmission is fine because the first picture is what it used to look like, but I changed the shifter because the insulator won't fit with the straight shifter. It can go into 1,3, and 5. 2 and 4 feel like it's barely going in so it pop into neutral. I guess the earlier year shifter won't work perfectly. You have to fix it somehow but I don't know how.

[evildky]

OK, I thought those were the same pic's, the shifter shouldn't make any difference in wether the car goes into gear unless you have some sort of bind preventing the movement, or if you used a bolt instead of the propper pin to hold the shifter in? also the little plastic cup at the end of the shifter inside the trans i suppose could cause a bit of drama if ti were left off?

[RagingPanda]

fixed it. The shifter itself was hitting so it wouldn't engage at all. I took it out and you could see the visible rubbing. I used a color marker and colored the area and grind it down with a file. Then repeated with the marker to see where it was touching until it would be fine. Must easier than cutting and welding of the shifters hahah.