The above picture is of a 66-67 Chevelle Shifter and the GM Cable that was in my Chevelle for 18 years. The cable is permanently bent in the shape that your cable will assume. This will be true for many applications besides the early Chevelles.

Good cables bend more than you think they will and the above visual shows the two 90 degree bends this GM cable #3956765 has endured and not complained about for almost 20 years.

GM Cable #3956765 was used with the 68-72 Staple shifters in all Camaros and Chevelles. I am not sure what was different with the 68-69 Impala Cable beside the part number, but I have sold people this cable for the Impala. The same cable was used for Powerglide, TH350 and TH400. GM still makes this cable as of October 2008. This is a good cable but it is very stiff even when new. Newer GM cables are more flexible but there is no good reason for GM to revise the original specs for this cable so it is what it is. Still, 20 years service can easily be expected.

When Cables Go Bad

(Even new cables!)

“Your shifter conversion kit doesn’t work. I cannot get low gear. If I adjust for low then I can’t get Park, and vice versa. I have spent hours on this.”

All push-pull cables have some kind of flexible wire inside of an also flexible housing. But of course there are differences in the cable wire and the housing that make all the difference in the world. Yet, you cannot see these differences when you look at a cable.

The first big issue is related to how much (too much) space is left inside the cable housing. The greater the empty space the greater the cable will flex inside the housing. Visualize the wire cable over 2 or 3 feet being pushed forward against the force of the transmission detent. The weaker the wire cable and the greater (sloppier) the space inside the cable housing, the more that wire cable will flex. If bad enough it will cause our customers problem as stated above.

Here is how it works with one of these cheap cables. By the way, if you are buying a repo cable for $30, and the GM cable is $90…….maybe you are getting what you paid for. The shifter handle is pushed forward for Park and unknown to the customer, the wire is flexing inside the housing and losing length. The adjustment is made, and when the shifter handle is pulled back there is not enough cable travel for Low. So the other approach is used and the pin nut is loosened and the cable is pulled back for Low and the adjustment is made. And the pushing forward again the wire is buckling and the Shifter cannot get into Park.

For a more in-depth review on this section about cables, check out our video below!

"Oops, the cable broke!"

Same problem as above, except the cable is broken. Of course the cable doesn’t look broken because when we think “broken” we think “BROKEN”. What usually happens is the little aluminum tube that extends out of the housing and guides the wire and keeps it all straight as it leaves the housing becomes gets disconnected from the bulkhead. Usually this happens at the Transmission end and cannot be seen because of the accordion boot covering this part of the cable. And, it usually happens when pushing the cable up and trying to get it into the pan bracket. On some Repo cables the method used to crimp the bulkhead to hold this tube in place is absurdly wimpy and makes this very easy to do. Once done the cable is junk.

When this happens the cable flexes outside the housing.

It can happen with ANY Cable. Even with the expensive cables.

Reproduction Cables may or may not be the right length.

Some reproduction cables claim to work for all years 1968-1981. This is incorrect unless the bulkheads are adjustable like the Shiftworks reproduction cable. Of course they are not. The 1973 and up Chevy cable took on the form of the earlier Pontiac cable. The difference is that the cable sticks out of the housing an extra ½ inch. This will require the use of a 1973 and up pan bracket to make the cable work properly.

A word about the pan bracket and lever used on the transmission.

They are not all the same and must be used in matched sets in order for things to work out right. Also, if you buy a kit from us, use all the parts. We do get calls from customers who are having problems and eventually we find out they did not use the parts supplied because they assumed it didn’t matter.