Do any of you fellows with automatics feel that the shifter is a bit sloppy? I am trying to figure out if something is wrong with my setup, or if it's just the nature of the beast. The console shifter on my '76 wasn't working properly. I'd move it to what felt like it should have been a gear position, but it didn't engage. I took the assembly out, took it apart, and cleaned it in my ultrasonic machine. Lubed it up and reinstalled it. What's bothering me is that if the shifter is in a gear, say Reverse, it can then just be pulled right back to Neutral, without even depressing the button. This also seems to be the case shifting from L to S. When in Drive, it seems to have a lot of forward and aft movement, too. Maybe I'm being picky, but on my other old Pontiacs, I never experienced this.
Another question I have is how the reverse lights are engaged. I ordered a factory manual for the car, but it isn't here yet and I want to get the lights working. On my last Pontiac, there was a switch mounted on the shifter to engage the backup lights, but I see no such switch on the '76.
Thanks fellas.
Here's the car: