[pantera928]

I am having trouble with reverse staying in gear. Decide to look at the mounts, they look a little saggy to me. What do you think?
View attachment 1729404
View attachment 1729405

I haven’t yet checked anything else that’s typically the cause in this situation other than the console, which does not seem to prevent or block shifting into reverse.

What year spider? THe 1985 and earlier spiders have less clearance around the console and any issues with mounts can affect the shifter.

 

[pantera928]

1971. I’ve got the console off but may stop my investigation here and start with the engine mounts, then the transmission mount to see if it’ll improve the engagement.

I’m not sure how much the shifter is supposed to spring back but I can feel the reverse gear engage, then very slightly back out (perhaps due to misalignment) then the shifter moves back toward center a little. This issue was not present when I bought the car so it’s likely the mounts wearing, shifter fork, alignment, and/or boot positioning.

Does this still happen with the console off? Are the shift boots causing the shifter to push it back out of reverse?
This is definitely a symptom of a sagging and/or broken transmission mount but there could be other causes

 

[pantera928]

I left the console loose and reverse did not pop out. On to the mounts!

Update: It popped out under some load and after some distance but mounts will be replaced next week.

Well, sometimes if the gearbox has been popping out of reverse for a while due to the shifter hitting the concole or someone has a habit of riding with their hand on the shifter while in reverse, there can be some gear wear that will cause it to keep popping out and it "may" require a tear down of the gearbox. Hope that is not the case but I have seen it before.