stuck in reverse, Transmission is stuck in reverse Options

[PCH]

Hi Everyone!

I took my ‘71 1.7 to the car wash yesterday. When I picked it up, they told me it was stuck in reverse.
Sure enough, the gearbox is stuck in reverse. It seems like you can shift back and forth between 4 and 5, but in those positions the gearbox is just locked up; feeling like “park” in an automatic transmission. Shifting back and forth in neutral only left the gearbox in reverse.
On my initial search of the internet, I came across mentions of a car being shift ed between first and reverse while still moving and this could cause this. Also there was a mention of doing something with the reverse light pin to get it out of reverse.
Is there an emergency fix for this problem and what is the long term repair?
Thanks everyone,
Peter

[Shivers]

Hi. Did you check at the tail to see if that bracket that holds the shift rod moved? There is a ball at the firewall and the cup under the shifter that the ball fits into. I'm just wondering if you may have a whole mess of slack from a failure at one of those and can't get it out of reverse.

@PCH