Hi guys, I just finished putting carpet in my '67 coupe. While the console was out, I took the time to fix the shifter indicator light (the car is an automatic). When I got the car, the plastic rod that connects the shifter and light was long gone (presumably it broke and was never replaced). The light was rigged to the shifter with zip ties and electrical wire. It looked like crap, but oddly enough, it worked perfectly. The shifter light matched up perfectly with the dial on the console. Nevertheless, I wanted to put it back stock, and I've run into a problem.
From what I can tell, there is no adjustment on this light; you have the hole in the shifter and the hole in the light assembly, and the two connect together with a plastic rod. Seems simple, right? However, when I put it all together, nothing is lining up. I can barely install the screws that go through the console and into the plastic shifter bezel; the holes are that far off. It's off far enough that the shifter indicator light is off by almost two gears (I mean the "park" light is lit up when the shifter is actually in "drive." Keep in mind this is the original floorboard, original console, original shifter, and original bezel for the car.
I studied on this problem last night, and the only thing I can come up with is that the plastic shifter bezel needs to move back about 1 centimeter. When I move the bezel back that far, everything lines up, but then I can't start the screws into the bezel because they no longer line up with the holes in the console. I could move the bezel back permanently, but that would mean not screwing it to the metal shifter housing (see the picture below).
Does anyone have any ideas? I feel like there is something obvious I'm overlooking.