On my '85, it took me a while to realize that you must remove the vinyl
sleeve that covers the shift rod in order to completely replace
everything.  You'll see what I mean when you have it out.

Whatever you do, don't use white grease.  That is what killed mine.
It becomes hard in cold temps.  My wife went to back up on a cold day,
and the whole assembly fell apart!  I cleaned/scraped any trace of old
grease and white chunks and then used a moly-fortified grease on
everything.

HTH,

John Haddad