Sorry, this is not a third gen thing, or camaro (im sure it could happen to a third gen f body though ) . but i would really appreciate an answer, its for my 71 chevelle. it used to be a good car, till my brother drove it up a concrete wall while he was sleeping. And "fixed" stuff. He usually fixed it so it doesnt work anymore.. ;(

Sorry bout this long story, but its the best way i could explain my predicament.

but anyways, my car has a different starting method. you turn they key, flip the power switch on, and then hold the push button starter till it starts.

i was sleeping or something while all this happened...

My car was in the way for my cousin to get something out of the garage, i guess, so he attempted to move my car, not knowing completely how to start car. turned the power switch on, and held push button till it started. NOT turning the key into the on position which makes it so you can shift into other gears.

he then attempted to put the car in reverse, and it wouldnt move (duh) so after sitting their thinking of why it would not work, he went to my brother, who is usually pretty good at fixing cars and stuff. so he tried shifting it into reverse, not knowing that my cousin didnt put ignition in on position. so he couldnt get it to go in reverse either (duh again). so the GENIOUS!!! pushes the release button thing so the shifter moves and yanks down as hard as he could. They didnt bother telling me about it...

So a little bit after i woke up, i had to leave, i got in car pulled shifter back until it clicked into reverse. then i looked down at the shifter (cuz it moved a bit further then normal) and it was where neutral SHOULD be, but was actually in reverse. The left is how it should be, the right is how it is now.

P --------------- P

R --------------- (*look at next paragraph for this part)
N --------------- R
D --------------- N
2 --------------- D
1 --------------- 2

There is no longer a 1st gear. and the reverse lights dont come on when car is in reverse, cuz it thinks its in neutral, which is bad, very bad, when you are backing up at night. the reverse lights come on when the shifter is in the position that has the *, which is still park.

So, my question is, is this a linkage problem? if not, what kinda problem is it? And is it easily fixed? And how easy/hard is it to fix?

It is a 350 engine... im almost positive the tranny is a turbo hydramatic 400 , but ill have to call my brother or dad and find out for sure, cuz im an idiot and dont remember.

Thanks for any and all help with this.