1988 IROC 5.7, the shifter cable has broken 4 times in two years, I'm very gentle with it, a mechanic told me the shifter pedestal is messed up and that's the reason the cables keep breaking. What is this and does anyone have a picture? He said he didn't know if Chevy still supplied it, and that I might have to get one from a junkyard. Does any of this even sound right? thanks!

I know, right!?!? You might get a kick out of this story: Mine would often un-adjust itself making my car prone to slipping out of park randomly over the last few years which is obviously was not good at all. Since I've also had several break and/or just seem to never get adjusted right, I was weary to adjust it so would just either park on an incline to a curb or put some bricks behind the back tires. After I had enough of that, I went to adjust it and sure enough it broke.

I figured out how to solve the problem once and for all! I cut a hole in the floorboard so I could just reach down and manually change the gears, but although that worked well lol , I knew a better solution was needed once I had enough cuts/burns/grease on my arm.

Therefore, I purchased a Hurst ratcheting shifter off SummitRacing.com that came with a custom-made heavy duty metal cable I haven't had any problems since! By the way it not only comes with a new cable, but sturdier non-bendable bracket to mount the cable on the 700-R4 itself.

As for your question, I'm afraid I don't know what a "shift pedestal" is either, but I would imagine it's either the bracket on the transmission or the bracket on your stock shifter that is bent in a way it shouldn't be. At least, that's what caused mine to keep breaking.