I know it seems pretty straightforward but I figure some of you crusty fellows might have some magic for making a shifter smooth as silk. Right now, I have a Hurst shifter on my Richmond 5-speed. It gets the job done, kinda. Every shift is a victory over the forces of evil. I hope to put it up on ramps this weekend and pull the shifter. I'm thinking about disassembling and polishing the rods or what ever. Ideally, I'd like it to be as smooth as owl snot, but I just be happy with one that didn't fight me every goddamn time I tried to shift.
I'm chuckling reading this, as I'm in the same boat as you (Hurst shifter and the original DN 5spd). I've got a Long shifter on the 6 speed on the other Corvette, and there is a noticable difference. I always chalked it up to the difference in the transmission, as that's where all the mass and syncho action is. Heaven knows, when the shifter is out of the car you can move the linkage around with minimal effort.
So, I admit some confusion why my 6 speed shifts smoother than the 5 speed. The internals are assumably the same, which would point to the shifter being the difference.
I've been too busy with other deficient aspects of these old cars that I haven't had time to investigate the shifter issue closely. I do remember a comment in a hot rod magazine decades ago where a guy said he periodically removed the shifter boot and just poured some engine oil on the shifter internals. I'll confess I tried that, and it worked quite well for a modest duration (I might just try some Teflon spray, as I'm currently pulling the engine and I've got the shifter out). As for a long term fix, if you discover a cure let us know. :thumbs: