Well my '79 had the plauging loose shifter, *deep breath* so I went through the shifter down to the transmission and diagnosed it to the screw in the shaft coming from the transmission connecting to the shifter through the bracket

 

so the screw wears at the non-threaded section in the shaft, so the solution would be to find somthing to fill the hole through the shaft better, a larger diameter screw, the stock screw is a 6mm metric screw, so I bought a 7mm at the same length, only problem is the hole is still for a 6mm screw, so I used the 7mm screw to tap through the bracket and shaft, about half way through the shaft SNAP, the screw broke, so, it worked but I'll never get the screw out! oh well

 

so now the shifter only moves with the shaft from the transmission, while in gear the shifter only moves about 1 inch (25mm) instead of 4+ inches (10cm)

so is this a problem only I have? or was there another fix that I didnt know about

this is a very common problem with old soobs, but there is another fix:

 

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=49954

This pict shows how I fixed the slop

and

shortened the shift throw

nice!! mine looks a little different, my bolt is farther back, where the word "length" is

Where do you find the new "gator" shown in the picture? The dealer I talked to said they are no longer available and an independent transmission shop I talked to told me the same thing. Also, how about the bushing at the end of the shifter?