Pete at Motorprep put a short shift kit on Beaky today. What a pig of a job; rather him than me.
My change was prompted by what I thought was slack in the original linkage, meaning the car would slip out of 3rd gear when cold. There was evidence of the original linkage moving on the shaft, so my diagnosis seems correct, and it seems not to slip out of gear now. Fingers crossed on that one.
And what about the shift?
2-3-4 is great, 4-3 is good as is 5-4 or 5-3. Going into 2 is a bit of a sod, but then it was previously. Because of the reduction in leverage one is very aware of the spring on 1 and 2 and this requires some fairly deliberate effort. There is very little side to side motion so neutral isn't as obvious as it was and selecting 1st requires a degree of knack or precision.
The cross linkage had to be shortened as far as it would go as, initially, the gear stick was so far over to the left that 1 and 2 were unavailable. Pete and I are wondering if the linkage was incorrectly machined as the grub screw hole on the shaft connection wouldn't allow the inserted shaft tail to sit vertically, if that makes sense. The result of this is the stick is angled to the left when in its neutral position. Further consultation with the supplier may be necessary on this.
The original link is full of rubbery bushes where as the replacement is all rose-jointed. As you would imagine the feel of the new shift is very precise, almost harshly so. I have no doubt that I will get used to it, and learn to love it more after some use. It isn't a mod I would necessarily rave over in the first instance though.
All I can say is Pete did a spectacular job and, as always, kept good cheer; even when removing the shifter for the fourth time for adjustment - as it can't be done in situ.
Many thanks to Pete. He remains highly recommended for any modification works in my books.
My change was prompted by what I thought was slack in the original linkage, meaning the car would slip out of 3rd gear when cold. There was evidence of the original linkage moving on the shaft, so my diagnosis seems correct, and it seems not to slip out of gear now. Fingers crossed on that one.
And what about the shift?
2-3-4 is great, 4-3 is good as is 5-4 or 5-3. Going into 2 is a bit of a sod, but then it was previously. Because of the reduction in leverage one is very aware of the spring on 1 and 2 and this requires some fairly deliberate effort. There is very little side to side motion so neutral isn't as obvious as it was and selecting 1st requires a degree of knack or precision.
The cross linkage had to be shortened as far as it would go as, initially, the gear stick was so far over to the left that 1 and 2 were unavailable. Pete and I are wondering if the linkage was incorrectly machined as the grub screw hole on the shaft connection wouldn't allow the inserted shaft tail to sit vertically, if that makes sense. The result of this is the stick is angled to the left when in its neutral position. Further consultation with the supplier may be necessary on this.
The original link is full of rubbery bushes where as the replacement is all rose-jointed. As you would imagine the feel of the new shift is very precise, almost harshly so. I have no doubt that I will get used to it, and learn to love it more after some use. It isn't a mod I would necessarily rave over in the first instance though.
All I can say is Pete did a spectacular job and, as always, kept good cheer; even when removing the shifter for the fourth time for adjustment - as it can't be done in situ.
Many thanks to Pete. He remains highly recommended for any modification works in my books.
![[FONT=verdana,geneva"]](/forum/styles/default/pcgb/space.gif ". [FONT=verdana,geneva\"]")
][
