Shifter Repair, me too...

[pjnats]

Launieg, your parts look different from those on my '81. They look older; I'll bet mine had already been replaced. Someone also added two washers to the bottom of the spring which caused it to seize and totally compress, which was probably the main reason my shifter was so sloppy.

[pjnats]

Well, I finally got all my new parts in: new rubber boot, shift lever kit, and anti-rattle clip. I also replaced the nut at the end of the shifter with a nylon lock nut. I was so proud of how nice and tight everything was until I tried to shift into reverse. It's worse than it was before! The shifter actually seems to go completely out of the shaft when I press down to shift into reverse. The only thing that I didn't include was the washer that goes on before the nut, but there wasn't one on originally, and I thought that the lock nut would do the trick anyway. Any ideas? Thanks.

[Wheel]

I am looking for a little experienced advice before digging into my shifter repair much farther. The shifter symptoms sound similar to the experiences of others. My shifter is quite sloppy and the movement is best described as this; when the gearshift is in neutral I can measure approximately 7 inches of left-right travel; when the shifter is in any of the gear positions I can measure 4 to 5 inches of left-right travel. I thought it seemed a bit much when in gear, then I drove a friend's Spider and his car has very little left-right play when in gear. I am now pretty sure my shifter has too much slop. I am not experiencing the "spinning" as experienced by some others on this forum. I am currently not experiencing any troubles with shifting, just seem to have a lot of slop.

I removed the bottom 3 bolt cover and the plastic cup appears to be in one piece and the hex nut looks secure.


There is a rip in the shifter rubber boot that is big enough to stick my camera lens in. The ball appears to be in the right position and the spring is applying force to hold it up. There is a slight crack in the ball on the driver's side. The C-shaped clip does not appear to be in the side groove, although I don't think this is a contributing factor to the slop.


So before I go to more dis-assembly effort can anyone guess what the problem might be?
-Could the plastic cup just be worn out?
-Could it be related to interaction between the dog and the engaging lever?
-Am I missing something more obvious?

The Spider is a 1982 with 40,000km (25,000 miles)

Thanks

[pjnats]

Wheel, I think you're wrong about the spring or C clip not being a contributing factor. If you read the earlier posts on this topic, Mark indicated that without it, you won't achieve the desired "tightness" that you want. I never really completed my posts, but I eliminated virtually all the slop in my shifter by making sure every part was present. You obviously should replace that rubber boot just to control some of the heat from the tranny. One other thing I experienced is that I don't have to depress the shifter to get into reverse like I used to; it just slides in now. I'm thinking that's how it should have worked all along. Hope this helps.

[Wheel]

Thanks for the reply pjnats.

I will have to order the C-clip and perhaps some of the other parts. I will wait until I disassemble the shifter before ordering, but for now we only have a month or so of good convertible driving up here in Saskatchewan and then I will have to start preparing her for the winter. I had my wife move the shifter back and forth while I laid under the car and monitored the movement of the shifter in the plastic cup. I didn't see any broken pieces so I think it will be fine for a few more weeks.

I will post my progress and results when I get into the project deeper.

What kind of lubrication did you end up using in the cup assembly?

[pjnats]

I just used some Valvoline synthetic grease that I had. Good luck with everything; let me know how you make out.

[FiatMac]

One other thing I experienced is that I don't have to depress the shifter to get into reverse like I used to; it just slides in now. I'm thinking that's how it should have worked all along. Hope this helps.

The transmission is designed so that you have to push down on the shifter to get into reverse to prevent you from inadvertantly getting reverse gear on a 3rd to 4th shift. There is an adjustment screw that accomplishes this "blocking".

[pjnats]

I guess that something must still be wrong, because if I push the shifter down it's impossible to shift into reverse. The shifter just gets all out of alignment and is basically worthless until I get it back in the shaft. So where would I locate that adjustment screw?

[Wheel]

I believe this is the pin being referred to. The adjusting screw can be seen in this photo that is found earlier in this specific forum. The screw acts as a stop for the pin on the passenger-side of the gearshift. To get into reverse, the gearshift must be pushed down in order for the gearshift pin to clear the underside of the adjustment screw. The adjustment pin can also be seen in some of the other images earlier in this topic.

[Dougieb]

My '72 Spider has more slop in the shifter than .....(insert joke here).
I have read about all of the threads about shifter repair, the "anti rattle clip", etc that I can find.
But I have a couple different questions.....

1) To remove the shifter, I assume I need to remove the drive shaft. That is what someone earlier in this thread wrote. If I do need to remove the drive shaft, will the back end of the transmission puke out a lot of the clean GL-1 that I just put in there? Not that I don't have more to replace it but just wonder if I need to put a pan under there.

2) What size is the big nut on the bottom of the lower shifter rod? I would like to have a nice, new lock nut waiting for me to just take it all of, put in the news parts, and put it back together without a trip to the hardware store.

Thanks to everyone for a great forum.

Dougieb

[azygoustoyou]

I just took the front of the drive shaft off, not the rear. The only thing youll see there would be a little grease.
I think that nut may be an 8mm but don't quote me.

[Dougieb]

Thanks,

I noticed that my anti-rattle clip is in upside down. (the bend in the clip is on the bottom, not the top that is in the pictures. Do you think this would make a big difference? Maybe that is my problem.

[seabeelt]

Try this one. Its a little bit blurry, but you can see the clip on the left.

[azygoustoyou]

Thanks,

I noticed that my anti-rattle clip is in upside down. (the bend in the clip is on the bottom, not the top that is in the pictures. Do you think this would make a big difference? Maybe that is my problem.

The clip should come up from the bottom and clip over the top. Have you taken the shifter assembly apart to see the condition of the items below? I had to replace most of them due to being bent or out of round. Plus the ball on my shifter was cracked. When you put it back together, replace the nut on the bottom with a new lock nut. I put the old on back on and really tightened it. I never even ran the car and moved the shifter a couple times. The damn nut came right off. You really get experience when you have to do things twice instantly.

[seabeelt]

Yup, took it all apart , cleaned it, lubed it and put it back together. I would have posted the cleaned up version, but couldnt find the picture. Must be on the other computer. All the parts looked fine once I got the gunk and rusty stuff off of them. . I put some lock-tite on the nut when reassembling. We'll see how that goes. That was a winter time project. I have recently installed the new compressor in the garage and tried out the blasting cabinet this past weekend. What a difference the larger size compressor makes. Blasted the two rear lower fenders in the cabinet. and found that one of them had a bunch of bondo covering some small rust holes ( wouldnt have known unless I had blasted them) Going to try leading the small holes and see how that works, otherwise I'll get a new one for that side. Ahhh I digress