50 replies to this topic

[Brent J]

Yeah the kit doesn't seem to have right pivot shaft. Use the rest and weld and grind your shaft if required.
Also check the selectors on the outside of side cover, they can be flogged out where they fit on.

Marty

I gave the selectors on the outside of the box a good wiggle and they felt very firm with little to no play..

My pivot shaft doesn't seem that worn and fits snug into the assembly. It does have a small wear groove in one section.

The spring on the Rare Spares kit is about 5mm longer. Not sure if mine is worn and compressed from the years or if there are different spring lengths.

My concern here is that there doesn't seem to be a great deal of wear on the assembly (I've seen worse). So not sure if this is the root of my problem. I'll weld up and grind a few sections, re-assemble and try it i suppose!

[76lxhatch]

Make sure its reasonably tight in all directions, one or more of those shims you got may be useful even though it didn't originally have them.

Dummy it up in the vice when you first re-assemble and test it, you can soon see what needs attention. Also when you put it back on the box tweak the shift rod adjustment to suit, the best position for clean shifts isn't always having the shift levers perfectly centred/aligned.

[Brent J]

Finally got some time to get the the shifter!

I managed to build up the worn sections and then trim back using a grinder, hand files and sanding belt. Not the best quality as my MIG is a cheap gass-less MIG, and I'm no welder, but seemed to be ok. I didn't really do any work to the main selector tang as it had very little to no wear when I measured it up.

All of the components are now off to be re-plated and the shift lever to be re-chromed which should hopefully finish it off nicely before re-assembly.

It will be interesting to see if this fixed my issue! If not, it has to be either linkage adjustment, clutch adjustment or in the box (hopefully not)...

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[Brent J]

Also worth noting that I've got a machinist turning up the pivot pin which wasn't worn too badly, but did have some play in it and a few groves worn in where the shift stick pivots off it. For the re-work above, I basically used the dimensions of the tang to build up the other pieces to be a snug fit with some clearance allowed for the plating (which should be minimal)...

[Brent J]

SO - it took a while longer than I would have liked, but I got all my parts back from the plater.... I think they have come up nicely. Not sure if the colour is correct, but it looks fine for me

 

I got the assembly back together, put a new spring, bush and spring shims in place. I also had a new centre pin machined for it too...

 

 

 

 

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[Brent J]

Next step - I bolted it back in place and fitted the linkages to see where everything sat.

 

I few gentle shifts and found that it was a bit catchy pulling 3rd back to centre. Admittedly the car wasn't running and at a stand still, but I could see the tang on the shifter arm when getting back to neutral between 3rd and 2nd was just catching on the 1-2 arm. I lengthened the 3-4 arm by 2mm and shortened the 1-2 arm by 2mm and everthing centred nicely.

 

Moves gently between gears really nicely. The new spring and shims in the shifter have taken a lot of the slop out with out it all being too tight so at least in the garage it seems good.

 

My last step before a test drive is to change the gearbox oil... but I have a few questions...

 

1. Which genius put the hot dog right next to the fill plug on the side of the box. ... I can crack the plug with an open ender but I have no idea how ill get fluid travelling uphill into the gearbox
2. Also - trying to figure out which is the drain plug (noob question). I have read it is the lower most rear bolt on the extension housing, but this looks like an ordinary bolt holding the ext. housing to the box, not a drain plug. Any advice please. Picture would help too!

 

I really hope this fixes my gear jamming issue

[S pack]

A huge syringe (if you can get one) and some clear vinyl tube should get the oil in the box. I have a 1 litre Castrol oil bottle with a hand pump. I think it was a Castrol Oils promotion thing I bought decades ago.

 

The bottom bolt on the rear extension housing is def the drain plug.

 

Top job on the shifter reco BTW.

Edited by S pack, 13 March 2017 - 09:18 PM.

[Ice]

Nice job on the shifter

[I'm a Red Motor fiend]

Clear vinyl tube, funnel on end in cabin down through the shifter hole into gearbox. Even if you have the lower boot and console back in it will be easier to remove that again rather than f#ck assing around underneath trying to work around the hotdog.

[S pack]

Clear vinyl tube, funnel on end in cabin down through the shifter hole into gearbox. Even if you have the lower boot and console back in it will be easier to remove that again rather than f#ck assing around underneath trying to work around the hotdog.

So true Adam, so true.

[grumpy xu1]

Just go to autobarn & ask for a Tom thumb, it's a 1 litre oil pump mate easy as, piece of cake to fill the box with it. Gary.

[TORLX8]

Yes, as said, Tom thumb is the go. I used one to fill my diff.

[S pack]

Just go to autobarn & ask for a Tom thumb, it's a 1 litre oil pump mate easy as, piece of cake to fill the box with it. Gary.

Just googled the Tom Thumb pump Gary. That's the same thing as the Castrol one that I have.

 

Cheers

Dave.

Edited by S pack, 15 March 2017 - 12:59 PM.

[grumpy xu1]

Hi Dave, they're a good thing for under 5 litres filling. I have seen bigger amounts of oil put in with the Tom thumb when that's all we had at a friends place & it was painful. Repco have a telescopic pump from about 15 litres to 25 ish litres. But for the little amount in the torana easy as. Gary.

[sibhs]

I use a 6 litre garden pressure sprayer with-out the sprayer.  still slow but you pump it up and leave for 5 mins then repeat.

[Brent J]

Thanks for all of you suggestions fellas...

 

So I picked up one of these pumps from Supercheap Auto. Looks more or less the same as the Tom Thumb. Worked really well.

I dumped the old oil. It looked nice and clean while draining. I let it drain for about half an hour while I degreased the cross member. Pulled the catch tray out and the oil looked nasty. The box had about 1.95L in it.. It had swirls and contaminants in it. I cannot quite figure out if it is metallic or not but either way cannot be healthy. Makes me worried!

 

See pics below!

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Edited by Brent J, 18 March 2017 - 07:39 PM.

[Brent J]

So with that said, I put in a fresh lot of Penrite Pro 75-90 gearbox oil in it. Put the cross member back in (note a stripped bolt ill have to come back to later) and got the thing ready to go after 3 months off the road. Pulled it out of the garage and gave it a wash.

 

It shifted beautifully into 1st and reverse. Then just as I was about to take it out onto the street, this happened.....

[Brent J]

 

 

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[Brent J]

After some reading on this Forum, I have found that these are rubbish when they get old. This one has turned all crumbly and powdery. Rare Spares has the black rubber ones for about $150 but they are not open on Sunday  

 

Anyone know where I can get a nice rubber one on a Sunday?

[Lc69]

Can't help you to buy one on a Sunday, but I can tell you they are much cheaper to buy from the UK.
Look at the up-side......you survived to tell the story.
I purchased a new rubber one after reading the thread on these danger traps.

[I'm a Red Motor fiend]

FrOck me, Nolathane strikes again. You are so lucky that was in the driveway.

[grumpy xu1]

Looks a bit like the oil has had an additive in it kinda like zinc look in old oil, did it smell bad & was it really frothy ? Assembly lube can give a similar look after the first oil change. You could siv it & check, there is going to be some small amount of metal in there. Yes the bottle is the same as Tom thumb. As above with the Nolathane, could have ended badly. Gary.

[Brent J]

I wouldn't say it was really frothy, but it was a little for sure yes. As for smell - it does smell kinda funky... The box has been reconditioned (at least re-painted) before I owned the car, but I am not sure if its first oil change since then.

 

Ill head to Rare Spares to pick up a new steering coupling tomorrow morning and fit it. Hopefully wont be too much of a pain to get it lined up..

[grumpy xu1]

Hi Brent, what i was getting at was, the oil contains an anti - frothing agent usually & if it comes out pretty frothy that can point to an issue inside the box, i would do a bit of driving & dump the oil again in a really clean container to be sure. Fairly cheap insurance really. Obviously smelling bad ect would be another indication. Gary.

[Brent J]

Thanks Gary. Understand..

 

A few days have passed, but Monday I got the new Steering coupling bolted in - pic below and then took it for a much anticipated drive on Tuesday. (Side note I had to get the car drivable as we are relocating this week).

 

While I took it quite easy and didn't give the car any real stick, the re-built Shifter, linkage adjustment and oil change has improved the feel of the gear changes, it still occasionally feels quite clunky when going from first to second and occasionally selecting first from a stand still.

 

It didn't get stuck in second (the original issue I was trying to address) mind you. That said, I didn't really get on it. So I dare say it could be clutch or the box is in need of an overhaul.

 

Ill dump the gearbox oil again out of curiosity... 

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