At 11:23 PM 4/6/2000 -0300, Michael P. Ohleger wrote:
>
>Am I to assume that the remote tower must be removed in order to
remove/exchange the shift lever from an MGA 1600. I've never done this
before, but now have a need (don't ask) . Is there anything I should be
wary of in the process?
Maybe it depends on your attitude. You can remove the shift lever just
after removing the rubber shift lever boot. And you can put it back
together there as well, just can't do a perfect job of it that easy.
Start by removing the shift knob and the rubber boot. At the base of the
shift lever you will find a heavy spring retaining ring. Remove the
retaining ring, and as it comes out you will also get the stamped steel
retaining cover and the spring that it is holding. At that point you can
just pull the lever out. And it's nearly that easy to put it back in, so
long as you have 3 or 4 hands to handle the big snap ring.
However, where the small ball end on the bottom of the shift lever nests
into a socket of the rear remote lever, there is a small ball and spring
detent intended to be an anti-rattle device for the shift lever. When you
pull the shift lever out that little ball will find another home (if it
hasn't already long since gone away), and likely the small spring will take
a hike as well. The correct proceedure for reassembly would be to install
the shift lever first, then the small ball and spring go into the nest from
ths back, and the spring is held in place by a small split pin. Reassembly
of this ball and spring detent is nearly impossible without removing the
carpet, the tunnel cover, and the remote shift tower.
You can put it back together without the ball and spring, and it will still
shift as well, but just might rattle some like an irritating resonance
around highway speed. Some of them do that anyway, even with the ball and
spring detent in place. Given a preference, it's better to have the ball
and spring in place. Going the R&R of the center carpeting is the tough
part of the job. With the carpet out of the way, R&R of the tunnel cover
and the remote shift tower is fairly easy.
Barney Gaylord
1958 MGA with an attitude (and a lift out center carpet piece)
http://www.ntsource.com/~barneymg
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