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Gear Shift Repair.

To: tigers@Autox.Team.Net
Subject: Gear Shift Repair.
From: Anita Barrett <anitabrt@mindspring.com>
Date: Sat, 30 May 1998 19:44:36 -0400
Tiger Folks,
        I don't understand it, but after 31 years and 280k miles
 the original floor shift in my Tiger II got a little sloppy.  The knob
end of the lever could be moved 2 to 3 inches before
taking up the slack in the linkage.  Here is what I found
and what I did to minimize the slop.
        The lever bolts to a U shaped forging that piviots
on a pin that passes through the main shaft.  The holes in the
U piece and the ends of the pin were worn.  The pin was
0.274 od at the unworn area and 0.262 in the worn area.
The holes in the forging were at 0.282.
Rather than trying to weld up the forging and redrilling the
holes ( and maby causing a weaker forging) I decided that
the drill stem of a 9/32 (0.2815) bit would replace the worn pin
and fit the worn holes in the forging.  Using a 9/32 bit
in my drill press at slowest speed I was finally able to
drill out the hardened main shaft.  I then pressed a cutoff
drill stem into the U and main shaft.  Now there was no slop
in this connection.
        There was still slop at other locations.  The main shaft
has a flat/oval pin that is used to engage the shift levers.  This
pin was worn about .010 on each end.  The slots inside of the
shift levers were also worn a bit.  After considering the massive
amount of work necessary to grind a new pin out of a grade 8
bolt, I used my MIG ( which was set up with SS wire) to add
a bit of metal on all 4 edges of the pin.  I am not as conserned
about the pin as the forging above as only about 3/8" sticks out
of the main shaft.  After grinding and filing for a couple of hrs
the pin fit in the oval hole.  The lever slots apparently were not
worn very much, because the pin fit the slots with very little
slop.  I re-assembled the shifter and still have about an 3/4"
of play.  
       I also added a shim washer between the sheet metal cover
and the first shift lever to take out excess side slop between the
shift levers.  The shim washer was too thick so I added a shim 
under the bolt holes of the sheet metal cover. Just the right
size.

        The holes in the outer assembly that the main shaft passes
through are worn.  The shaft is 0.867, a rather odd size.
I am considering fabricating a bushing and welding it to the 
right side of the shifter.  The shaft extends about 1/8" through the
right side when in neutral.
        On the left side I can not put an external bushing as the reverse
 shift lever is flush with the side plate.  I do not have the tools
to enlarge the hole and insert a bushing.  There is also a hole in the
outer sheet metal cover.  I may weld a bushing at that point.
The hard part is getting a streight hole through the new bushings
at 0.870.  I am also considering welding a larger ring around the
hole and filling the area around the shaft with babbit.  Don't know
how long that would last, but it would be easy to do.
        The pins that connect the shift rods to the shift levers
are slightly worn.  I will try to find replacements for these
or use them as is. 

        If you try this repair, be aware that the main shaft is
very, very hard and it is easy to break off your drill bit
in the hole.   

        I now have one side of my tiger repaired in SS including
a SS drivers side floor.  Haven't even started on the  other side.
The tough part is making the tools to bend the SS to match the
lip of the wheel wells along with the curve of the body.

Jim Barrett Tiger II 351C and others
       
        



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