2500M: straightening a shifter?

[Renaldo]

Guys, I bought this short shifter, made in the U.S,, for the TR6.

Nice piece, but that bend makes it foul against the centre console.

It's steel. If I could straighten it, it should clear the console and should work fine.

Is there a way to straighten it? Any suggestions how? A few blows with a hammer certainly wasn't enough.

Ron

[chris52]

Lots of heat at the bend lock it in a strong vice and put a scaffolding pole over it and lots of brute force
chris
.

[Slow M]

chris52 said:

Lots of heat at the bend lock it in a strong vice and put a scaffolding pole over it and lots of brute force
chris.

please protect the Isolastic bushing with a sopping wet towel! Otherwise, you'll end up with a three piece shifter . . . two pieces of steel, and a piece of foul smelling charcoal.

Best,
B.

[Renaldo]

B, absolutely -- protect that bushing!

Now, I'm thinking this will likely result in a very imperfect straightening job. However, most of that should be covered by the leather gaiter, so I'm hoping it will be okay.

Ron

[GAjon]

As an alternative you could consider a cut, thread and joint a section.
No or minimal heat and you can play about with the final positioning and hieghts.

[phillpot]

Renaldo said:

Any suggestions how?

Can you get access to a hydraulic press?


Nice and gentle and no heat to bugger things up

[Slow M]

GAjon said:

As an alternative you could consider a cut, thread and joint a section.
No or minimal heat and you can play about with the final positioning and heights.

There really isn't anything, on that chassis of yours, that's not to like. Is the body repaired?

Best,
B.

[GAjon]

Slow M said:

here really isn't anything, on that chassis of yours, that's not to like. Is the body repaired?

Best,
B.

Stagnant at the moment Bernard, a reschedule of resources put the bodywork on hold temporarily, plus my eldest sons MX5 is taking up valuable garage space.
Thanks for the comment.

[kermit1300]

I had the same trouble with my vixen 1300, the gear stick looks very similar to the spitfire one, in the end I used a midget 1500 gear stick which is straighter and then turned 180 degrees which worked.

[Renaldo]

Chris and all, wondering about using a TR3 shifter, which like the Midget's is straighter, plus it's shorter too.

I put a TR3 shifter in last summer for a bit, worked fine (shorter throws!) except I was getting such annoying rattling from it, I switched back to the stock shifter. Is there a solution to that rattling? If I could fix the rattling, I'd put it back.

Also, I'm curious about whether the Midget or other Triumph shifters might interchangable with the TR6/2500M?

Ron

[RCK974X]

Other vehicles.....From your profile, as you are in Canada, some of these may never have been exported, but here is my list of vehicles which I know had the same gearbox as TR6.

TR4, TR5, TR6, Triumph saloons (2000 and 2500), Dolomite Sprint (not ordinary Dolomites), Triumph Stag.

[Renaldo]

Andy, thank you very much for the list of compatibles.

Any ideas about how to fix that rattling TR3 shifter? If I could get it to stop rattling in there, I'd use it, because it is shorter than the 6 shifter and has a nice feel. But that rattling/vibration was too simply much to take!

(Dare I try the "duct tape" solution? Good God, I can't believe I said that!)

Ron

[Hansoplast]

Renaldo said:

Andy, thank you very much for the list of compatibles.

Any ideas about how to fix that rattling TR3 shifter? If I could get it to stop rattling in there, I'd use it, because it is shorter than the 6 shifter and has a nice feel. But that rattling/vibration was too simply much to take!

(Dare I try the "duct tape" solution? Good God, I can't believe I said that!)

Ron

Hi Ron,

I looked into the Triumph manual for the detail of the bear lever.
It may be the ball-end spring and retainer spring that have lost their loading (so to say).
A new spring or stretching the spring ( sorry for this amateur solution) will help.
Good luck.
Hans

[Renaldo]

Good suggestion, Hans. I'll check it out...

Ron

[Slow M]

1. Verify the spring is OK.

2. Verify the TR3 shifter had an Isolastic joint, or else the lever may just be a noise path.

Best,
B.

[Renaldo]

B, just to clarify: I need to check both the tiny "plunger" spring (in the ball end of the shifter), and the larger retaining spring that sits just under the retaining cap?

Ron

[Slow M]

I've seen the plunger spring go bad, but never the hold-down, or retaining spring.

Best,
B.

[RCK974X]

Somebody might howl and tell me this advice is crap (which is fine), but perhaps a little bit of grease around the ball and socket ?? Just a thought....

I thought that the TR3 had a different 'box to the 4-5-6, but I don't know for sure - perhaps the ball is the wrong size ?? Again, just a thought, may well be wrong...

[Renaldo]

I'm sure grease couldn't hurt.

But how that tiny plunger and spring prevent rattling is beyond me.

The ball section of the TR3 shifter is virtually identical to the TR6.

The difference is primarily that the shifter lever has no bend and is somewhat shorter (and a wee bit thicker).

Ron

[Slow M]

Renaldo said:

. . . how that tiny plunger and spring prevent rattling is beyond me. . .

http://trf.zeni.net/TR6bluebook/index.php?page=84
CL64 112424 Plunger, anti-vibration, in ball end

Best,
B.