Oh Bu:censored:er! - Gear Selector Problem

[v8s4me]

I noticed the gear selector was moving on its mounting so I tried to tighten up the bolts. Although there was play between the bushes and the back of the gearbox both bolts were very tight. I tried to tweek them up and of course one has snapped off!



The end of the bolt is sticking out of the hole in the gearbox so if the 'box was off car it would be an easy job to get it out. It it possible to to remove the selector mechanism from the back of the 'box so I can get a drill in to clean out the hole?

On the other side the inside bush is worn a way so this has obviously been a problem for some time. I've tightened this up a bit and to be honest it's not much more sloppy than before I stated.



Is there a third bolt under the selector? I'm wondering how long I can get away with this and can I put this job off until the end pf the summer.

Any suggestions? I really don't want a big garage bill if I can avoid it.

This is the bolt which sheared; it looks metric.



Is that right? I'd have expected UNC on this motor. If the gearbox flange is threaded maybe the bolts should have been screwed in from that side towards the rear and the selector held on by nuts? Although the bolt I sheared was shouldered.

Edited by v8s4me on Sunday 7th June 17:58

Edited by v8s4me on Sunday 7th June 22:02

[phillpot]

If the bolt sheared because the shoulder was hard up to the bracket the piece if thread shouldn't be tight in the hole? Not familiar with the V8 set up but guess access is the main issue with trying to fiddle it out?
Cut some bodywork away and resin back in when sorted with your new found fibre glassing skills?

Quite possibly metric thread, while the engine is of American origin and therefore Imperial I believe the g'box is BL's own design and maybe even they had gone metric by then?

[Top Gear TVR]

UNC FIT metric nearly quite often.....

[zombeh]

v8s4me said:

Is there a third bolt under the selector? I'm wondering how long I can get away with this and can I put this job off until the end pf the summer.

There's a U shaped bracket underneath it that's bolted to the rear housing both sides.

see Barkychoc's awesomely helpful photos in this thread http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=911...

And you can take it out from inside the car if you have to.

[TurboTony]

Metric fasteners on the 77mm gearbox

[v8s4me]

Thanks for the replies. It looks like there are two further bolts either side of the selector so there are three bolts holding the assembly in place. If I can get these off can I remove the gear lever assembly as a complete unit or is there something else holding it to the selector rod which goes into the gearbox?

And, if I can lift the lever assembly off, does it need to be in any particular gear?

Edited by v8s4me on Monday 8th June 18:54

[v8s4me]

phillpot said:

....If the bolt sheared because the shoulder was hard up to the bracket the piece if thread shouldn't be tight in the hole?..........

No it wasn't on the shoulder but it was very tight in the hole.

phillpot said:

....guess access is the main issue with trying to fiddle it out? Cut some bodywork away and resin back in when sorted with your new found fibre glassing skills?...

What access? So as suggested I cut out some of the transmission tunnel so I could get a pliers on the end of what was left of the bolt.



Luckily there was quite a bit sticking out so there was plenty of meat to get a grip with the pliers.





After about seven hours (I kid you not) of winding the remains of the bolt back and forth and getting it a tiny bit further each time the little basrd finally came out.



The new bushes and bolts arrived from Rimmers today.



The new bushes are about a third thicker than the old ones. The new bolts aren't shouldered; the old ones were so is that an issue?

So now just got to stick it all back together tomorrow.

Thanks to all for your help and suggestions. I put a similar post up on the Chim Forum thinking there would be lots of V8 knowledge on there but didn't one reply. Just proves this is the best Forum

[phillpot]

v8s4me said:

The new bolts aren't shouldered; the old ones were so is that an issue?

Those are set screws.

Do you want bolts, ie not fully threaded or actual shouldered bolts?



Either way they don't look right to me.

Won't they need something to tighten against rather than squashing the new bushes and a thread inside a rubber bush doesn't seem right, should be a smooth, well fitting surface.

Are they a "good fit" in the bushes or is there room to make a sleeve from a piece of tube?

[v8s4me]

phillpot said:

...Won't they need something to tighten against rather than squashing the new bushes and a thread inside a rubber bush doesn't seem right, should be a smooth, well fitting surface...

I'm going to re-fit the hardened steel spacers from the original bushes. Rimmers only supply the rubber bits.The threaded section will fit inside the steel spacer and so no friction on the rubber. The original bolts were shouldered though.

[phillpot]

v8s4me said:

I'm going to re-fit the hardened steel spacers from the original bushes.

Ah! you didn't mention those

v8s4me said:

The original bolts were shouldered though.

So the original bolts were bolts, not set screws



...... and not too tight

[v8s4me]

phillpot said:

...So the original bolts were bolts, not set screws........

There were, and that's what I ordered! Rimmers say these are the only "bolts" they do for this fitment. Oddly the invoice says "setscrews". I also noticed earlier that the new ones are 40mm whereas the originals are 50mm.

Luckily I've found a 50mm M8 shouldered bolt in the garage. The shoulder is a bit long but I'll pack out the head with an extra washer or two so that should be OK.

phillpot said:

...and not too tight

Definitely not

[Griffinr]

phillpot said:

and not too tight

Needs to be tight enough for the washers on each side to be hard against the spacer tube (assuming the spacer tube is the correct length.
Looking at the old bolt, it probably failed because it was loose.

[v8s4me]

Griffinr said:

...Needs to be tight enough for the washers on each side to be hard against the spacer tube (assuming the spacer tube is the correct length......

"The washers on each side"?. Interesting. There was just the one washer under the bolt head. the other end of the spacer was bearing on the gearbox casing. Does that sound right?

Griffinr said:

.....Looking at the old bolt, it probably failed because it was loose.

It took nearly 7 hours to wind the remnant out so I don't think it was lose! Unless you think the "slop" caused metal fatigue in the shaft just where the threads end?

[Griffinr]

v8s4me said:

Griffinr said:

...Needs to be tight enough for the washers on each side to be hard against the spacer tube (assuming the spacer tube is the correct length......

"The washers on each side"?. Interesting. There was just the one washer under the bolt head. the other end of the spacer was bearing on the gearbox casing. Does that sound right?

Not familiar with the exact arrangement, but the spacer length is designed to allow the correct compression of the rubber so must be up against a hard flat surface either side. I assumed there would be a washer either side but it might be the casing on one side.

[Barkychoc]

Are you really sure it's metric - are the one's Rimmers provided metric?

[phillpot]

Barkychoc said:

Are you really sure it's metric - are the one's Rimmers provided metric?

8.8 is a metric designation.......

[v8s4me]

Both the original and the Rimmer ones have 8.8 on the bolt head and fit an M8 nut.

[v8s4me]

Nearly finished. Fitted the new bolt & bushes this afternoon and repaired the hole I cut out for access. I've also put some more GF in the corners so the the screws for the rubber gaiter have something to bite on.



Just a bit more wiring to reconnect and it's done

Correction to above; they are 40mm bolts not 50mm as I said earlier. Rimmers got the length right. Although the longer 50mm bolt did help getting things lined up but once I had everything secure I took the longer bolt back out and replaced it with a 40mm one just to be sure I wasn't any where the shoulder when doing it up.

The whole assembly is now much more secure and doesn't flop about when changing gear. If only I'd done this before Spa. I have been so much quicker on those laps

[Oldred_V8S]

v8s4me said:

Nearly finished. Fitted the new bolt & bushes this afternoon and repaired the hole I cut out for access. I've also put some more GF in the corners so the the screws for the rubber gaiter have something to bite on.



Just a bit more wiring to reconnect and it's done

Correction to above; they are 40mm bolts not 50mm as I said earlier. Rimmers got the length right. Although the longer 50mm bolt did help getting things lined up but once I had everything secure I took the longer bolt back out and replaced it with a 40mm one just to be sure I wasn't any where the shoulder when doing it up.

The whole assembly is now much more secure and doesn't flop about when changing gear. If only I'd done this before Spa. I have been so much quicker on those laps

Look out Plasticman, there is a new guy on the block. What next Joe, an S with a Sagaris front end?

Well done, those new skills of yours are really coming along.

[v8s4me]

Thanks to all who responded on this one. Not a single reply from the Chim Forum. Guess they are all too busy playing golf