FYI,ease of shifting
Discussion
Calvin, Jim, Bob- Thank you guys for your suggestions on the clutch hydrolics. The last bit of air is out of the system and shes up and running again.The lighter flywheel is fantastic. Vast improvment over the original clutch and flywheel.
Lately I've seen alot of talk about problems shifting. I tried two things when the gear box was out of the car that completely cured my hard shifting. So I wanted to share this with everyone willing to give it a shot. The first, which can be done with the GB in the car, must be done with a careful hand. When I pulled the rear cover off the GB the first thing I noticed was the chanel in the four shift rails, where the selector arm passes through perpindicular to the rails. The Vertical walls of this chanel are relieved to allow the selector arm to make the transition between the rails easier. But they are relieved, or I should say cut, at a strait angle leaving somewhat sharp or square edges. If this was applied to gunsmithing it would be murder on functionality. I simply rounded these square edges and polished each to a mirror finish. With the GB back in the car and everything connected I still had some problems shifting into first and second. I increased the length of the translator rod by 3mm (to allow the selector arm to move into or align better with each rails chanel). This did the trick. Shifting is now far better than I ever expected to have with this car. It is very easy to shift into and out of all gears including reverse. No sticking, no forcing, no snags what so ever. So I now believe that these gear boxes are very capable of silk smooth shifting. It just takes some extra work.
I have pictures of the work I just described if any of you are interested.
Cheers
John
Lately I've seen alot of talk about problems shifting. I tried two things when the gear box was out of the car that completely cured my hard shifting. So I wanted to share this with everyone willing to give it a shot. The first, which can be done with the GB in the car, must be done with a careful hand. When I pulled the rear cover off the GB the first thing I noticed was the chanel in the four shift rails, where the selector arm passes through perpindicular to the rails. The Vertical walls of this chanel are relieved to allow the selector arm to make the transition between the rails easier. But they are relieved, or I should say cut, at a strait angle leaving somewhat sharp or square edges. If this was applied to gunsmithing it would be murder on functionality. I simply rounded these square edges and polished each to a mirror finish. With the GB back in the car and everything connected I still had some problems shifting into first and second. I increased the length of the translator rod by 3mm (to allow the selector arm to move into or align better with each rails chanel). This did the trick. Shifting is now far better than I ever expected to have with this car. It is very easy to shift into and out of all gears including reverse. No sticking, no forcing, no snags what so ever. So I now believe that these gear boxes are very capable of silk smooth shifting. It just takes some extra work.
I have pictures of the work I just described if any of you are interested.
Cheers
John
Yes please john. We shortened the throw for the gear changes a while back which was a little treat. But now its slightly notchy. Changing down into second means giving the enngine a rev before popping it in straight away. So if you wouldn't mind giving us a detailed guide with pics to study up that would great.
Regards
Kylie
89 Esp Turbo
Regards
Kylie
89 Esp Turbo
John,
I think I misunderstand what exactly you did to the gearbox. Did you round off the detents which pass through the box to the rear section? If so, this is not something I would recommend. The reason these detents are squared off is to give a good locking action where they contact the check balls which are riding on springs in holes bored vertically into the rear wall of the gearbox, not the 5th gear extended housing. Rounding these off will result in the car not locking into gear and the box will have a tendency to release back into neutral once under load.
As far as rotating the crossgate extension rod, this is what actually smoothed out your shifting as this is exactly how you adjust the crossgate cable. Extending the rod makes the 5th/reverse shift better, shortening it makes the 1st/2nd shift better. The trick is to find the ideal middle ground which is what you've done.
But again, I believe that the machining you did provided merely a placebo effect and wasn't a positive move. I would not recommend it at all. If you didn't machine too much, you may not experience a problem, but you may find the car slipping out of gear as a result of the modification. There is supposed to be a certain amount of resistance designed into the selector rods so they don't slip. If you machine them, the shift will be easier due to the lessened resistance, but it is exactly this resistance which provides a positive lock to keep the box in gear once up against the power and torque transmitted from the engine. I have a fair amount of experience with these boxes having rebuilt 4 of them and for those others out there, this is not something you want to do. Happy Motoring! Jim'85TE
I think I misunderstand what exactly you did to the gearbox. Did you round off the detents which pass through the box to the rear section? If so, this is not something I would recommend. The reason these detents are squared off is to give a good locking action where they contact the check balls which are riding on springs in holes bored vertically into the rear wall of the gearbox, not the 5th gear extended housing. Rounding these off will result in the car not locking into gear and the box will have a tendency to release back into neutral once under load.
As far as rotating the crossgate extension rod, this is what actually smoothed out your shifting as this is exactly how you adjust the crossgate cable. Extending the rod makes the 5th/reverse shift better, shortening it makes the 1st/2nd shift better. The trick is to find the ideal middle ground which is what you've done.
But again, I believe that the machining you did provided merely a placebo effect and wasn't a positive move. I would not recommend it at all. If you didn't machine too much, you may not experience a problem, but you may find the car slipping out of gear as a result of the modification. There is supposed to be a certain amount of resistance designed into the selector rods so they don't slip. If you machine them, the shift will be easier due to the lessened resistance, but it is exactly this resistance which provides a positive lock to keep the box in gear once up against the power and torque transmitted from the engine. I have a fair amount of experience with these boxes having rebuilt 4 of them and for those others out there, this is not something you want to do. Happy Motoring! Jim'85TE
No Jim, I am fully aware of what the function of the ball detent notch is for and I would never touch this area. I simply rounded and smoothed the verticle walls of the chanel at the end of each rail where the cross shaft selector arm passes. Without question it smoothed the transition detween rails. The only thing I feel now when shifting into each gear is the positive engagement of the ball detent.
John
John
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