Triumph Repair: triumph spitfire 1500, triumph spitfire 1500, worn clutch

Question
triumph spitfire 1500 1980 when gear box gets hot car shudders in reverse like its fighting for grip also overdrive dont work forward gears work fine

Answer
Could be related, could be separate issues

Shudder could be a worn clutch disc, if not a recent replacement.

OD is likely the solenoid, but I'm not that familiar with them.  Lookup the procedures to test the solenoid on an OD trans to see if you can eliminate that from the problem.

Once you determine the fate of the OD, that will at least tell you if its related to your reverse shudder by whether it still exists.  Sorry to say you are likley best off removing the trans, replacing the clutch, and while the trans is out, test the OD.  You may need a rebuild.

Hope that helps.