Triumph Repair: 80 Triumph 1500 stick shift vibration, roadster factory, triumph 1500

Question
I've had my 1500 for almost 20 years now and just this last year my stick shift started to rattle while driving in any gear. It's a vibration that only stops when I hold my hand on the shifter. I can feel the vibration in my hand but it doesn't seem to me as if it should really cause the sound that I hear. My best guess is that it sounds like somethings loose.

I have just had extensive work done on the car to get it up and running again after a 4-5 year vacation in the garage but I've never had this problem before. During it's time in the shop I did have the clutch replaced so my guess is that the engine and trans were dropped out to perform this work. I don't know if this information helps but I can't tell from the parts books from Victoria British and Roadster Factory where the problem might be related to.

I tried to find the problem today and after removing the padded leg bolsters and the emergency brake padded cover I realized that I'd have to take the carpeting as well as the cardboard housing off just to see the location where the shifter hits the tranny. Before I went this far I'd thought I'd ask some questions before I dove into such an endeavor.

Any ideas?

MM

Answer
Mark,

The shift lever has several metal and plastic pieces, along with a spring to give the detent for keeping you out of reverse until you need it.

Over time the plastic (or nylon if you want to be picky) bits wear out and when that happens, you get a rattle.

The major parts suppliers have a kit that has all the bits and pieces to rebuild the shift lever.   It's normally referred to as an "shifter anti-rattle kit".   The one sitting on my desk has a Moss Motors number of 848-965 and I believe the Rover number might be 519770.

You have one advantage in having a later car as the shift lever is removed from the trans by twisting the retaining ring from the top of the trans.  You'll need to peel the carpet (and shifter boot) away to get access to the retaining ring.

On earlier cars the shift lever is held in place by a bolt at the bottom, basically requirining removing the trans cover completely in order to service the shift lever.

Hope that helps.

Cheers,

Jim