QuestionHi Jim. I posted this question yesterday but I am not sure if my internet was working so I'm posting again. Sorry if it is a repeat:
I have a 75 Spitfire. The gearshift lever goes into the shifting linkage thru a cap that is held on by a small pin. I'm having problems with this little pin falling out. The cap then comes loose and the gearshift lever then has a hard time going in to reverse because the spring is no longer held by the cap. Are you familiar with this situation? The mechanic here in Newport Oregon tried lock-tite but it still worked its way loose. It does fine in the forward gears and I can eventually get it in to reverse but I would of course prefer it if I could get that pin to stay put so the cap stayed on. Is there maybe some other mechanism you have tried that works better than the original equipment pin or any ideas how to keep it in place? Thanks. -Bob
AnswerBob,
Here's a resend of what I'd sent before. Cheers,
Jim
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Bob,
I'm not sure what happened.. it sounds like a previous owner was a bit ham fisted with the shift lever... probably lifting it to get into reverse.
Normally those pins are in for life.
As to replacing it... there is no "official" replacement, as I said it was supposed to be there for the lifetime of the tranmission.
One fix would be to get another transmission (maybe a trashed one) and have yours reassembled with the tailshaft housing from the other trans.
Not cheap or easy... but it's a straightforward solution.
The only other thing I can think of is to remove the transmission cover and tap the hole the pin fits into and put a machine screw in place. I'd guess you need something like a 6-32 pan head machine screw... maybe 3/4"
long. Test fit it, and if it's ok then loctite it in place
There are actually 2 pins, one on each side of the "cap". So you might need to do the fix on both sides.
Hope that helps!
Cheers,
Jim
