Shortening Shift Lever

[Bryan Boyle]

Just a couple snaps...shortened shift lever 1.25" (29mm?), rethreaded (5/16-24 thread to match knob insert), primed (zinc chromate, yes, I know about hexavalent chromium, etc.  Shot it in a paint hood at the airport, ok?), cleaned up bearing blocks, new bearing for the lever. 

Not the cleanest threading job, but, it will be OK.  Have to drag it back to MA (I'm in PA right now) and reinstall with oilite bushings in the base, and a new, cleanly sized shoulder bolt and new nylock nut.  Slather lots of lube on the bold then put in...should be good for another 50 years.

[BDA]

How has that affected shifting effort?

[Fotog]

If I wanted to remove mine to replace the bushings at the base of the lever, are there any parts that I might lose into the frame as I remove the lever and it's ball joint?  Not clear from the manual.

Thanks,
-Vince

[Bryan Boyle]

How has that affected shifting effort?

On my S2,  the difference was unnoticeable.

Not that any of these are like the Elan (which shifts like an electric switch...), but shortening the arm above the bearing will increase the effort a bit.  Never did any formal calculations...I leave that to folks who like to do those things.  Polishing the lower tang, replacing the bushings, and lubing the bearing does a lot to improve the feel; making sure the transfer bushing on the engine is in good nick, the distances are set properly, the UJoints are tight, and the rear attachment is properly set up will get you about as good as it could be.

Just my 'hands-on' thoughts.

[Bryan Boyle]

If I wanted to remove mine to replace the bushings at the base of the lever, are there any parts that I might lose into the frame as I remove the lever and it's ball joint?  Not clear from the manual.

Thanks,
-Vince

At the base....you will have (deteriorated) nylon 'top hat' bushings IN the base of the lever.  The shoulder bolt will be inserted from the driver side through the base (there's a welded stop to prevent it from turning...when you tighten or loosen the nyloc nut on the other end.  Under the nyloc nut is a washer.  The whole assembly is (assuming you have a TC or an upgraded S2 that uses the TC parts) is as you see it in the photo above. 

You will have to get your forearm IN all the way and do by feel.  Yes, things COULD drop into the frame, but a magnet stick works wonders to pick up pieces that may disappear.  Just take your time (thinking the factory had a select group of assemblers who either had very thin forearms...or built the whole thing out of the car and pushed it into the frame before dropping the engine in...I've done it both ways...);  I've found that it takes about a half hour and much contortions (helps if you pull the seats so you can kneel on the floor) but taking it a step at a time works just fine. 

[Fotog]

 Ok.  Thanks, Bryan.  And yes, it's a TC.

-Vince Harris

[Kendo]

Last year I wanted to replace the deteriorated nylon top hats with the brass ones. I just pulled the whole linkage out of the car, fixed, then reinstalled. The engine stayed in place. On a TCS. Much easier than evolving a second elbow to get in through the tunnel hole.

I wish BD Boyle had been around, because the idea of polishing the tang sounds good.

[SilverBeast]

If you disconnect the shift connection on the rear of the gearbox, and at the joint where it attaches to the bell housing you can undo the four nuts that hold the shift lever bearing and drop the lever with bearing down into the chassis and pull the whole mechanism back to the access oval under the armrest.

You can then see what you are doing to remove the shoulder screw from the base of the gear lever.  The two halves that the gear lever base bearing mount betwee  are held together by the 4 nuts you remove to drop the lever, so the only things you can drop are the shoulder bolt  nut and any top hat remnants. 

I beliieve his is easier than trying to remove shoulder bolt first, if you can even get at it.

 Hardest bit for me was getting the roll pin from the selector shaft at the back of the gearbox! I wrote this thread http://www.lotuseuropa.org/LotusForum/index.php?topic=4631.0 to show how I eventually did it.  It's more gentle than try to smack it out, as access from the top is somewhat limited!

[Bryan Boyle]

***DELETIA***

I beliieve his is easier than trying to remove shoulder bolt first, if you can even get at it.

Luckily I have thin forearms (not that anything's double jointed, though....lol).  This doesn't even compare to some assemblies in aircraft, though, that you're attacking through access holes on the other side of a wing rib.  You learn to do thing by feel...

Hardest bit for me was getting the roll pin from the selector shaft at the back of the gearbox! I wrote this thread http://www.lotuseuropa.org/LotusForum/index.php?topic=4631.0 to show how I eventually did it.  It's more gentle than try to smack it out, as access from the top is somewhat limited!

Someone somewhere along the way replaced the roll pin on the selector shaft in mine with a bolt; I'm not too happy with that, but seeing as how I have a replacement center bush and delrin spacers (#s 13 and 14 on page FB of the parts manual), I may just try disconnecting and pulling the whole thing back you did.  May save scraping my right forearm up as it did to get it out last week.  The S2 mechanism was a lot easier and made sense...but I'm learning something new, which is a good thing.

[Bryan Boyle]

It all went together pretty well.  Yes, with car stationary and rear tires (tyres?) off the ground, the effort did go up a bit.  Not unreasonable; was able to find all 5 forward and reverse without having to disassemble the transaxle.  Now, how long it lasts?  That is for keeping a watch on and keeping after the maintenance as I get the car sorted and on the road.

[Bryan Boyle]

How has that affected shifting effort?

To answer your question, in the few short drives I've taken, not really very much.  more?  Certainly; physics doesn't change.  Uncomfortable or not right?  I'm not going to complain. 

The clutch adjustment has more to do with how well it shifts than the leverage, I've found.  Finding the sweet spot on this tired clutch to allow me to find all 4 (5) gears with some confidence that I'm getting the right gear at the right time with a minimum of clashing of teeth (ie none) is turning out to be more important. 

[Bryan Boyle]

How has that affected shifting effort?

To answer your question, in the few short drives I've taken, not really very much.  more?  Certainly; physics doesn't change.  Uncomfortable or not right?  I'm not going to complain. 

The clutch adjustment has more to do with how well it shifts than the leverage, I've found.  Finding the sweet spot on this tired clutch to allow me to find all 4 (5) gears with some confidence that I'm getting the right gear at the right time with a minimum of clashing of teeth (ie none) is turning out to be more important. 

Just to update the thread...after 400 miles (and a few quarts of oil leaking out of the oil pan to rustproof the frame and suspension...), with proper set up of the shift mechanism, shimming the rear universal to eliminate the "wag" on the shift rod, new bushing on the intermediate joint, bronze bushings on the lever, and 1.25" shorter lever (and lots of grease where needed...), the shifting is just fine.  It's not the extraordinary Elan mechanism, but, I can move the lever smoothly with just wrist action, can find reverse 90% of the time on the first try (thinking of pinging Peter over in NL to see if he has any left-over kits to remove the Lotus attachment and use the internal Renault 5th gear ball-and-spring, and reverse lockout as was in the Esprit), and can find 5th when needed. 

I'm pleased with the current set-up, and the shorter shift lever fits the interior 'view' a lot better than that longer lever whose top ball was almost up to the level of the instrument panel...just my $.02. 

Just to close the loop on this particular modification.