Reparing 352 rear gear select ujoint ??

[smedberg]

I have to much play in the small rear universal joint of the gear select rod for the 352 gearbox.

How can this be fixed ? I have seen that SJ sportcars in UK offers an  exchange rod for this (expensive..)  and Banks has a Ujoint that perhaps fits.

Anyone that has made this repair and has any tips ?
Any other Ujoint spec that fits ? There is a lot of UJoints for various steering columns available but it is hard to get the exact dimensions of these.

The exixting ujoint looks not so easy to take apart, probably have to cut it in pieces with the grinder or drill it out.

The picture shows the joint. not attached to the gearbox only hanging on to the gear selector shaft

[SilverBeast]

Is it definitely  the UJ?

First thing to replace usually seems to be the plastic "top hat" bushes on the bottom of the gear lever in the tunnel. SJSPORTSCARS.COM do some nice brass ones.

If you can rotate the gear knob other than a tiny amount, it is an indication these have worn (gone AWOL)

[Fotog]

I agree that it could be best to replace all the other bushings first and see how that improves things.  At the base of the gear lever, and on the side of the bell housing.  I didn't think I had so much play in those, but they were easy to replace and I was wrong.  Slop in the gear linkage was 90% gone after replacing them.  It works great now.

Just thinking-   the U-joints really don't move a lot and are closed, so they shouldn't wear terribly.

Vince

[BDA]

  with Fotog and SilverBeast.

Go for the easy (and in the case of the top-hat bushings at the bottom of the shift lever) the most likely.

If that u-joint is truly the problem, IIRC Dave Bean used to sell rebuild kits or maybe replacements. After that, I'd check the usual suspects (which in your case is SJ, Lotus Supplies, and Kelvedon and r.d. enterprises if you still haven't had any luck).

[jbcollier]

If your rear u-joint has excessive play, they are not a lot of options other than replacing it.  You used to have to buy the whole piece but they aren’t available anymore.  You’ll have to cut off the old joint and weld on a new one.  That will require making a jig so everything ends up where it is supposed to be.