Iffy gear change

Hi, This is my first post. I bought a 2011 SAIC built TF about three weeks ago. I paid a bit over the odds but it was just too good to walk away from.

Although it looks and drives well there's an issue with the gear changer. It's very wooly and imprecise. From what I've managed to find out the mechanism is made from plastic (nylon?) and I feel that this is partly responsible for the situation.

My question is would a metaL mechanism from an earlier model fit and give a more positive change?

Thanks.

Paul Williams
2011 SAIC TF in Black.

I think the short answer is No, and the long answer is Yes. Im no 100% sure on this and others will probably give you a more reliable answer.
But I think (based on Mike Satur’s website) that the cables are different between the steel gear change and the plastic one.
I also think that a section in Roger Parker’s book suggested the plastic one was an improvement over the steel one!
Mike Satur offers an aftermarket item which some swear as being an improvement.
 

PS welcome to the t bar 

Virtually every modern hatch has a nylon ball based gear change.   Most are very light and slick.  If yours if poor it's likely wear or adjustment.

Thanks for the welcome Delbourt.

Looks like it's out with the spanners for me then. Possibly a light application of white grease.

Any car that doesn't have it's gear leaver working directly the the gearbox is always open to a deterioration in the quality of the gear change, everything from feeling like a wooden spoon in porridge to feeling like it's been made outta old bits of Meccano with all the nuts & bolts loose!
The problem is the further away the gearbox is from the gear leaver the more there is to wear, and what may be a small amount of slackat one point, it's where the wear is that gets magnified by the distance, and amount of components involved in that mechanism. each adding it's own slop to the system total. 
Now in a front engined rear wheel drive car the layout can allow for the gear shifter to be directly mounted to the gearbox as in most cases the gearbox is conveniently right beside the driver, but when you came to Porsche 924, 944, 968 & 928s or Alfa Romeo Alfettas, and the Ferrari 364 GTB/4 (Daytona) these cars had their engines up the front and the gearbox in a transaxle at the rear, this was a trade off of shit precision for overall even weight distribution of the car to the benefit of overall handling, drive a neglected Alfetta and although it will go around corners like it's on rails the wear in the remote gearchange will shit you to tears!
Front wheel drive cars can have rubbery gear changes for the same reason, because it's remote from the gear bag, though in the modern age no one gives a shit because they are nearly all auto trannies.

I dunno if you've ever had to suffer the old style steering column manual gear changes, but they were notoriously awful when it came to shift feel and quality, so many rods, bushes, leavers, quadrants, cables and gawd knows what else where involved, the damned things felt like shit when new and a nightmare one they had a bit of wear.
A case of over complication for little or no real dynamic, or ergonomic advantage. Not surprising that the yanks loved a column change as they mostly went for automatic transmissions, which made the gear change mechanism much simpler and once they shoved if in drive the didn't bother touching the gear selector again until they got to their destination!

The damned things would try and select 2 gears at once or the linkages would bind up the linkages together leaving you with a gearbox full of neutrals.........usually at the worst possible moment like in the middle of a busy intersection, down changing to descend a steep hill or approaching a corner! You would either have too many gears or none!

Wooden spoons in porridge, 
also in my Morris Minor you have to sneak up on 3rd because I swear if the damn thing knows you're about to change up it blocks you.
I think therefore when a TF gear linkage is adjusted correctly there is nothing snickier, with what may be termed a notchy feel, but I like that.
P.S.
nice to see you are improving Cobber.

I think you are looking at the wrong end of the problem. Start first by changing the the 2 gear cable ends where it attaches to the gearbox. These parts wear and the shifting gets sloppy. It’s an inexpensive easy fix. Very common. Aside from the how tos on this site, there are YouTube videos as well. Change this first and then see if you have a problem. My feeling is your nylon gearbox is fine. Renewing the cable ends makes a huge difference. 

As others have said, the nylon box is supposed to be better than the metal. Also, to switch gearboxes you need to swap cables. You do not want to change the cables. Very difficult job. I don’t think you need to do any of this.