Topic

I recently stripped down my Mk1 MGF gear selector mechanism as the gear change was very sloppy.

Having seen some previous posts on this I thought I would add what I did. I removed the t-bar, central console and tunnel trim to get at the gear selector. I removed the mechanism after breaking the rose ball joints and removing the three bolts (top, bottom and right on picture below). I found the copper/brass bushes had worn badly, fragments fell out once the part was stripped down.

Referring to the photo:

Top: I removed the shim washer from the brass bush and replaced with an m6 penny repair washer and replaced the nut with a nylock type. I added an external tooth washer to lock the bolt head to the selector body to reduce movement in the gear lever.

Right: brass bush was completely worn and fragmented. I added an axial needle thrust bearings alongside the existing shim washer to aid movement. Added m6 nylock nut and added external tooth washer between bolt head and selector body to reduce vertical movement that translates into a large degree of gear lever wobble.

Bottom: Added washer to spread load. There is a nylon bush and metal ball joint here. I wrapped the metal ball in ptfe tape to mitigate the wear on the nylon bush and reduce movement.

Both rose cable tie ends were replaced. The nylon insert in the rose joint had deteriorated as the car was born in 1996!.

The final thing to mention is the square white nylon block. This houses a nylon bush for a ball joint. I wrapped pfte tape around the ball joint head to mitigate the wear. I also greased up all moving parts.

The sloppy movement in the gear lever has reduced significantly. It cost me £15 in total and about 4 hours of work.

Next step is to replace the bell crank assembly with my already purchased mike satur upgraded part.