Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Here is something that some would say you cant do.
But this is an old mechanics trick, rebuilding badly worn shift
rail gates with nickel bronze applied with an Oxy welding
torch, it's not for everyone as it can be tricky to do, but if
done correctly the repair will last for decades.

The hard bit is grinding and hand filing back, but with a bit
of careful work, it is not long before the gates are like new
again, I filed these back to have 2thou clearance on the gear
shift spigot... minimal play and a nice tight shift gate.

BTW, don't worry about the blue, it polishes off on the wire
buff, and the metal is a high quality forged steel, so rebuilding
with nickel bronze does not harm the metal as long as it is NOT
over cooked, we've done several of these over the years, even
on heavy vintage truck gear boxes, they last for years and years.
Ceejay.

Did the same thing to the rattling handbrakes on the rear callipers.
Partially filled the elongated holes and then reamed them out.
That was 20 years ago and they're still silent.

Ralph.

I love when I have the chance to do some oxy brazing such as this, it is such a satisfying skill and easy to do once you practice a little. I enjoy it and its much more than getting out the MIG.

cheers
Rohan

Me to Rohan, I have lived my life having these special skills to repair
and rebuild things, unfortunately today we live in a "remove worn stuff
and replace with new stuff society".

I'll post another couple of things in a minute you'll also like.
When I discovered the wear in the shift gates I didn't even
think about buying replacements, because I knew straight
away what the fix was going to be.... how much would new
shift rails be... if you could buy them?