Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Vernon,
be careful around the circlip, the original heavy shift resulted in quite a few gear levers (including mine) snapping at the circlip groove.

I paid a fortune (in those days) for a new lever and then found it was a standard Cortina part.

Mike

vernon.taylor wrote:Salut Alex

I'm feeling dumber and dumber.

Unscrewed the nylon gear lever base (in 4th). Gently pulling there's resistance. Can I just tug harder?

Merci

Vernon

Yes. It 'clicks' into place around the selector mech'.. it should just 'unclip'straight up and out...Dont use massive force though. It should not need that much to pull out.

Alex..

Merci Alex et Mike.

Mike: which Cortina?

EDIT: Is this it: http://www.newfordpartsonline.co.uk/ind ... rod_detail

... or in black (looks shorter): http://www.newfordpartsonline.co.uk/ind ... rod_detail

@+

Vernon

Salut encore

Gearstick came out OK, but I was cleaning up the 'box this morning and noticed a huge amount of play at the input shaft - I imagine that's not normal?

EDIT: should have checked the archives - apparently there is quite a lot of play.

@+

Vernon

Salut

Another question: should I change the front and rear oil seals to be on the safe side? Any difficulty with the job?

Merci et @+

Vernon

Change everything that you can afford to. Not good to find leaks after fitting.. You might loose the will to live!!

Did you get the gaiter issue sorted out? I thought it was an elan you were fitting it to... The +2 can use the lever designed for it. and looks and works fine. You can make it better though.

yes.. The Cortina Items look correct, but the nylon screw part might be the wrong thread. Can be changed though although pulling the stick apart at the bush is a pain.

Try Graham Boulton for a lever / advice / how too's... He is a fine guy and will tell you what you need to Know.

Alex...

I would expect a fair bit of play in the input shaft as when the engine/gearbox are mated the shaft is supported at the front by the crankshaft spigot bearing and the rear by the first motion shaft/mainshaft needle roller bearing hence the input shaft bearing is actually the middle one of three and does not perform any alignment function, you are examining it with only 2 of the 3 bearings present.

You do have a clutch spigot bearing I hope! Many are overlooked and this will cause excessive wear to the input shaft bearing.

Salut les gars

Merci, encore.

Alex: I guess I'll try the original first, though I did pick up another on eBay with a quick-shift built-in. I haven't received it yet but it looks like this:

I haven't found the gaiter. One Ford source told me that they had one that would fit but with round pleats.

Chancer: thanks for the explanation - reassuring! Spigot bearing is on the list as is the carrier/adapter. Should have one of each.

@+

Vernon

I've covered the spigot bearing in the post ''Gearbox swop''. Including carrier etc. There are plenty of pic's too. When you said 'play' in the input shaft were you meaning up / down / sideways etc (normal)?? or twisting motion / lost motion / play?

You nearly gave me a palourie!

Alex..

Salut

Just spoke to Graham Boulton on the 'phone - what a nice man! I called him to know if he could get hold of oil seals for the five speed 'box and he kindly and patiently explained what to check and that they'd be cheaper if I bought them in France. For future reference he told me to check the front one - the easier one to get to - to see if it was still soft as they go hard when not used. If hard, change them both; if soft leave them alone.

@+

Vernon

Top bloke eh? And what he does not know about the lotus boxes is not worth knowing... IMHO.

He is not overly driven by the old ??? either..

Getting there Vernon..

Best wishes to all...

Alex..

Salut

Bad news about my 'box - took it to our Lotus guy who explained to me how synchros work and showed me that my 2nd was on its way out and 3rd was shot. Also a scraping sound from the front bearing

I saw CN has the synchros listed - the 2nd at ?20 (OK) but the 3rd at ?80 (ouch). I'll check their availability and maybe ask Mr Boulton once I've worked out if I need anything else special. My Lotus guy said to replace at least the four main bearings and prefers to take them out before ordering wrong sizes - seems sensible.

I'm beginning to wonder if it would be better, and hopefully not too much more, to send it to Graham. What do you think, Alex?

@+

Vernon

Hi Vernon,

Well, I think you have without doubt done the right thing by having your box checked out before fitting it. You would have been gutted if you hadn't would you not? Well done. Good move.

As far as sending for repair. I personally would not go past Graham Boulton. He is the right man to do it. He has all the parts to hand and knows the gearbox better than anyone IMHO... It needs the right person building it. He warrants his work and is always available to help with practical or advice. Your choice bud but if it were me it would be there now. Then you can fit it with complete confidence when you get it back knowing it is G'teed. Ask Graham to fit a softer protection spring for 5Th / reverse.

&&&&&..... Make sure the flaming prop-shaft is perfect too.... A nightmare to get back out if it ain't ....

Good work..Well done Sir.

Alex....

Salut

More questions, synchros this time. CN, PM, etc. list them either as 1st/2nd or 3rd/4th/5th. Does that mean synchros 1 and 2 are exactly the same, and likewise for synchros 3,4 and 5 ?

Merci et @+

Vernon

Vernon
Sorry to complicate matters but there is something in the back of my head that says at some point the synchros were changed for ones with a different taper..can anyone add?

John