5 speed gearbox short shift?

[JonB]

Just been perusing some old threads and came across this post by Innes about his lovely JPS Plus 2:

lotuselan-plus2-f51/dundonian-jps-t26714-60.html#p195217

Where can I get a short shift from, anyone know (other than the usual suspects!)? I'm thinking that when I engage 1st, 3rd or 5th (especially 5th) the gearstick is too close to the dash and it is stressing the rubber boot and moving the vinyl trim about.

[john.p.clegg]

Jon
I fitted a quickshift to my 5 speed box,it lasted all of a week before I changed it back..it just made the shifting worse.
That was before I rebuilt it ( three times ) to achieve the best shift possible .

John

[mbell]

https://shop.quaife.co.uk/gear-lever-fo ... et-4-speed

I guess the 8" bent is the stick is the one being refereed to. As mentioned by John these aren't meant for street cars so may be a little harsh and noisy depending on your person tastes.

Have you removed your gearstick and had a look? Common for the lower ball to crumble with age and the rubber bellow to weaken. So it may be just your stick has seen better days. I plan to overhaul mine some time in the near future (after I've collected my replacement). There a thread or two on here on it.

[vincereynard]

As has been stated already, it is pointless considering a new, "special" lever until you
determine the state of your existing one.

The excess travel is characteristic of wear - the pivot ball / the bellows / the rubber isolator joint.
Any or all of which can contribute.

Whip the central console off and have a look. Take a couple of minutes.

[JonB]

I wasn't sure it would be accessible in situ, this being a Lotus and all that.

I'l definitely be taking a look at it, when I have time or get bored of grease monkeying around the front suspension. There is a temptation to start all these little jobs now, but a danger that if I do, I'll never finish them.

By the way, which part is the "bellows"? http://www.lotuselan.net/wiki/FD_-_Gear ... ifter_%2B2

Do you mean the rubber gaiter that sits on top of the console?

[nmauduit]

I wasn't sure it would be accessible in situ, this being a Lotus and all that.

I'l definitely be taking a look at it, when I have time or get bored of grease monkeying around the front suspension. There is a temptation to start all these little jobs now, but a danger that if I do, I'll never finish them.

By the way, which part is the "bellows"? http://www.lotuselan.net/wiki/FD_-_Gear ... ifter_%2B2

Do you mean the rubber gaiter that sits on top of the console?

Bellow would be the black rubber part under the arrow pointing at item #1 : it acts as a spring taking up the slack of the lever ball articulation (to some extent) which has a role in selection accuracy. You may also want to double check that the shape of the lever is adequate and has not been bent somehow. Last, if you have the lever as depicted on the drawing you quoted, the rubber between the 2 parts (at the tip of said arrow) may get perished then you need extra travel of the knob to engage : in that case, you probably want to check if some restoration to the proper stiffness and integrity of this part of the lever is required before it splits in two on the motorway.

[JonB]

OK, understood.

The rubber you are referring to (tip of the arrow at 1) is the anti sizzle bush, a coupling that reduces stick vibration. I spent some time searching the forums for "gearshift" and paging through the results, but didn't find many tips on improving the 5 speed's shift action.

I will take it apart and report back.

One of the service bulletins - http://www.lotuselan.net/wiki/Lotus_5-S ... r_Security - mentions a special tool T00T0032A to remove the lever. We'll see if it really is needed....

[nmauduit]

For what it's worth, I have done the modification suggested by the Hollnagel paper on mine, but it is a 2 seater :

http://images.lotuselan.net/lel/34299/0 ... cation.jpg

It would be just fine if the rubber bushing was reliable, but it was poorly manufactured and had a tendency to slip in its external sleeve (short of finding a more reliable one, I've tried to fix it by scraping and gluing it back, ok so far but only a few hours since glued back).

If of any use I can check and measure actual lever travel on a friend's +2 130/5 , which I tried on a track day this summer and it felt ok.

[vincereynard]

Also the bellows / spring is (should be) held in place by a small circlip (just visible on the drawing), this can be missing so the whole thing flops about.

I replaced my circlip with a collar and grubscrew so the preload on the bellows is adjustable.

I'll try and get a vid. of TOAD's shift to give you an idea of what it is like.

The nylon locating nut could even be loose.

73_15_1.jpg (53.45 KiB) Viewed 1201 times

[JonB]

Nicely explained, Vince. Thank you!

I'll be looking at it soon I think - but the Club Lotus meet is next Tuesday and the poor Elan still up on stands. Will I make it on time???

(If you want to know what the hold up is, it's wanting to degrease & paint the front suspension to protect it from rust.)

[vincereynard]

Put the lever in 1st before you take it out or the link selector could fall off it's shaft.

A short vid of my gear shift. The knob is a hand span from the dashboard even in 5th.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsER5Refu0o

[gjz30075]

Vince, a good reference. Thanks!

[JonB]

Thanks Vince, there is hope for my gearbox yet.. I noticed some trim creaking, mine is 10 times worse. Hopefully it will improve by me following all this great advice.

[vincereynard]

I noticed some trim creaking, mine is 10 times worse.

I could have been my knees pushing the clutch!