Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

My 3/4 selector fork is worn considerably more than 1/2. Is this normal?

Thickness for 3/4 is 0.178"
Thickness for 1/2 is 0.231"
Chris

Yes, this is quite common. Mostly on the 4th gear side, where under long highway cruises, the fork continues to hold the hub in engagement.

Roger

They almost always wear on 4th side (and not really on 3rd) but yours is particularly bad.

If you want to repair it you need to find a capable welder who can repair it without melting /warping it. Then, getting it back to flat - ie tidying up the weld / braze - is the part that requires attention to detail as they can end up out of shape quickly!

I've re-claimed plenty as I believe it's nice to save old ones rather than just buying new.
However, the cost of a new one isn't that much and seems much better value if you factor in time spent and materials to make an old one new again!

Thanks Roger. Thanks Al.
More wear in 4th makes sense and I will purchase a new selector fork.

Chris,

Check the syncro hub, input shaft and syncro ring too for wear on the little engagement teeth. They will also wear, especially if the gearbox has been jumping out of gear for a while.

Some of these parts are getting hard to find, worst offender being the input shaft. Because it must be paired to the laygear and be the correct one for your ratio set.

Roger

Roger
4th gear synchro is quite worn while 3rd looks fairly new. I haven't been able to press the rear bearing off yet to access 1st and 2nd synchros. Everything else looks great except reverse gear which is pretty chewed up. I'll be looking for a replacement