+2 5 Speed gearbox, lever and speedo drive.

[jeff jackson]

Hi All,
Been away from the forum for a while.
Last year the speedo stopped working and it was difficult selecting gears.
This morning I decided to investigate.
Long story short, I have a non working, worn, right angle speedo drive and a gear stick with the inner nylon bush disintegrated.
I have seen that the usual suspects stock either / or.
Before I purchase anything I wanted to speak to Sue Miller first.
However, anyone on the forum bought the items mentioned without issues?
Years ago, I'm sure I could have got the inner nylon bush for that gearstick, it seems I have to buy the whole lot for £100 now.
Regards
Jeff 72+2

[jeff jackson]

Hi All,
I found a photo on this forum as a way of an update:

Can you still get these bits?
They are Ford after all!
Regards
Jeff

[mbell]

As far as I know you can't buy bits for the gear stick, just used entire sticks. I bought one from lotusbits.com a couple of years ago.

The gearstick can be repaired but you'll need to get a new ball made and destroy the bushing in the stick to get it apart. There photo and 3d model file on here with the measurements for the ball. There also a thread and video on you tube where Vince did it. I've also done it using a ball another user sold me that they decided they didn't need.

I think you should be able to get the new angle drive. Fitting it might require pulling the box thou.

[The Veg]

I got a new lever off eBay. When it arrived I saw that it had come from Turkey, of all places, and while I've never seen a new genuine Ford one to compare with, I suspect that it's a re-pop. As long as it works I'll be happy, but I haven't installed the five-speed box as yet (probably will sometime this year), so nothing to report as yet, but it did fit well when I screwed it in once just to check.

I have seen the speedo-drives on various Usual Suspect's websites so that shouldn't be a problem.

[mbell]

Btw the gearstick is originally from a Ford type e "rocket" gearbox. If looking on eBay etc you'll probably have more luck looking for one for the ford than the lotus.

[EPA]

I got a new lever off eBay. When it arrived I saw that it had come from Turkey, of all places, and while I've never seen a new genuine Ford one to compare with, I suspect that it's a re-pop. As long as it works I'll be happy, but I haven't installed the five-speed box as yet (probably will sometime this year), so nothing to report as yet, but it did fit well when I screwed it in once just to check.

I have seen the speedo-drives on various Usual Suspect's websites so that shouldn't be a problem.

I would would try the lever from Turkey again as the threads on the one I purchased appeared to screw in fine but seems to be a slightly smaller diameter and jumped thread as soon as you tighten it only gently. Also the depth of the thread is shorter than the original.
The other issue I had was that the fork gap was initially too narrow to fit over the selector shaft
I am still experimenting to establish if I can make it work.

Ed

[mbell]

You want to be careful with the stick popping out on the 5 speed, as if it happens while in neutral the internal selector mechanism can become disconnected. Leaving you stuck in neutral.

I had this happen to me while out in the car and it popping out as I changed from 1st to 2nd. I had to get the car recovered home.

The fix requires the rear top cover removing to reconnect the mechanism. I managed to do this with out removing the gearbox from the car luckily. A pivoting 1/2" rachet spanner allowed me to get the bolts out relatively easily. Would have been a real pig of a job with out it.

[EPA]

You want to be careful with the stick popping out on the 5 speed, as if it happens while in neutral the internal selector mechanism can become disconnected. Leaving you stuck in neutral.

I had this happen to me while out in the car and it popping out as I changed from 1st to 2nd. I had to get the car recovered home.

The fix requires the rear top cover removing to reconnect the mechanism. I managed to do this with out removing the gearbox from the car luckily. A pivoting 1/2" rachet spanner allowed me to get the bolts out relatively easily. Would have been a real pig of a job with out it.

Yes and it is advisable to put the box in gear if transporting without a gearstick, my box has only just been refurbished by Voights and hasn’t been in my car yet. I am still working through the prerequisites before proceeding. For example when I tried fitting the spigot bearing into the recently purchased bearing adaptor the bearing just fell through the adaptor.
The inner gearstick ball had already turned to mush when I purchased the box, I have a second hand gearstick which is in good condition and works but I would like to avoid a future failure. The Turkish gearstick comes apart very easily as the two sections of the stick just screw together and you can actually remove the inner ball.
I have been experimenting with putting the the new ball onto the old gearstick and it does basically work but it is a little loose on the shaft an I think a slightly smaller O/D.
These things are never simple
Ed

[mbell]

Yes and it is advisable to put the box in gear if transporting without a gearstick,

I believe the general advise, possibly from the manual, is to put the box in forth before removing the gearstick. Personally I wouldn't remove the stick without it in gear for any reason. Well unless I couldn't get it in gear...

[The Veg]

I got a new lever off eBay. When it arrived I saw that it had come from Turkey, of all places, and while I've never seen a new genuine Ford one to compare with, I suspect that it's a re-pop. As long as it works I'll be happy, but I haven't installed the five-speed box as yet (probably will sometime this year), so nothing to report as yet, but it did fit well when I screwed it in once just to check.

I have seen the speedo-drives on various Usual Suspect's websites so that shouldn't be a problem.

I would would try the lever from Turkey again as the threads on the one I purchased appeared to screw in fine but seems to be a slightly smaller diameter and jumped thread as soon as you tighten it only gently. Also the depth of the thread is shorter than the original.
The other issue I had was that the fork gap was initially too narrow to fit over the selector shaft
I am still experimenting to establish if I can make it work.

I must have not been paying attention when I wrote that back in January. I'm now preparing to install the five-speed and was checking the fit of the lever and found that the threads on the Turkish lever's base are completely too small to engage the threads in the box! I went as far as to dismantle the lever and drop the plastic threaded part in by itself and it fell all the way in, the metal tabbed bit laying on the box and the thing could be spun round and round without the threads giving any resistance. So now I suppose I'm out what I spent on it and back at square one for a lever! Bugger. Unless maybe a machinist can turn-up a copy of the plastic bit with the correct thread...I wonder. Any other suggestions?

[EPA]

For info
You can get a New plastic ball for the original Ford gearstick from Lotus Marques in Australia.
I purchased one recently and it appears to fit perfectly although I haven’t had time to use it yet.
The plastic ball on the Turkish items is smaller than the original and are a loose fit on the shaft and aren’t suitable in my opinion.
The delivery from Lotus Marques takes longer at the moment Due to COVID (3 to 4 weeks to UK) but l found them good to deal with.
Ed