Centre consul

[p.faurie]

Good afternoon,I’ve got a1972 s130/4 which I have just fitted a lotus 5speed g/box,can someone tell me if the centre consul for the 5speed is different from the 4speed,the reason I ask is that I can’t engage the gears properly with the consul on,I have fitted the 5speed gaiter to the existing 4speed consul,without modifying anything (rightly or wrongly) ,with it off it appears fine,any help will be gladly received,many thanks




Phil

[alanr]

Having replaced my +2S130 centre console a few years ago when i had the original 4speed box in my car I can confidently say there is no major difference overall between the 4speed and 5speed centre consoles. The main difference is between the earlier 67-69'ish and later more padded centre consoles.
They are almost certainly though cut slightly differently around the gearlever area though to acomodate the totally different 5speed gaiter and the wider 'change gate' of the 5speed gearbox.

Slightly different to what you have done but when I fitted my Type 9 5speed into my +2 I had to fiddle/cut/alter the centre console quite a bit around the gearlever area to accomodate the wider 'gate' of that box and use a different gaiter.
I would fully expect you will have to do the same to the console with the Lotus 5speed box swap and the totally different 5speed gaiter you are now trying to make fit. I doubt you will now be able to retain the rectangular chrome gaiter ring used on the 4speed.


Alan.

[p.faurie]

Thanks for your reply Alan,what I have noticed is that there is a alloy rectangle plate riveted underneath the consul to hold the chrome surround for the 4speed gaiter ,don’t know if it’s original or not as it was retrimmed last century, the fibreglass surrounding it is still in good Nick,it could be that that ,what is stopping it? I will drill it out and retry thanks again

[alanr]

Hi Phil,
Yes there was on mine an aluminium rectangular strengthplate on the underside of the console.With my T9 gearbox swap I had to remove that, enlarge the console itself to accomodate the wider gate of the 5speed box and and then make another larger aluminium strengthening plate underneath to fit and pop rivet in.

Alan.

[Baggy2]

Hi
I have fitted a Lotus 5 speed box in my '68 Pre 'S' +2 and retained the standard rubber gaiter. To do this I had to make my own gear stick. So I cut down and threaded the original Ford based stick. I made a steel collar that fitted on the stub of the Ford stick and to the rear held the new stick ( a 3/8th rod ) at the right angle. It all works fine. I cant remember - I think I had to trim the fibreglass tunnel top a little but nothing much.
You'll see the 'concertina' lotus gaiter stands a little higher than before. This is because under it is an MGB conical gaiter that I installed to try and reduce the gearbox noise, it seems a good bit noisier than the Ford box, don't know if this is to be expected? I have also lost the anti-sizzle rubber in the Ford stick but this doesn't seem to be a major problem.
As stated the new stick is just a length of 3/8 rod which means I cannot use the lovely original Lotus wooded gear knob. The lens on the camera makes the replacement knob look enormous - It's not that bad but one day I'll get a new tapered rod made and return to the original knob. One final item is that I 3d printed I small collar to make the hole in the rubber gaiter match the diameter of the rod.
Hope this helps

[p.faurie]

Thanks for that Alan,will start chopping,very ingenious baggy2,looks original,