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MG MGA - 5-Speed refitting problem? No, just me!

I have just been through the process of removing my engine and 5-speed to do a bit of work on them.

I managed to do all the work on my own too, which I was pleased about and I found that it was a lot easier for me to take them out separately.

Everything went pretty well, I had taken pictures of (almost) everything as I removed it to help me figure out how it went back on.

Except the gearlever and turret because it seemed pretty straightforward!

I bolted the gearlever back onto the box but when I tried to re-fit the turret I just couldnt get it to line up with the holes in the tunnel, no matter what I tried. I was amazed to see that it appeared to want to fit 1/2" too far forward and there was a gap at the back!!!

Brute force didnt work and I began to wonder if I had messed up the engine mountings or something! :-(
After struggling with it for an hour or two, I gave up and went to bed.
Below is a picture showing the problem.


Colyn Firth

So next morning I looked on line and came across Dominic Clancys website in which he has published the HighGear instructions for fitting the T9 5-Speed box.

I printed them out and studied them for an hour or so but nothing really stood out.
Then I re-read the final section about fitting the gear lever, everything seemed as per the instructions but then I noticed the diagram.

If you look at my 2nd picture you will see the
gear lever extension which looks fine, until you notice that it is supposed to be facing backwards and not forwards!! Duh!!!!

Five minutes later the gearlever was switched around and everything fitted perfectly!
It only took me 5 hours of struggling and a good nights sleep to sort it out.

I had always thought of myself as a decent mechanic, until today!

Obviously not!

Colyn

I wonder if I had left it as it was, would I have ended up with 1 forward gears and 5 reverse? :-)



Colyn Firth

Frustration resolved......thanks to the excellent instructions. Talking about the 1 forward and 5 reverse gears reminds me that it was rumoured that this was the way Italian tanks were geared during ww2
Neil Ferguson

The brain works on this stuff at night.
MAndrus

This thread was discussed between 07/04/2016 and 08/04/2016

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This thread is from the archive. The Live MG MGA BBS is active now.