17 replies to this topic

[Jack Jones]

right for some reason i am not being allowed to post the engine transmission and tuning so i thought here would be best for it

1989 shell, rod change gearbox,

im looking at putting gear linkage in the car as i have seen it done on many cars at shows, and i like the idea of a shorter shift.

So i'm asking for some help, some guidance you know, has anybody modified there gearlinkage in this way before themselves,
i'd like to know where to put the hole to connect it to the gear without it hitting anything, how to keep a water tight seal and how high to mount it in the car all that sort of stuff.

If you can shed any light it will be very appreciated

thanks jack jones

[rosco454]

If your dont fancy doing everything yourself then kad does a kit for this,i know prawn on here has one so check out his build thread for a look.

I need to make one up for mine and from my reading so far this is how it goes,the steady bar needs to be removed from the rod change assembly.Next job is to mount it up,hight and angle really is up to you as you will be using universal joints to correct the angle of the selector shaft (dont bother with cheap ones and especially dont be tempted to use socket set ujs).

The location of the hole is dictated by the height and angle of your mounting as different mountings will make the shaft go through the body in different places.

You might want to include a threaded adjuster on the shaft as it makes it easier to set up.

Also make sure your engine has absolute minimum movement as without the steady bar on the rod change its more likely to jump out of gear with engine movement.

Think thats about it but if anyone knows more or ive forgotten anything them feel free to add.

Cheers Ross.

[Jack Jones]

If your dont fancy doing everything yourself then kad does a kit for this,i know prawn on here has one so check out his build thread for a look.

I need to make one up for mine and from my reading so far this is how it goes,the steady bar needs to be removed from the rod change assembly.Next job is to mount it up,hight and angle really is up to you as you will be using universal joints to correct the angle of the selector shaft (dont bother with cheap ones and especially dont be tempted to use socket set ujs).

The location of the hole is dictated by the height and angle of your mounting as different mountings will make the shaft go through the body in different places.

You might want to include a threaded adjuster on the shaft as it makes it easier to set up.

Also make sure your engine has absolute minimum movement as without the steady bar on the rod change its more likely to jump out of gear with engine movement.

Think thats about it but if anyone knows more or ive forgotten anything them feel free to add.

Cheers Ross.

thanks ross
that has most defently shed some light, dont suppose you know of anywhere you can recommend buying a uj from, to be honest i was just going to use a snap on one lol, glad you said otherwise

[Wil_h]

Car builders solutions do a good line in UJs.

Just to highlight the point, your engine needs to be rock solid i.e. no rubber mountings. If the engine can move it'll just pull it out of gear.

[Jack Jones]

it'll be fully polybushed with ultimate engine steady, should that be tight enough?

[rosco454]

I dont think it will be enough,even with poly etc there will still be quite a bit of movement.Thing is that the linkage is normally rubber mounted like the engine so that when one moves the other follows.With the internal linkage there is no movement at all and as soon as the engine moves its like you are operating the linkage.

To give you an idea,I will be using solid engine mounts all round with all steady bars rose jointed.

EDIT - Front subframe solid mounts as well.

Edited by rosco454, 24 October 2009 - 09:02 PM.

[Jack Jones]

I dont think it will be enough,even with poly etc there will still be quite a bit of movement.Thing is that the linkage is normally rubber mounted like the engine so that when one moves the other follows.With the internal linkage there is no movement at all and as soon as the engine moves its like you are operating the linkage.

To give you an idea,I will be using solid engine mounts all round with all steady bars rose jointed.

EDIT - Front subframe solid mounts as well.

front subframe is solid mounted, dont suppose you could advise me where to get solid engine mounts from or is it more of a diy jobby?
thanks

[Wil_h]

Mini spares sell solid engine mounts. I wouldn't put them on a road car though.

[Pooky]

If all you want is a shorter shift, might be easier to settle for a KAD quickshift...

[zebidee]

I was looking at doing this for a new project I have that I want to take rallying, purely so I can tuck the exhaust right up in the tunnel. This may sound silly (I haven't looked at the gear linkages fixings) but is there not anyway of rubber mounting the gear linkage while it is in the car?!

[rosco454]

Wil makes a good point that the solid mounted everything is pretty horrendous to live with in a road car.If you just want a shorter shift then go for the quickshift like pooky mentions.Moving it inside is pretty involved if you are just doing it for the looks of it.

Zebidee - I think the main issue is that the steady bar is removed from the rod change.When the engine moves with a standard setup,the steady bar pulls the linkage along with it if you get what i mean?Even with rubber mounts on the linkage,the engine will move and without the steady bar it will be pulled out of gear.The rubber mounts might give it a fraction more slack but still wont move enough to hold it - think about how much an engine moves on rubber/poly mounts and then think how little a linkage would move on rubber mounts in comparison theres quite a difference.

If its a rally car though id guess comfort/noise isnt going to be such an issue with the solid mounts or do your chosen regs not allow it?

Cheers Rosco.

[Jack Jones]

i was going to quickshift it and put it in the car,

is there not a way of keeping the steady bar?

i used keep my hand on the gear stick anyway unless on a corner, my last one (on the road) did tend to pop out anyway,

i dont really care about comfort i mean i'm in a mini, what can i expect really

[Bungle]

theres a how 2 guide on here somewhere

it's a few years old now but a search for the member Bluemini should help

[rosco454]

I havnt seen the steady left on but my thoughts would be;

If you leave the steady bar on then you will end up with a massive hole in the floor to get the two rods through.You would most likely be altering the length of the selector rod in a normal internal setup so the steady bar limits your mounting position unless you you lengthen that as well (you would probably need to make both adjustable so the steady didnt limit adjustment on the selector rod).I dont have a gearbox to go and check on but the casing may have to be altered to allow the steady bar to be used once tilted upwards if you get what i mean?Wil might be along later to add something to that as he has quite a bit more knowledge/experience of this kind of thing.

I think what im getting at is that your not bothered about comfort then your best option is to solid mount the lot.Its a bit of work to do though,does your car have clearence problems?

Edit - Holding it in gear doesnt do the box any favours so it could be an expensive sollution.

Edited by rosco454, 25 October 2009 - 07:09 PM.

[liirge]

Heres that guide:
http://www.theminifo...x...topic=8689