7 replies to this topic

[1969Elf]

Progress on the Elf is still slow. The engine is in the car and I thought I was only a month or two away from getting it back on the road. However I have a problem with selecting any gears and so until I can sort that out I don't want to go any further ie installing the brake booster and bleeding the brakes, etc in case the engine needs to come back out.

The gearbox is a minispares 5 speed which has been reconditioned (including all new selector forks) and all of the clutch parts are brand new. The rod change came from another car and I just assumed it worked OK in that car before fitting to the Elf using one of Minimania's rod conversion bracket kits from the USA. It's also got one of those bias spring things on the rod change and I'm using a KAD quickshift.

Today I've bled and then adjusted the clutch as per the Haynes manual and the pedal feels good. However all I can get with the gear change is moving forward to select a gear (don't know which ie could be 1, 3 or 5) and I can pull it back to neutral. I can't find 2 or 4.

The car is still up on axle stands and turning over the motor using the starter with the stick in neutral works fine ie the motor turns over freely. It will also turn over in the only gear I can select (ie 1, 3 or 5 - don't know which one) and it turns the front hubs as the motor turns over. However when I press the clutch in the motor does turns over on the starter (without turning the hubs) but it struggles a bit ie as if the battery is going flat. Let the clutch out and it turns over just fine again (ie the battery is OK - which it should be because it is brand new).

What's up? Why can't I select a gear? Is it something with the reconditioned gear box, the clutch or the rod change? I do still have the old gear stick and holding that in place (because I had to remove the retaining pins to fit the quickshift) it still seems that I can only find the one gear and neutral so I don't think it is the KAD quickshift but can't be sure.
Any help would be appreciated

[myminimonster]

Hi,
The gears you can find, are they when the car is not running?

I had a problem the other week where i could get all gears when not running but none when i started her up.
I also blead/set the clutch multiple times and adjusted the return screw but with no joy. The clutch felt good and the arm moving. It turned out to be a faulty (was new) slave cylinder.


Adie

[1969Elf]

Hi, yes I can't get any gears with the car not running. I've been doing a complete rebuild so everything is new and I have started the new engine yet. I was planning to get the brakes finished before firing up the new motor so that I could drive it to run the motor in properly but until I get this gear chnage issue sorted I don't want to waste time putting in the booster etc only to have to take it all back out

[Guess-Works.com]

First of all remove ALL of the 'add on' bits to rule them out of the equation.

Being unable to select 2nd, 4th and reverse can be caused by insufficient movement in the rod, this can be caused by the gearstick hitting the bodywork ( hole which it goes through ) or even something as simple as the concertina seal which is supplied with the 'leak fix' kits.

The stiffness on startup when clutch depressed is probably caused by crank thrust bearings, as you press the clutch the crank is pushed toward the front of the engine ( radiator end in a transverse arrangement ) and pressing on crank thrust bearings. Do you know the history of the engine before installing ?

[1969Elf]

Hi Guess Works. The engine is newly re-built. Everything is brand new - crank, rods, pistons, cam, backing plate, clutch plate, flywheel, etc, etc - everything. It doesn't have one of those concertina extra seal kit things.

I did think about taking out the KAD quick shift and installing the old gearstick but I've lost the locking pins for the cover over the old gearstick.
Your comment does make me wonder if, when converting from the original remote gear change to the rod change (because of the 5 speed) that maybe I put the mounting bracket too far back.
The mounting bracket is a conversion kit I got from Minimania and came with new cotton reels but I had to drill the holes to fit it.
Is that possible and how would you know where the right place is to mount the bracket?

[1969Elf]

I should also add that the master cylinder and slave cylinder are both brand new as is the clutch thrust bearing. The clutch arm is a new Minispares heavy duty one and all the clevis pins are also brand new

[1969Elf]

Just checked - the gear stick doesn't appear to be hitting the bodywork around the hole in the floor, but I did notice that I may be getting two gears ie could be 1 & 3 or 3 & 5. I've never used a Quickshift before and they seem to be very close together but I definately can't find 2, 4 and reverse nor one of either 1, 3 or 5.

[1969Elf]

Problem solved. I took the bottom cover off the change mechanism. The KAD seemed to be sitting in place properly so I asked my 8 year old son to move the gearstick while I watched what was happening to the mechanism from underneath. I'd put in a new reverse light switch before refitting the mechanism and had screwed it all the way in. The end of the reverse switch was fouling on the gear lever eye thing and stopping it from moving forward enough to select 2 & 4 and stopping from moving over to the side enough to select 5 and reverse. So I've adjusted the reverse light switch out a bit and now can get all gears.

Am I relieved it was such a simple fix. I was almost resigned to having to take the engine back out again. Thanks once again for the suggestions to help fix another problem, without this forum I'd be stuck.

As a side comment - I've never driven a car with a Quickshift before but I quite like how it feels.