robinhoodmotors

Yes, but the work will be worth it - it was a 90% car, now it will be 100%. I’m going to change timing belt, pump, etc. and replace the oil pan foam baffle while it’s all apart. It shouldn’t need anything but a driver for a while then. The clutch is all QED, fairly conventional but ‘heavy duty’ because it’s quite a powerful motor. Lightened flywheel and Helix clutch disc and pressure plate. The car had a very worn 4-puck plate but I’m not convinced that those are necessary in my case (road use only).

I finally had time to pull the engine and gearbox yesterday. I guess I’m a ‘splitter’ - it looked easier to do solo with the engine unbolted from the gearbox. After removing the tail housing, checking that everything was where it needed to be, I reassembled taking care to align the pin with the fork on the selector shaft and (drum roll)…. I now have a perfect feeling shifter with neutral between 3rd and 4th gears, rather than 5th. I can’t wait to try it, but I’m waiting for clutch/flywheel, slave cylinder, etc. from QED and Burton. It should all be together next week though.

I’ve been driving my Seven quite a bit since acquiring it a couple of weeks ago and I’ve found that the wind above 60mph is pretty harsh. I noticed that a lot of folks use their side curtains, but that meant that I’d lose my stanchion-mounted mirrors and I like to have mirrors. I ordered a pair of small, lightweight, cheap mirrors and asked my son to 3D print a pair of ABS brackets. I’m delighted with the results - the mirrors are pretty decent and the doors can be opened very wide without knocking them. The file is available if anyone wants to try the same thing. The mirrors are: https://www.amazon.com/Carbon-Look-Race-Small-Mirrors/dp/B0BWYSCZYC?pd_rd_w=ABtPW&content-id=amzn1.sym.b854a5c2-4475-41f8-a6d4-df92b2868104&pf_rd_p=b854a5c2-4475-41f8-a6d4-df92b2868104&pf_rd_r=7RY8T153KK5682NZQGQ5&pd_rd_wg=rZ6NV&pd_rd_r=76851c1b-5a24-4313-a1a4-29284ef6fe38&pd_rd_i=B0BWYSCZYC&psc=1&ref_=pd_basp_bia_rpt_ba_s_1_sc

Good thinking! The link is above. It’s around 35:30 that he talks about aligning the spring with the pin. It’s a bit slow but clear enough.

Thanks for your feedback. I figured the spring needs realigning with the pin after watching a fella on YouTube put one together demonstrating how easy it is to get it wrong. I just ordered gaskets and seals from Burton, I wish I’d known about a U.S. source instead, but I’ll know for next time. It looks like you put your drain in the sandwich plate, which makes sense from a work-holding standpoint. I’ll do the same - I have access to a mill. The car is still very new to me and my shifting technique is improving so I’ll probably stall on this job for a couple of weeks, but I can’t wait to experience normal shifting in this little rocket!

That’s a great idea! 3/8 NPT thread?

Absolutely. I’ll give it a good clean and re-grease. My concern is that it’s sprung to the 5th gear position. If I compare with every other picture that I see of that area online, mine is way off. I believe the bushing should be at 6 o’clock, relative to the selector shaft, but mine is at 8 o’clock. Here are a couple for comparison:

I expect I’ll be yanking the engine at some point, but with this weather I don’t want to do that just yet…. It has a lightened flywheel and a 4 puck clutch, which are great for speed but I’m probably going to kill the clutch with my driving in stop and go. I managed to get a picture of the saddle bushing but to be honest I’m not sure what I’m looking at. The selector shaft is definitely biased towards 5th gear, but I would expect it to be in the 3-4 position in neutral? Do you guys see anything off in my pic?

Thanks guys, I’ll see what the saddle bushing looks like. That would be fantastic if it solves the problem!

Thanks! It’s a real hoot to drive, and although I am getting better at finding 3rd and 4th, sometimes when you need that quick change it ends up in 5th, which can be embarrassing. It’s the 2.0 Vauxhall engine with Ford T9 5 speed. I’m pretty sure it’s a question of the bias spring and tail housing pin being out of alignment but I’d really rather not pull the engine so soon in my ownership. If I can slide the tail housing back just enough (1/2” or so) I think I can do in-situ. It may be difficult to re-seal though, depending on how the gasket/sealant was previously applied. Here’s a picture is the shifter all the way to the right while in neutral.

Hi all, I’m the very happy new owner of a ‘93 Caterham. Yesterday I managed to get it registered and went for my first decent drive and had a blast. However, the selecting 3rd and 4th is very challenging because the cross gate is biased to 5th when in neutral. I believe the issue will be the tail housing pin is not aligned with the selector shaft spring, requiring the tail housing to be slid back a little to align correctly. My question is, can this be done in-situ? Or do I need to pull the engine/gearbox? Thanks for any pointers! David