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MG MGF Technical - short gear lever made by Carl

Hi,

http://www.fortunecity.de/hockenheim/senna/253/mods/carlgear_1.jpg

http://www.fortunecity.de/hockenheim/senna/253/mods/
row 20

shows a picture that Carl send some days ago.
Some friends asked already for instructions how to cut the lever and how much is to cut off.

Carl, can you add some words on that including your experiance ?

dk
http://mgf.tech.here.de
Dieter

Hi Dieter,

Am also interested in shortening the gearleaver (only by arround an inch) without going to the expense of the entire quickshift kit, so any information is much appreciated.

Regards

Tim
Tim Sheppard

Tim,
just got a message from a german chap. He cutted app 2 inches by use of a simply iron saw. He fitted then an after-market knob without need for a threaded bolt.

Lets wait what Carl reports of his experiance in gear change etc.

Regards
Dieter
Dieter

From what I understand, It should be a fairly simple job to shorten. I have the standard shaped leather gear knob which although fairly tall, I find fits great.
To preserve the threads on the shaft I was going to thread a die down the thread before cutting the excess off with a hacksaw. Then unscrewing the die should clean out the tread. Only problem does anyone know the dimensions of the thread on the shaft as I would need to buy one (or a set with the correct size in it)

Regards, Tim
Tim Sheppard

I used a hacksaw and cut off the treaded portion of the gear stick and used an after market
gear knob which uses grub screws to lock on the the gear stick, I did consider rethreading,
but by the very nature of using a die you will impart a twisting motion to the stick, which
may not be very good for the bearings and linkages at the bottom end, you can cut off
a bit at a time until you feel comfortable, in my opinion it is a worthwhile modification..

Regards Ralph N819LFC
Ralph

Ralph,
>feel comfortable
can you please describe more detailed ? :)
I'm sure your experiance cannot be representative because the gearchange behavior varies from MGF to MGF depending on how old etc.
But it would be interesting to rear your opinion on i.e. change speed, change precision, change force etc in comparison with the standard behavior.

Regards
dk
Dieter

Dieter
Its hard to remember what it was like before I made the modification, but
at the time the changes appeared to be slicker and the gear changing was quicker,
however, this may well be a result of the whole gear change mechanism becoming
"run in". The relatively long gear lever does in my opinion look out of place, very similar to
the ride height and at the end of the day for a lot of people just cosmetic. One thing you could
try is to replace the standard Rover knob with an after market knob, these usually are shorter
in lenght and sit lower on the gear stick, so you will get some idea of what it looks and feels like
(thats how I started until one dark evening I took the hacksaw to it).

Regards Ralph (N819LFC)
Ralph

Jep and thanks :)

>slicker and the gear changing was quicker

Thats what Carls opinion was.
BTW where is Carl ?

Anyway, I'll go and look for my hacksaw and a new aluminum/leather knob. I wanted to get it already for Xmas, but the wife...
Two opinions at the BBS and some of the germans let me trust.

Can't be wrong and gives new fun :)

dk

Dieter

This thread was discussed between 29/01/2000 and 04/02/2000

MG MGF Technical index

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