Hi,
A friend recently inherited a '61 MGA with an 1800 cc motor. The car
was partially "restored" when the previous owner fell ill and wasn't
able to finish it.
Being an old chevy rodder, I'm not familiar with the MG stuff but it
looks as though
a lot of people out there ARE. When we finally had the car ready for a
short test
drive, we fired the engine but quickly found out we couldn't engage
first gear;
the shifter just doesn't seem to make that last 1/4" of movement to
fully engage the
gear, so when the clutch is released, there's a short grind as the
shifter pops
rearward. With some difficulty, 3rd can be engaged, while 2nd, 4th, and
reverse
seem to work normally. It looks like we have 3/8" or 7/16" max
movement at
the slave rod. Is that enough? (it doesn't seem to engage with the
engine shut
off, either). Also, we popped the shifter housing to inspect the
mechanism, which appears to be in great shape. The rod is tight, the
brass bushing
is intact and in good shape. There doesn't appear to be much adjustment
there.
Someone who is very knowledgeable suggested bypassing the linkage by
moving the transmission mechanism itself with a big screwdriver or
prybar. Will
try that tonigh or tomorrow. Anything else I can do before deciding to
pull it out?
Thanks,
Bill Edison
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