A guy in my car club had broken his gear shift in his TR3 a few years back,
so when mine broke a couple of months ago, he knew exactly what to do-
He made a jig to fit over the stump of the lever so that he could drill
straight down into the lever-mine is solid. Then, he made a little stud,
threaded it, threaded the inside of the hole-put the stud on, (used a bit of
that liquid thread lock) and screwed my gear shift knob back on! Took all of
an hour-maybe a little over.
My mechanic didn't want to weld as even with precautions, there's always the
chance of a spark. (He had to have the leather interior of a 356 Porsche
redone because of a stray spark-and they'd been VERY careful...)
Otherwise, I was looking for a gear shift lever for a '78, and then going
through the nasty task of removing a seat, the carpet, the tunnel-all that
crap. Wasn't finding a replacement gear shift when the fellow with the TR3
said-I can fix that!
And he did!
HTH,
Laura G.
>Just wanted to share something we can all appreciate. Over the past
>two
>weekends, I have spent many hours going over my '78. Replaced a faulty
>headlight, cleaned a dozen electrical connections and covered with
>dielectric grease. Put on a replacement Dash cover, fixed the trip
>meter,
>replaced the thermostat and water pump, new fan belt, new front brakes.
>Sunday night she drove like a dream - took her for a night drive,
>confident for the first time that all my lights would work. She did 75
>mph
>on I95 like I always dreamed she should. Monday morning I opted to
>drive
>her to work. Sailing along a beautiful new england back road, past
>stone
>fences, lakes and farms I thought "It really doesn't get any better than
>this" - then the shift knob broke off in my hand. I laughed like a loon
>for the next 10 minutes. I think she just wanted to let me know who's
>the
>boss. She still drives beautifully, but getting into reverse is a
>challenge.
>
>The shifter arm broke at the last thread where the knob screws in. I've
>got a friend who may be able to weld it, but if anyone has a spare and
>might be willing to let it go cheaply, please contact me off list.
>Thanks
>all, and have a great day.
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