Spitfire gear selection

[Jonah]

Hello, I didn’t get the chance to drive my Mk3 Spitfire before I restored it so I don’t know what good gear selection should feel like.

Now on a test drive I had to move the gear stick a long way over to the right to engage third gear, which seemed excessive travel

Could you please tell me  if this the way gear selection should be?

i overhauled the remote selector as the original ball had disintegrated 

many thanks Julian 

 

 

 

 

[Nigel Clark]

Hi Julian,

Well done in getting another round tail Spit back in the road!

The H gate on a 3 rod Triumph box, as fitted to Spitfire Mk3s, is wider than some cars from the same era. For example, the MGB has a much narrower gate.

Does the gear lever waggle from side to side much when a gear is selected? If so, there could still be some play in the remote selector linkage. This may be cured by carefully tightening the bolt on the fork at the bottom of the gear lever, and also the bolt in the fork half way along the remote linkage.

Take care, as over tightening these bolts will make the linkage too stiff.

Nigel

[Jonah]

Hi Nigel

thank you I’ll check and will let you know.  I can’t wait to take it out for a long drive when I’ve finished working through my ‘snagging list’.

Do you know of a rechromer in the East Midlands that Gould work manic in my rear bumpers?

best Julian 

 

[Nigel Clark]

Best chrome plating, the firm I've used, is west Midlands, ACF Howell in Walsall.

Derby Plating are also highly rated by some on the TR Register forum, though personally I've no experience of their work.

You can use Google to find either.

Nigel

[thescrapman]

Also note the H gate is more like I-/ or is it I-\.

Anyway the right hand leg is slightly offset.

You should not be able to rotate the gearstick whilst in any gear, and very little side to side movement either.

Any movement up or down should put car in or out of gear. No vagueness.

[Jonah]

Thanks Scrapman the I-/ gate makes sense in terms of how it appears, I’ll try the rotation and side movement test tomorrow