Discussion
Alan,
Locate the eye-end bearings at the end of the gearchange cables. Remove them and refit them the other way round. I can't remember which way they are normally but if the eye-end is lowermost and the threaded portion and attaching nut is at the top you simply undo it and re-connect them so that the threaded portion would now be at the bottom and the eye-end at the top. You will probably have to adjust the length of the cables slightly. Keep the gear change lever in the neutral position and adjust the length of each of the cables in turn so that the threaded portion passes through the translator without having to pull or push on the cable.
If I remember correctly there may be a procedure for this on Lotus Esprit World.
Hope this helps.
Danny '93 SE Highwing.
Locate the eye-end bearings at the end of the gearchange cables. Remove them and refit them the other way round. I can't remember which way they are normally but if the eye-end is lowermost and the threaded portion and attaching nut is at the top you simply undo it and re-connect them so that the threaded portion would now be at the bottom and the eye-end at the top. You will probably have to adjust the length of the cables slightly. Keep the gear change lever in the neutral position and adjust the length of each of the cables in turn so that the threaded portion passes through the translator without having to pull or push on the cable.
If I remember correctly there may be a procedure for this on Lotus Esprit World.
Hope this helps.
Danny '93 SE Highwing.
I have some good before and after photos of my gear change mod, but I don't know how to post them with a reply. Perhaps someone could advise.
In any case, if you could see the photos you could note how I used a die grinder to trim away a portion of frame to provide adequate clearance for the cable ends. Trimming the frame from above, as I did, was easy…taking just a few minutes. I chose to cut a hole in the boot floor for access. If that doesn’t agree with you, you could choose to remove the entire floor, which isn’t all that difficult.
It’s been so long since I performed this mod that I can’t remember precisely what the old shift pattern was like, but the difference is very noticeable at first, and worth while to perform in my opinion.
One word of caution, however. About a year after performing this mod on my SE the shift rod lever (or whatever it’s called) broke at the transmission. This may have been a result of this mod. The reason being, that I did not adjust the stops on the other end of the cables (up in the passenger compartment). This may have caused undue stress on the shift components at the rear of the vehicle. I was lucky because the break occurred when I hit 4th gear, and I was able to limp home. When I inspected the damage I found that the rod had broken at a weld. Fortunately, welding it back together was a cinch. But I remember looking at the broken pieces, and thinking to myself that it was little wonder that it gave way…the factory weld on this component looked very thin and inadequate.
Anyway, no problems since that last repair. Just some word to the wise…anyone performing this mod should note the possibility of this problem.
Walt…’91 SE
In any case, if you could see the photos you could note how I used a die grinder to trim away a portion of frame to provide adequate clearance for the cable ends. Trimming the frame from above, as I did, was easy…taking just a few minutes. I chose to cut a hole in the boot floor for access. If that doesn’t agree with you, you could choose to remove the entire floor, which isn’t all that difficult.
It’s been so long since I performed this mod that I can’t remember precisely what the old shift pattern was like, but the difference is very noticeable at first, and worth while to perform in my opinion.
One word of caution, however. About a year after performing this mod on my SE the shift rod lever (or whatever it’s called) broke at the transmission. This may have been a result of this mod. The reason being, that I did not adjust the stops on the other end of the cables (up in the passenger compartment). This may have caused undue stress on the shift components at the rear of the vehicle. I was lucky because the break occurred when I hit 4th gear, and I was able to limp home. When I inspected the damage I found that the rod had broken at a weld. Fortunately, welding it back together was a cinch. But I remember looking at the broken pieces, and thinking to myself that it was little wonder that it gave way…the factory weld on this component looked very thin and inadequate.
Anyway, no problems since that last repair. Just some word to the wise…anyone performing this mod should note the possibility of this problem.
Walt…’91 SE
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