Gearbox Guide
Last Updated on November 28 2011

How to reduce the play and friction in a front wheel drive gear linkage.

Parts required:

25cm of 8mm diameter steel bar.
Four M8 Nyloc nuts

Supplier - rswww.com
540-299Bearings (4 required), flanged 8 x 12mm, order 2 packets
237-1966Cylinder mount (4 off), 20mm x 15mm, M6 x 18mm, order 1 packet
183-2965M8 x 1.25 Die (for cutting the threads on the 8mm shaft)

If you wish to to fit the quick shifter (to reduce throw) you will need the following:
Supplier - www.summitracing.com
45096B&M shifter, quick shift gear changer

I devised this solution in 2004. I'd fitted a B&M short shifter #45096 bought from summitracing.com, and was still concerned about 'play' in the mechanism. After closer examination, the two universal joint type connections in the linkage were identified as the source of the movement, and I set about re-working the joints. Read on...

What you need to do is replace the pairs of plastic top hat bushes in the universal joints, with ball raced bearings bought from rswww.com. Using lengths of 8mm diameter steel bar, tapped with M8x1.25 threads on the ends to hold the bits together, the modification can be made in a couple of hours, and makes a world of difference to the gear change. The photo's below show what's involved.
  1. Take the linkage off of the car
  2. Start by drilling out the old pins in the UJ's
  3. Push out the plastic bushes
  4. Insert the 12mm OD bearings
  5. Cut the 8mm rod to length and tap with M8x1.25" threads
  6. Assemble and fasten with M8 nyloc nuts
  7. Protect from water/dirt ingress with silicon grease.
  8. Finally refit the linkage to the car
There should be no play whatsoever in the gear linkage. Not even any side to side play when you rest your hand on the gear lever. A very worthwhile modification, and it only costs around £20 including the cost of the 1" M8 die and the four bearings. The gear change is now much smoother too, due to reduction in friction from using bearings on the joints instead of plastic bushes.

Using a 10mm drill, remove the head from the pin on the Fiesta gear linkage Gently drift the pin out of the linkage using a hammer and a suitable punch Remove the top hat bushes, and check out the wear on the pin Clean the UJ and press the bearings in to the housing Tap 1cm of thread on to the end of the steel bar, before cutting it to length Feed the bar through the universal joint to determine the length of the bar, and cut to size Tap the other end of the bar, and double check that it is the right length etc Refit the two sections of the linkage together, and tighten the nyloc nuts Repeat for the other half of the linkage. Push the bearings in to the selector shaft. The reassembled linkage, with both sections now housing bearings The reassembled linkage, with both sections now housing bearings The linkage reinstalled on the gearbox The linkage reinstalled on the gearbox
B&M Shifter with rubber insulators fittedFinally to reduce the noise in the car, you should fit the B&M shifter using these rubber insulators (cylinder mounts). It makes a huge difference. The shifter assembly bolts directly to the floor, which means firstly when the engine and gearbox rock, the linkage is put under a lot of strain, and secondly all the vibration from the engine is transmitted along the linkage in to the floor of the car which makes the car extremely noisey and unpleasant to drive. These cylinder mounts definitely do the trick by isolating the noise created by the solid mounting of the gear linkage.