WTB gear lever for 5 speed conversion, U.K.

Cornishman

Cornishman

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I am trying to track down a gear lever suitable for a 5 speed conversion, I have the tinwork trans extension and the transmission and prop shaft.
Or advice on what I can buy from eBay etc that will fit. No special need for short shift, but that is also ok.
I am U.K. based and the car is a 4 speed late 1973 manual.
Thank you
 
Thanks Ohmess, let’s see if I can find one a little closer to home. It just seems crazy to ship parts around the world these days.
 
Can any one help me to understand how the gear-lever works? In a normal 4 speed getrag the gear lever is pushed down and away for reverse. What is the actual locking mechanism that protects from accidental reverse gear selection? Is this in the gear lever lower section, I assume it is, but how does it work?

As an alternative to an original, can I use one of these for my 5 speed conversion?
www.ebay.co.uk

For BMW E30/E36/E39/E46/M3/M5 Quick Shift Short Throw Gear Lever Shifter Knob | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for For BMW E30/E36/E39/E46/M3/M5 Quick Shift Short Throw Gear Lever Shifter Knob at the best online prices at eBay! Free delivery for many products!
www.ebay.co.uk

This one is cheap and easy local delivery, but does it just go into the transmission extension tinwork? Does it also have the reverse gear protection system?

Or is this more expensive and complex lever more suitable? Do you think it just fits and is attached with those grub screws rather than a circlip? I asked the seller, but got a “we are too cheap to answer questions and those old models are to rare for us to know”.

www.ebay.co.uk

BMW E36 E39 E46 Z3 Z4 M SHORT SHIFTER QUICK GEAR KIT SHIFT E24 E28 E30 E34 | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for BMW E36 E39 E46 Z3 Z4 M SHORT SHIFTER QUICK GEAR KIT SHIFT E24 E28 E30 E34 at the best online prices at eBay! Free delivery for many products!
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Thanks for any help you can provide.
 
Which transmission are you working with? What is a tinwork trans extension?
I use a shift lever out of a 90's 5-speed car on my 265. The original 5-speed shift lever is on the right, the one in my car is like the one on the left.

IMG_1114.jpg
 
Thanks Mike
This is the transmission extension tinwork and also the transmission which I think is a 265, it is a five speed overdrive box,
The gear linkage is about 150mm long, I read here about 147mm, so about correct.
I hope that I can find a lever that will fit into this extension tinwork, have a reverse gear accidental protection feature and not need modifying, hence be reliable.

Did your 1990’s gear lever just fit with no hassle, does it have some form of protection for the reverse gear? Is it close to fouling the gear lever console?
 

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Cornishman said:
Mike, one more dumb question, how does the wooden gear lever knob come off?
Click to expand...
Mine unscrewed off the old lever I had in there. Now I use the knob off of a baseball bat as my shift knob.

There is no reverse lockout. Reverse is left and up, and it is quite apparent when you have pushed the lever over into the reverse gate.
There is no interference problem with the new lever.
 
Cornishman said:
Thanks Ohmess, let’s see if I can find one a little closer to home. It just seems crazy to ship parts around the world these days.
Click to expand...
Hi Cornishman - I wasn't suggesting that you get the part from the US, I was intending to point you to the part number for an e21 - 25-11-1-220-213 - that I have in my car. I would think you could find a used shift lever like that in Europe.
 
Cornishman said:
Thanks Mike
This is the transmission extension tinwork and also the transmission which I think is a 265, it is a five speed overdrive box,
The gear linkage is about 150mm long, I read here about 147mm, so about correct.
I hope that I can find a lever that will fit into this extension tinwork, have a reverse gear accidental protection feature and not need modifying, hence be reliable.

Did your 1990’s gear lever just fit with no hassle, does it have some form of protection for the reverse gear? Is it close to fouling the gear lever console?
Click to expand...
by tin work, you mean what is called the shift platform, I think there are some other names for it
I found out there are more than one of those that fit the 265, you need the one specified in the write up if you don't have it
The 'correct' one positions the shifter at the same location as it was with the 4 speed
 
Thanks Mark99
The question is, how do I tell if that platform is the correct one? As shown in the photo it is about 6.5 inches from the end to the centre of the gear lever pivot point.
I am beginning to think that this conversion might not be so easy when compared to a standard clutch change, but, everyone tells me the benefit is huge. And, how else should I spend a pile of money and heaps of time buying parts
Regards
 
do you still have your 4 speed and shift platform?
The distance from the back face of the 'regular' part of the transmission to the hole in the platform for the shift lever pivot should be the same, very close
Another way of saying that, the platform for the 5 speed should be shorter than the one for the 4 speed by the length of the new overdrive section
I figured this out after a lot of 'what is going on here?' moments
I had assumed that 'all' shift platforms for the 5 speed were the same (simple minded)
 
Another thing, the 4 speed platform attaches to the transmission at 3 points
The 5 speed attaches to the transmission at 2 points and is supposed to attach to the sheet metal of the transmission tunnel
One of those holes magically lines up with a hole in the car
There are a number of suggestions on how to attach it there, but overall it seems like not a great solution, you are now coupling 2 different motion systems
The Coupe King 5 speed install set gives you a rod to make that 3rd attachment to the transmission, I think that is a great idea
The shop that installed mine did say the fit / assembly of that rod was a little 'rinky dink'
 
Thanks.
I only hear good things about the Coupe King installation kit, but getting things into the U.K. is not so easy anymore and also expensive. So I will try the rubber mounting of the platform to the trans tunnel approach.
Mot sure how “rinty dink” translates, but I guess it is not good.
I think that I am going to wish for a full size lift when I start this job..
 
Cornishman said:
Thanks.
I only hear good things about the Coupe King installation kit, but getting things into the U.K. is not so easy anymore and also expensive. So I will try the rubber mounting of the platform to the trans tunnel approach.
Mot sure how “rinty dink” translates, but I guess it is not good.
I think that I am going to wish for a full size lift when I start this job..
Click to expand...
I bought the Coupe King transmission mount, and I think it is a great way to mount the transmission into the car. That said, I did not use his shift mount that came with it but instead mounted the platform to the body of the car. In doing so, I followed the following recommendation from sfdon: a 10mm bolt up through the platform, a sway bar rubber bushing between the platform and the body of the car, and two 10mm nuts on top inside the car. Yes, you will have to open up the hole in the body a little bit to do this. And no, two nuts is not overkill.

I have twice had the experience of having a smaller bolt with a nut installed underneath the car fail. In both cases, I had to pull up on the shift knob to the get the shift lever into a position where it would change gears and to keep the shift platform from bouncing off the driveshaft.
 
Was the picture somewhere on the forum showing correct platform dimensions for Getrag 265?

I can't even imagine someone putting some dimensions on it for documentary reasons.

The instruction created several years ago is great but for newbies few pictures would help a lot.

Maybe an initiative to update it. I'm pretty sure many of Experts here have some pictures documenting the adoptation and correct, fitting parts.

I would love to see :)
 
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