Bill, Bill, Bill
What are we going to do with you? If you can't take care of your toys you won't
be allowed to keep them...
And here's the guy who goes on about what a great car the MGA is.
Not even 40 years old and the thing snaps off in your hand - what a rip-off.
Phil Vanner
-----Original Message-----
From: Bill Eastman [SMTP:william.eastman@medtronic.com]
Sent: Thursday, August 20, 1998 3:26 PM
To: mgs@autox.team.net
Subject: Age, Treachery, and metal fatigue
I was out for a quick spin in the A over lunch and, on a 2-3 upshift, the
shift knob decided that it wanted to be a rebel and explore new territory
outside of its traditional H pattern. So I now have a shift knob that is
free of its worldly shackles and a shift lever that's about an inch short
of its original stature.
Working at a high tech company has to have some advantages so I took the
shift knob with the broken end of the lever still in its clutches over to
the people in metallurgy research. They were unwilling to put it on the
scanning electron microscope but cursory visual inspection identified the
failure as a fatigue fracture due to shear stresses- probably ductile in
nature. Oh well, we all have to go some time. Let's hope the front stub
axles or brake pedal isn't next.
So the problem is how do I fix this? Memory of past threads is that the
MGA shift lever doesn't just pop out on its own accord because of some pin
or another. I also have heard the reproduction shift levers leave a bit to
be desired. I am in a quandary and am looking for advice. Should I:
1) Replace the lever? If so how tough is it to do? Any first person
experience with repro levers or offers of used levers would be appreciated.
2) Just cut off the end of the lever, bore out the Moss Wooden shift knob
to fit over the stub and use a grub screw and/or epoxy to hold the mess
together. I shorter shift pattern would be kind of neat. How short should
I go?
3) Take the old lever out and find a way to get new threads cut to hold the
shift knob. How tough is the lever? Will the chrome chip at the shoulder?
Again, how short should I go?
For now I will use the angle grinder to knock off the sharp edges plus
maybe a little duct tape to keep my palm in one piece but I would like to
have this solved by Wings and Wheels on 12 September. Having a bent bonnet
will be bad enough but a broken shift lever too will make it look like I
don't maintain the poor thing.
Regards,
Bill Eastman
61 MGA loosing another small skirmish to Father Time.
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