Beck TD, Part 13: The Remote Shifter

Since Mark Harnitchek, the prior owner of the Beck TD, is an upright guy, he disclosed in our initial conversations that the shifter had a problem. It was difficult to find gears, and very balky. In addition, it was the "tractor style" shifter from the PV544 - hard to deal with.

It was easy to see what was wrong with the old one once I got it off the car. The plate that slides from side to side had cracked or broken at some point in the past, and it was repaired by welding. I think it warped at the weld, and was badly binding.

Fortunately, on the drive back from Virginia when we first picked up Beck TD, Charlie and Cor told me about the Volvo "remote shifter" that was used in the P1800, and which puts the shift lever right through the hole in the stock MG TD carpet. I called Joe Lazenby, and he had a used one to sell me. I bought it right away, but just got around to installing it. It works great!

But... it sticks up and out a LOT more than the stock MG shifter, requiring major surgery to the transmission tunnel:

I have no skills as a metalworker, but having a project car is all about learning new skills. I bought a flat sheet of steel at Lowe's, and went to work. Since I don't have a metal shear nor a bending brake, I had to do it with a combination of band saws, grinders, vises, and 2X4 blocks. When I was done, I had a pretty reasonable U-channel bent to size, and a fancy little cap to go at the open end:

I've really got to get a parts cleaner - trying to clean up the tunnel with a too-small plastic tub and cans of brake cleaner got old pretty fast!

But finally it was done, and I painted everything in Rustoleum and put it together:

The last step was to add a rubber boot to fill the rest of the hole. Charlie specified one from Lowe's, and even gave me the part number. Here it is in place:

So, for a total beginner in metalworking, I'm pretty happy with this! It will go back in the car, but not right away. See, I have a lot of plans for the cold winter months, and some of them involve taking out even more of the floor.

I'll close with one more picture - one of Joe Lazenby's setup. As you can see, his "patch" sits much lower than mine, which means his engine and transmission sit lower in the car. More proof that these Volvo-powered MGs, "engineered" one at a time back in the day, are one-of-one unique animals!

Continue on to Part 14...