MG-Cars.net

Welcome to our resource for MG Car Information.

Recommendations

Parts

MG parts spares and accessories are available for MG T Series (TA, MG TB, MG TC, MG TD, MG TF), Magnette, MGA, Twin cam, MGB, MGBGT, MGC, MGC GT, MG Midget, Sprite and other MG models from British car spares company LBCarCo.

MG Midget and Sprite Technical - Stuck in First Gear, Please Help

Recently purchased 1971 1275CC Twin carb MG midget, cruisin', downshifted from 4th to 3rd to 2nd into 1st with some resistance, and now cannot get out of first. What have I done and how can I fix it? Please help, any suggestions are greatly appreciated.
J Hamilton

Have you tried accelerating and backing off quite harshly while pulling back on the stick? Sometimes the torque on/torque off can allow the lever to slide out. It's pretty unpleasant but does work.

I've seen it happen a few times with race gearboxes, can't recall what causes it but doubtless someone will.
Max T

http://www.spritespot.com/gallery/view_photo.php?set_albumName=toomanyspridgets&id=first_jammed

Hope this helps.
rob multi-sheds thomas

James,

When you've got it sorted - and there are several who've BTDT who will be along shortly to help out - don't use first again unless you're at a complete standstill, at idle. It's not like a modern 'box, with synchro on first - there is none, and it's a relatively weak, straight-cut gear (hence the noise). Generally avoid 1st if you can - otherwise I find that I can generally engage 1st pretty smoothly at standstill by initially tugging back into 2nd, and then moving through to first.
Steve Clark

There you go. Rob beat me to the Submit button.
Steve Clark

Rob's link captures it in one. It is occasionally possible to be lucky and have the balls not too far out and eventually force it back with the lever. However, most of the time, the passenger is Murphy and the box has to be stripped.

With a properly set up gearbox, this won't happen. Cause is too much play in any one of several places. So don't put it back without remedying the play unless you want to do it all again.
Paul Walbran

To get it out of gear you have to treat it very roughly.
Pull back heavily on the gear lever whilst alternately accelerating and braking. Keep doing this and it will eventually come back into neutral, but it may take several hundred yards of this brutal treatment. The alternative is to remove the gearbox and strip it down, which you will eventually have to do anyway.
Once you have the gear lever unstuck, you can drive it as normal, and may get away with it for some considerable time Especially if you do not trickle along in 1st with your hand resting on the lever. And when selecting first, do so gently so as not to push the lever too far forwards. But once it has happened once, it will re-occur, probably at a really inconvenient moment!

The cure is to dismantle the selector rods and add a spacing washer between the 1st gear selector and the end of the casing. That is at the left side of the selector as shown in the photo link that Rob has posted. This will prevent the selector from moving too far and allowing your balls to pop out. ;-)

Guy
Guy Weller

If dismantling, check for wear in the selector fork as well - when worn, the gear can float along its axis resulting in this problem.
Paul Walbran

J.H. Afew years ago I was going down a steep, rough driveway in my Bugeye (with ribcase tranny), holding my hand on the shift lever to brace myself, and it never came out of 1st no matter what I tried. I was 20 miles from home at rush hour, fortunately my son was doing an excavation job across the street, so we loaded onto his 20 ton trailer and pulled it home by Peterbuilt. Quite a sight to see a little Bugeye sitting on a 30' trailer! I believe the fork pushed the gears past the detent balls and required pulling it out for repair. Don't keep your hand on shifter in 1st gear, avoid 1st if possible. Bob
R.AF. Robert Finucane

It happened to me too, ended up with another gearbox rebuild.
I've a T9 5 speed box now, wish i changed over years ago.
Brad
B Richards

my 78 with a 1275cc out of a 73 sticks in 1st sometimes, I just yank on it untill it comes out, proboly not the best thing to do, but its driven coast to coast of the US several times since it started doing that.
Stefan

This thread was discussed between 16/07/2008 and 24/07/2008

MG Midget and Sprite Technical index

This thread is from the archive. The Live MG Midget and Sprite Technical BBS is active now.