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MG MGF Technical - Gear stick shortening

I know some of you out there have shortened the gear stick but I was wondering by how much and is there a definate improvement. I was thinking of cutting off about 40-60mm would this seem to be about right?
JFK

Which gear knob do you have fitted JFK ?

Tim
Tim Sheppard

Techspeed took 2 inches off mine - which seems about right.

The nice thing is that the gaiter now sits nicely below the gearknob and you cant see the gearstick - something which always used to annoy me.

Paul
P9 VLS
Paul

JFK,

I took about 2 inches (50mm) off - actually the length of the threaded part. Bear in mind that the shaft gets thicker below the threaded bit, so you'll need a knob that fits - I got an alloy one from Mike Satur which fixes with grub screws. Don't let any swarf get into the works when you saw it !

Brian
Brian

With a 2" shorter stick how much more force is required to change gear, is it noticable?
Paul

Tim, its the standard gear knob. I'm going to cut 50mm off and re-tap it so that I can re-fit the knob. I just think it looks better with a slightly shorter stick and like Paul says the gaiter will then sit flush with the knob. I might, at a later date, get a different knob but I'm quite happy with the standard one for the time being.

John
JFK

Hi,

I did a crafty one with my stick; The standard screw on type sit on the top of the rod. However by replacing this with a knob which is secured by grub screws means no re-tapping. And the rod goes right up to the top of the knob. Lowered by 45mm with no re-tapping required.


Nick
Nick

I think I'll abondon the idea for the time being. Just had a look at the mechanism and I'd have to take the linkage apart to get it in the lathe to turn it down so that I can re-thread it. The nut which secures the linkage on the left has about 2mm clearance which would mean the linkage is put in as an assembly at the factory. Whats 45mm anyway! (I thought the welding was a bit crude on the balance arm though)

Thanks for the advice anyway.
John.
JFK

I think it feels great to have a short gearstick. No extra force needed to change, hand can be rested easily on it, shifts faster too, and very sexy compared with the standard megastupid gearstick length for a 'sportscar'...
Dirk Vael

I have to say that I agree with Dirk (is that a first?) the car looked silly with the original gear knob setup, I fitted a Mike Satur job which just replaced the old one but it sits right down on the stick making it at least one inch shorter and looks better.

Ted
Ted Newman

JFK,

Was in the same position as you a few weeks back, looked into getting the shaft shortened, instead changed the gear knob for a Momo (Identical to the Rover Leather Ball gearknob - just 10 ukp cheaper)which then sat an arround an inch and 1/2 lower. This improved the overall feel of the shift imediately. It almost felt like I was only moving the gearknob half the distance forward and back.
You should be able to find Aluminium Ball knobs for arround 15 ukp which is a cheap way to see if you like the change.

Regards Tim
Tim Sheppard

Cheers Tim, I'll try that. Like Ted says, the original gear knob does seem to high for the car. Didn't take much notice of until I saw an Elan with a very short stick. The set up just looked right for the car.

Thanks. John.
JFK

.. another jigsaw project, yes.

pictures of what you find if you remove the old knob are still online at
http://www.fortunecity.de/hockenheim/senna/253/mods/
row 20.

(sorry, the page is to long, I know. It should be shortened too)

dk
Dieter

Dirk, if you read the handbook that comes with the F it says you should not rest your hand on the gearstick for various reasons set out in the book. what say you?
Jody

Over the weekend I cut of part of the gear stick leaving 10mm of thread and fitted a Momo knob and what a difference in gear change. The whole thing sits about 50mm lower and the gear change seems so much sweeter now. A well recommended mod for a fraction of the cost of a quick shift.
JFK

Jody, perhaps they should add to the handbook you should not drive with the F to prevent premature failures ;-)

what reasons? with the original stick it will be pretty hard I guess!
Dirk Vael

I remember reading that in the manual Jody, it said that it would wear the gears out quicker or something like that - go figure

Matt

Resting your hand on the gear lever causes premature wear of the gear linkage bushes. The wear rate is the difference between having to replace the rubber and nylon bushes in 90k miles time versus 45k miles if you rest your hand on the lever.

Best not to do it IMO.

Rob

John- I like your suggestion regarding sutting a small length of the thread. I may look into this further, but having sampled the Techspeed linkage yesterday... Wow. It really is very good. I might go the whole hog and buy that conversion! :o)
Robert Bell

I just left a small about of thread on there just in case I need to re-thread it later on. Like Tim says, it almost feels like I'm only moving the gearknob half the distance forward and back. Far more precise. How much does the Techspeed one retail for?
JFK

JFK,

which Momo gearknob do you have ?
I have the alu/leather one from Rover and I wonder if I can saw a part of the gearstick and refit that gearknob without any other mod ?

Fabrice
Fabrice

The Techspeed kit costs 160 quid fitted- which is alot I admit John, but the feel is so much more 'mechanical' that it becomes worth the investment. :o)

Like you Fabrice, I have the leather Momo gear knob...

Rob
Robert Bell

I got the ally/leather one but my son 'borrowed' it for his Golf. Now I've got an all ally one. And it was bloody cold this morning so I can't/don't rest my hand on it!
Yes, it fits with no problems. The shank fits over the stick and because it isn't threaded just clamps on with the grub screws. In theory you could have a 2" gear stick. Now, wheres that hacksaw..........
JFK

Fabrice,
try at first to remove the knob only.
If fitted by your dealer the Momos are often 'secured' with adhesive.

I tried to get that Alu/leather one from a chap who sold his MGF last year (Bastian A.), but he wasn't able to get it loose. :)
Unfortunately was the distance 10O miles and I could not help directly.

Rob, please can you give us a brief description how that knop is fitted or how that kind of clamp fixture is called ? (threaded Alu-ring and so on)

'High' live the hacksaw ! ROFL
(sorry about this german direct translated words)

JFK, thanks for the 'grub screw' technical english. I put it to the 'double sided sticky' and the 'barrel clamps'

dk
Dieter

I have the MG version of the Momo knob Dieter. It has a Nylon insert that screws onto the threaded gear lever.

The outer section still rotates- Patrick had a remedy for this, but I can't remember how he did it! Can someone remind me?

Rob
Robert Bell

Me too, it's the MG version of the Momo.
So if the gearstick is shortenend, there will be no more thread on it and no way to screw back the gearknob ?

(I'm a bit confused)
Fabrice

Oh, Oh, I think I'll hurry to instruct the german friends with MG version Momo ASAP.

We discuss the same recently at the technical board here.
Just guessed that all availiable hacksaws will be sold out tomorrow and in hands of german MGF Enthusiats who needs one to shorten the gearstick ;-))

So DOWN THE HACKSAW, at first check the fixture and measures of that bolt and nylon insert.

CU
dk
Dieter

Rob,
Use epoxy gIue to adhere the nylon and gear konb together, it works. Be sure you have to remove the nylon all the way and apply glue on both surfaces.
HTH
Elden
Elden Chan

The Momo knob I got isn't the MG one, perhaps the two are different. It isn't threaded, just hollow.
After removing the old knob but the collar down the stick, release the 3 grub screws on the new knob, put knob onto stick as far as it will go, tighten up the grub screws and screw the collar onto the knob which hides the grub screws.
Rob, if yours is threaded and rotates put some PTFE plumbers tape on the threaded stick first. That should cure it.
JFK

>>So if the gearstick is shortenend, there will be no more thread on it and no way to screw back the gearknob ?<<

Yes, that's right- although if you only remove a small amount of thread one might get away with it- but I am not sure. Otherwise, you have to remove the lever, cut it down to size, lathe the last 1.5 inches and re-tap it... This is why I haven't shortened the lever on my car so far. It just sounded rather too involved!

Elden, does the nylon insert just pull out? Glue between the leather ball and the insert sounds like the way to go (John, the knob is as tight as possible on the lever as possible, it is just that the grip slips around on the nylon bit).

Rob
Rob Bell

Hi Brian

Did you leave the gear stick attached to the car while you cut it??

Stefan
Stefan Gibney

just cut the threaded part from the gearshift and reffited aloy knob. this coupled with the b&g quickshift system fitted to the car gives a "movement" like s*** of a shovel if you will forgive the pun
gerry

Rob,
>>Glue between the leather ball and the insert sounds like the way to go<<
I had tried it before but not successful, only last for couple of days.
>>Elden, does the nylon insert just pull out?<<
Use a forceps to fix the nylon insert and pull out the leather knob by force, no tricks.
Elden
Elden Chan

Thanks for the tip Eldon. A job for the weekend?

Rob
Rob Bell

This thread was discussed between 09/03/2000 and 17/03/2000

MG MGF Technical index

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