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    • #93984
      Patrick Tyrrell
      Participant

        Hi all,

        I’m a new TEAE member. I have a Mk1 Tiger (B9470276LRXFE), which I bought back in 1990. It’s been a great car. Here’s the problem: I was about to back the car out of the garage, and when shifting into reverse, the lock-out “finger pulls” snapped in two. I bought a replacement shift lever from “Stang-aholics” (attached photo). The problem is, I do not see where/with what the pawl/peg at the bottom of the shifter connects or acts upon. When the finger pulls broke, the inner workings of the shift lever were no longer secured – I learned this the hard way when I removed the shift lever. So I have 2 questions: 1. On which side of the shift lever should the pawl be when the lever is attached to the linkage? 2. With what does the pawl connect to/act upon? There is nothing obvious. I thought this would be a simple operation: unbolt the original lever, bolt in the new one. No such luck. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!

      • #94589

        Hi Patrick,

        Have you solved this problem yet? If not let me know and I will ask some club members who may know. I also have a mark 1a but haven’t worked on this part.

        Dave

      • #94639
        Patrick Tyrrell
        Participant

          Hi Dave,

          Many thanks for your reply. Due to the holidays & a vacation, The problem’s not solved yet. We live in northern Illinois, so the Tiger’s off the road until the salt is off the roads this spring. My friend (who’s a British expatriate) contacted a supplier in the UK & has ordered a copy of the Sunbeam Tiger parts catalog. My friend said, “The parts catalog provides clear diagrams and drawings of every part for specific engine/chassis numbers etc. Thus it was invaluable for figuring out what parts were wrong or missing etc.” The workshop manual’s only mention of the shift lever is to remove it prior to removing the transmission – not much help! Now that my wife & I have returned from vacation, my plan is to talk to two shops in the Chicago area who have done work on my Tiger in the past, & have one of them look into the problem. The thing I do not want to do is screw up the shift linkage — if there’s a way to do that, rest assured, I’ll do it!! 🙂 However, any advice would be greatly appreciated, as this could help me and/or the shop. Thanks!

        • #94655

          Patrick – Hi. It’s been a while since I looked at a stock Ford shifter, but I don’t think you will damage anything if you put the lever in backwards. There are three longitudinal gates in the shift mechanism – 1st gear/2nd gear, 3rd gear/4th gear, and reverse gear. When the lever is installed correctly the pawl prevents moving the shift lever into the reverse gate. If the lever was reversed you would need to lift the the pawl to engage 3rd or fourth gear instead. You could easily confirm this without needing to start the car.

          I think the pawl just acts against the metal body of the shifter. I can dig my shifter out of the parts pile and confirm it for you if you’d like.

          Gary Corbett

        • #94660
          Patrick Tyrrell
          Participant

            Hi Gary – Many thanks for your comment. Based on the shift pattern, with reverse being to the left & forward, when the shift lever is installed, the lockout pawl should be on the left side of the shift lever. Lifting the lockout pawl would then allow the shift lever to move left & forward into reverse. If I understand this correctly, it should be a pretty simple process. The weather’s pretty cold right now & our garage is unheated. Early next week it should warm up to around 40 degrees, so I’ll give it a try then. Thanks, & fingers crossed! I’ll let you know what happens.

          • #94698

            FYI, I worked with a Ford shifter/linkage guy several years back named Bill Healy to repair my broken Tiger T lever. He had parts and expertice, would highly recommend. Hate to post someone’s phone numberra f on a public forum so thinking if you pm me and I can pass it on to you that way.

          • #94715
            Patrick Tyrrell
            Participant

              Hi Kragh – Thanks for the contact. Tomorrow (Tuesday) I’m going to try installing the shifter per Gary’s advice. If that works – Great! If not, I’ll turn to your contact (Bill Healy) for any advice. I’ll let you know how things work out tomorrow. Thanks again!

            • #94764
              Patrick Tyrrell
              Participant

                Dave, Gary, Kragh,

                Thanks for your responses re: my Tiger shift lever question. Yesterday, I successfully installed the new shift lever. Installing the lever with the pawl to the left will not work, as the pawl Is blocked by a casting supporting the linkage mechanism. Since it did not work with the pawl to the left, in a flash of brilliance, I did the only possible alternative & re-installed the lever with the pawl to the right. It’s VERY hard to describe, but there’s a slot in the casting supporting the right side of the linkage mechanism. Apparently the pawl interacts with that slot. In order to tilt the lever to the left, you need to left the lockout & pawl so the pawl disengages with the slot. Well, with the new lever, the pawl is much smaller than the original pawl, so you can shift into reverse without using the lockout. No problem, as the TR 6 I had years ago had no reverse lockout & never caused a problem. A photo would explain it all, but I can’t attach one (file too big?). I tested it in our long driveway & it works fine. Many, many thanks for your time & comments!! I’m keeping the original lever (without lockout) if I ever need a spare. Now, I can’t wait for the salt to be washed off the roads by the spring rains.

              • #94769
                Joe and Cheryl Betz
                Participant

                  Hello Patrick, would you sell what is left of your broke shifter?
                  Joe

                • #94852
                  Steven Murphy
                  Participant

                    I also took my shifter to Bill Healey. He lives nearby so it was an easy trip to get it repaired. Mine essentially snapped the wire that lifts the pawl that locks out reverse. He used piano wire and JB Weld vs. brazing the new wire to the pawl.

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