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MG MGB Technical - Fitting the gear lever end bush???

Any tricks for fitting the gearshift lever and lower bush on an all syncro overdrive gearbox? I've tried putting the bush in the remote control shaft and then fitting the gear lever - the bush pops out the bottom. I've tried fitting it to the lever first and it rides up the shaft when I push the lever in. Do all these nylon bushes have a split down one side? Do they wear and would a new bush be easier to fit? I found in the archives a recommendation to grind a taper on the bottom edge - is this the answer? Is it a two man job? Help!
Mike
Mike Ellsmore

My first attempt involved fitting it to the socket first and it got pushed out the bottom as you found. So I fitted it to the lever, but still needed to cut a chamfer round the bottom edge of the bush before it would go in to the socket. It is supposed to have a split, that opens up as you push it over the ball on the end of the lever. That's probably why the lever won't go into the bush when the bush is already fitted. The outer of the bush should be cylindrical meaning it should go into the socket easier once fitted to the lever.
Paul Hunt

The trick is to place the bush onto the ball of the shift lever, very carefully eyeball and align the bush so that it is going straight down into the socket. One then has to hold their tongue in just the right position and perhaps mutter a few expletives on the fourth or fifth try and eventually it will slide into position, at which point you quickly bolt everything in place and go out for a celebration at the local pub. Cheers - Dave
David DuBois

As David and Paul said, a tiny bezel makes a big difference with a good dob of vaseline on the knob first and keep trying. When you crack it right it will almost drop in. If it does not go straight in dont fiddle, realign it and try again. Denis
Denis4

I remember it as David DuBois has put and no extra work

and as he's put it'll either go in first try or there's no telling when

bit like putting the seat back into the car, the runner will either stay on or keep falling off and then the runners will either locate to the floor straight away or take numerous attempts - the time before last I took a few minutes put a seat back in but last time same seat in same car took over half a hour, nothing would line up or thread properly, I was cutting chunks out of the carpet in the end to no advantage and then suddenly out of the blue for no good reason everything lined up and thread up properly

often just walking away for a few minutes and returning can help
Nigel Atkins

"a good dob of vaseline on the knob first and keep trying"

In that case you aren't doing it right ... oh, that's something else.
Paul Hunt

Success! - the dob of vaseline certainly helped but the big improvement came from changing hands! I was trying to line all up sitting in the driver's side (right hand drive car). After several unsuccessful attempts I moved to the passenger side, moved the remote control shaft so the hole for the bush was concentrically under the cup and very gently lowered the assembly in - voila! Much easier for a stiff old man working on his right hand side. A good LED pencil torch and reground chamfer also helped - time for beer.
Mike
Mike Ellsmore

Make sure you have the correct nylon bush. The gear lever bush (22H0015) is smaller than the bush (22B295) at the front end of the remote tower selector.
Rich Boris

That's correct for the 4-synch box in this instance, but interestingly both are the same (22H 15) for the 3-synch.
Paul Hunt

This thread was discussed between 10/11/2013 and 19/11/2013

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