Lotus Europa Community
Lotus Europa Forums => Garage => Topic started by: RonPNW on Monday,December 11, 2023, 05:45:08 PM
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While cleaning and painting the shift lever / shift bar I noticed that years ago I had tweaked the design to reduce play in the shift lever. There was excess movement in the lever to bar junction. Your situation may be different.
Two thin washers can be added on each side of the shift lever tang (inside the fork of the bar) to take up the play when the shoulder bolt is torqued. I ended up using .030” washers. Thin washers are available in various thicknesses from several online sources. Grease all the contact surfaces.
Test to be sure that the lever moves freely when the shoulder bolt is torqued. The stack of washers and shift lever tang should be set slightly less than the thickness of the tang plus the one side of the bar fork.
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Since the hole in the fork is larger than the diameter of the shoulder bolt that goes into it, you should have a bush that provides the thickness you want as well as the diameter you need. The stock setup used nylon top hat bushes but I think SJ Sportscars’ brass top hat bushes (https://www.sjsportscars.com/parts-and-accessories/SJ535.htm) are surely better.
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I got the equivalent from Rdent. And they do nicely reduce any play, especially compared to the nylon ones I had. I think they are oil impregnated bronze. But I added lube anyway.