Second MOT: loose gear stick

                                                         July 2010

Thurs.29.07.10. This is the first opportunity I have had to take the Burlington to Slick’s for its second MOT. There have only been 856 klms since the first ‘ticket’. Danny did the business and by 4.00pm I drove away with a fresh certificate. Pat was surprisingly ‘smily’, maybe someone had just given her a good talking to between the legs?

Returning to Westmead Chris wanted to tackle the problem of the ‘difficult’ reverse gear that had been present since I picked the car up from Tim Brown. The split washer had come adrift somehow, but after a little ‘manoeuvring’ it was eased back into place which then enabled the re-assembly of the spring loaded mechanism. This had also been the source of the problem with the overdrive. The linkage had become loose, as a result the forward bracket was not engaging the plunger which in turn engaged the electrical switch that allowed the mechanism to function. 

But, more importantly, whilst correcting this problem Chris noticed a much more sinister problem with the prop shaft. It was visibly loose on the phalange that connects the shaft to the box. This could have disastrous consequences: if the locking nut became totally adrift the damage to the box and ‘diff’ could be enormous. Hopefully the ¾ inch locking nut just needs to be tightened. The four nuts attaching the prop to the phalange need to be firstly removed exposing the nut which when tightened should solve the problem. Fingers crossed. 

This could be a little job for Derek Roscoe, who was incidentally one of the original members of the first build