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Hi,
I grew up working on my fathers Fiberfab MG TD kit car. He has left it
to me (which is AWESOME!!!) It hosts a ford 2.3 liter from a 78 pinto
or mustang II(not sure which one) The transmission is apparently a
german ford tranny which has internal linkage adjustments(this is what
i have been told, but I am not really sure) The problem is that all the
sudden after sitting for 1 winter it would no longer go into reverse
gear. Everything else works great, I drove it like that all summer.
Does anyone know how to fix this? Should I just replace the tranny?
Any input would be well appreciated as I am a novice with engines.
Thanks alot
Geoff
Hi Geoff,
It must be Pinto day on the tdreplica site.
Here is the web site for the Ford Pinto Car Club of America.
http://www.fordpinto.com/smf/index.php
If you don’t find the info from the TD fans on this site, I bet the Pinto fans can help!
Paul Mossberg
Former Owner of a 1981 Classic Roadsters Ltd. Duchess (VW)
2005 Intermeccanica RoadsterIf you own a TDr and are not in the Registry, please go to https://tdreplica.com/forums/topic/mg-td-replica-registry/ and register (you need to copy and paste the link)
Geoff:
Does the shift lever depress down and move over but the car doesn’t go into reverse? Or does the shift lever just not move further to the left than 1st and 2nd position? Is the shifting stiff or tight going into other gears? Does “rocking” the car while trying to shift into reverse make any difference?
Ringo
Hi Ringo,
The shift lever wont go further left than 1st gear. As far as the shifting on gears 1-4 it is as smooth as can be. It just all of the sudden refused to allow the shift lever to go far enough left and up in to Reverse gear. I have not tried rocking the car while trying to shift, but once the car gets delivered to me in Arizona I will(it’s in Buffalo NY right now).
Are you familiar with this problem? Is this Tranny difficult to work on? I found a replacement locally at a salvage yard but i would prefer not to have to swap it out.
Thanks for your input, I definitely appreciate it!
Geoff
Geoff
I haven’t had the pleasure of working on one of those. From what I’ve seen on my car and what I’ve read in the Haynes manual, it looks like you’ll have pretty much have to at least lower the rear of the tranny to access the upper tube shifter rod. So, you might as well pull it and make sure.
Sorry I couldn’t be more help.
Ringo
Geoff,
This may be totally unrelated, but I just had a similar problem with my car. It started with difficulty getting it into reverse and then the Shift Lever just completely disconnected, as in NO GEARS! I took the shift lever off (3 bolts, depending on how it’s cut away, should be accessible from the top) and when I felt aroung in the oil, I found a NUT. and the “saddle” (for lack of a better term) that the Shifter fits into was just floating around free in the oil. I found the threaded end of the Gear Shift shaft by feeling around and was able to get a socket in and reattach and tighten the nut. Now works perfect! I don’t know if this is the same problem, but I know it’s the same transmission so check it out. The nut being just loose would definitely make it difficult if not impossible to get the car in reverse.
Good Luck
Rich
Wow! Thanks alot Rich! I’ll try it out as soon as I get the car in PHX. I found a company that will ship it for about $1,000. Just waiting for an extra thousand bucks to come around!Seems like every time I have the money, the wife has better plans for it!
Thanks again for the info, I hope that that’s the issue, I was about to just get a new transmission.
PS. -Totally off topic, do you think a ford 302 would fit in the engine compartment? I think I might want to turn my MG into a HotRod some day. No idea what kind of work that might entail(motor mounts, suspension, misc hook ups)but it would sure be fun to work on.
Happy Motoring,
Geoff
Geoff,
The guy that built my car said that at the time he built it he was told that the Ford 2.8L V6 was the biggest engine that would fit in the front engine version of the FiberFab design. The Ford V6 fits only because it is a 60 degree configuration vs the typical 90 degree on most V6s and V8s. That makes this engine much narrower. So, you could measure but I think the 302 might be pushing out the sides of the MG.
I hope I’m right about the tranny too. Not being able to get it into gear most certainly sounds like a “linkage” problem.
Best of Luck!
Rich
Rich, after some research on the Pinto forums it appears to probably be a problem with the “reverse lock-out ” mechanism on the shifter. I won’t know for sure until It gets here on Monday, but I specifically remember that the shifter wouldn’t depress to get over to the reverse gear. If this is the problem it seems like an easy fix. Fingers are crossed………
Update:
The “reverse lock-out ” works fine, but I still couldn’t get the car in reverse. I took the whole gear shifter apart, felt around in the gear oil as Rich suggested. Apart from some “gack” I found no irregularities. I even widened the hole in the fiberglass under the shift boot just in case it wasn’t allowing enough clearance. I took the car to AAMCO but because this tranny has all linkages internal they could only diagnose the problem by dropping the tranny and inspecting it for a Starting Fee of $375.
So I decided I’d just deal with the problem of crafty parking for a while and try to save up for a while.My driveway has a good pitch to it so if I “Flintstone’s” it out a couple of steps it just rolls right out and it’s good to go forward.
Today I thought Hmmm… I never tried to engage the reverse as it rolls backward, so I tried it. Holy Mackerel! It went right into reverse and it’s like the problem never existed! I can’t believe it, this has been such a bother and it was such an easy silly fix.
Both this Forum and the Pinto Forums have been great help. Thanks everyone for the tips and advice.
Geoff
Great! So now it works just fine from a dead start?
Transmission science is so fascinating and so above my head
, glad you got it working. Great idea trying that.James
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