Achilles Heel

Restore the rifle-bolt action of your Herald, Spitfire, Vitesse or GT6

Refresh your small Triumph’s gearchange and make it perfect.

Triumph’s ‘small chassis’ cars – Herald, Spitfire, Vitesse and GT6 – have very similar gearboxes. Ratios changed between models, synchromesh was added to first gear and the internals were beefed up for two-litre engines, but much of the rest remained the same. All these ‘boxes have a remote linkage that places the gearlever conveniently close to the driver.

The gearchange action should be crisp and precise. As the bushes of the linkage wear, however, it starts to become sloppy. In extreme cases, finding the right gear turns into something of a fishing expedition. Fortunately, it’s cheap and easy to restore your gearchange to as-new condition – as we’ll demonstrate in this feature.

The lever and linkage are carried inside an alloy housing on top of the gearbox. The lever sits in an arrangement of springs, washers and a spherical plastic bush – and over the years these can wear or break up. The lower end of the lever engages with the linkage rod via a pair of plastic top-hat bushes – and there’s another pair of bushes at an articulated joint halfway along the rod. Replacing these bushes is a straightforward job that can be carried out in a few hours.

The usual Triumph parts suppliers offer kits that include all the relevant bushes, washers and seals. A princely £15 will secure everything you need. There were quite a few minor alterations over the years, so always quote the model and year of your Triumph when you order the parts.

Remove remote assembly 3

Disconnect and label the wiring for the overdrive and reversing light switches, where fitted. Select neutral, then undo the four nuts holding the remote assembly to the top of the gearbox. Lift off the assembly, complete with the gearlever.

Clean flange and assembly 4

Stuff a rag into the top of the gearbox and clean away all remnants of gasket and sealant from the flange to which the remote assembly attaches. Clean and degrease the remote assembly. Transfer it to a workbench for inspection and surgery.

Remove gearlever bolt 5

The first stage of stripping the remote assembly is to undo the ¼in bolt at the base of the gearlever. Note the orientation of this bolt and location of the top-hat bushes for later reassembly, as the bolt must be refitted the same way round.

Remove gearlever 6

The base of gearlever is held in its socket in the remote housing by an inverted metal cup. Press and twist the cup anticlockwise to release it from its bayonet mounting, then lift out the gearlever, complete with springs and spherical bush.

Strip gearlever 7

Remove the gearknob, including the overdrive switch and wiring, where fitted. Slide the cup, dished washers and outer spring off the top of the lever. Release the circlip around the shaft of the lever, then slide off the smaller spring and spherical bush.

Fit new spherical bush 8

Clean the lever and its components, then lightly grease. Slide a new spherical bush down the lever curved side downwards, followed by the smaller spring. Secure it by pressing a new circlip into its groove using AF ring spanner.