ST185 Bent shifter cable arm on gearbox - options?

[Howieau]

Hey on my ST185 gearbox one of the shifter arms that the shifter cable attaches to is bent, and I believe this may be the reason my gears are clunky in some areas (not aligning properly). When I put on brass bushes where the shifter cables join to the arm, the problem was worse and I couldnt even select gears. There are one brass bush for each of the two arms. I had to replace one of the brass bushes with the original rubber one to give it more play and allow me to select gears again.

Anyway, I want to fix the problem and straighten the arm. It seems to be cast iron so im afraid it will snap if I try to bend it back (not sure how it bent in the first place). What I would like to know is can I remove the arm assembly from the gearbox and replace it, or is it too difficult of a task. The gearbox is in the car but I have sufficient access to that part. Here are a couple pictures of the part im talking about. I have little experience with removing/replacing parts on gearboxes. Please see attachment for picture. You can see one of the arms in the circle facing to the left of the picture. Mine faces down on an angle of about 20 degrees below horizontal.

Any input is much appreciated, many thanks.

[Casey-G]

It'll be Cast aluminum mate, i personally would go ahead and see if i could straighten it, but i have access to weld ally (im not sure if you do) and even if it were cast ally aint the best thing in the world to weld.


To remove it, i believe you will find 4 bolts in a square arrangement around the boot ont the arm, if you take these out that arm (and the rest of it) will slide out. Be sure to stick some rag or a plug in the hole to prevent foreign particles entering the box.


I am unsure of one thing though and that is if the arm is connected to the internals in such a way that it will prevent you from removing it.

hope this helps in some way.

GL!

[DrNick]

I almost bent one of these recently too by forgetting to disconnect the shifter cables and starting to lift the engine with a crane Surprisingly didnt bend them but its a strong possibility.
It does look like cast ally and aside from the cracking issue I dont think it will be that easy to bend back in the first place. But there is only one way to find out im afraid... If i were you I would try and source a replacement before messing with it, just in case

[Casey-G]

Actually just thinking about it now mate, it wont be aluminum. pretty sure you were right in your initial post with them being cast/forged steel, cast most likely.


Are you absolutly certain it is bent though?perhaps brass bushings were a bit much, i know when i put roller bearings in my shifter linkages it made it quite notchy but never failed to engadge a gear,

[Howieau]

I've seen other gearboxes with it straight at a 90* angle. I think I will try and remove the internals as you suggested and take it to a shop that has access to an oxy or such. Hopefully they can heat it and move it back into shape slowly.

[Howieau]

Ive undone the four bolts at the base of one of the arms but it wont come free from the gearbox. Moves out about 15mm and thats it. Any help?

[thechuckster]

you need the GT4 TSRM - from memory, removing it is fairly involved