I recently rebuilt the shifter on my '72 Spider because I was tired of "fishing" for gears. There is not too much out there for the early 5 speed shifters. In an attempt to actually add knowledge to this forum (instead of constantly taking knowledge from it), I am writing this to try and help others with the same problems.
Here is a blow up of the shifter parts.
As you can see, there are not many moving parts. This is good. The main parts to watch out for are #12 Reverse stiffening spring, #13 Upper ball socket, and #25 Relay rod. There is also the famous "anti rattle clip" that is not in the above picture. The relay rod merely sits between the lower and upper ball sockets and is tensioned in by the stiffening spring.
Here is what happened to my spring.
The upper spring is what the PO put in for me. (Geeeeeee, thanks.) It was not the correct size and broke. This did not put any tension on the ball sockets and let the bottom of my shifter rod slide from side to side. With the bottom not secure, there was no pivot point and looooooots of slop.
The spring measures out to..... Wire diameter: 0.08"
Spring length: 1.67"
Spring Inner Diameter: 1.47"
Number of Coils: 3.5
The upper ball socket and lever on the right (above) were my old ones. Without any tension from the spring on top, the socket rolled around and wore down terribly. The one on the left were the ones I managed to get to replace them.
Here is the loose assembly. I used a simple synthetic, bearing grease to keep things sliding around nicely. I did remove the "donut" or "guibo" or "flex coupler" to make removal and reassembly easier but it might not be necessary.
One note on the guibo, when you check it, check the torque on the bolts even if you do not change it. None of the six bolts on my car were up to torque. None! Two were merely finger tight and the only thing that kept them together was the fact that the nuts were lock-nuts. I do not know if this experience is unique or not. I have not heard anyone else talk about this on the guibo threads.
Also, check the anti-rattle clip on the top. I believe this is available from various sources. Search for other threads for lots of information on them.
Be sure to change the top shifter boot if needed. You can see the one on the left that my PO left me. (Geeee thanks again!)
But other than that, it is a fairly easy procedure to change. I now have "snicketty-snicketty" shifting and my reverse lockout actually works! Amazing what a little knowledge and perseverance can do! Sloppy shifting is something that no-one needs to live with if you don't want to.
Thanks again for all of the people that have helped me on this forum.
I hope this will help someone in the future.
Dougieb
