oh b*ll**ks

[Vista]

I guess I had to get my first breakdown sometime

 

Half way through blowing away some dipstick who had a "it's just an old Ford" look on his face. Go to change up from 2nd to 3rd and get the wand in porridge reaction and no gears Gradually coming to a halt on a fast moving dual carriage way I get it into 3rd and limp 5 miles home, praying for no traffic.

 

Onto drive, pull centre console apart and find that the fluffy bunny that fitted the quickshift kit (before I bought it) hadnt fitted longer bolts to account for the spacer, net result? The short bolts had only gone in 1/3rd of the way down and all the threads have stripped out

 

I've put it all back together now with the right length bolts, but as only about half of the threads are intact I reckon that'll be short lived, one of them feels dodgy already. So I reckon I'm gonna need to drill and tap them out to the next size up. Hope I get time before CF as I can't drive it up there like this Can I do it without removing the box? That is the question (stuff that MacBeth to be or not to be nonsense)

 

Shit, the round ones, arseholes

[PAUL MANN]

not good in mid thrash, hope you get it fixed

[marky4]

sorry to hear that m8 hope you get it sorted soon

[emu]

My quickshift kit did that too. except I had used the bolts that came in the kit . Fitted some longer ones that almost bottom out and its beenok since.

 

Anyway, back to the important bit......did you win???

[ZetecVan 2.0]

I'm not an escort expert, but if you can get the bolts out through the gearstick hole you should have enough room to drill and tap the holes.

[lead foot]

sorry to here that mate hope its sorted soon.

[james p]

thats shit mate hope you get it fixed

[RFChris]

Arse. I should imagine your gonna have to lose the box to fix it too. Hope you get it done mate.

 

Chris

[Wessie]

at least it wasnt a internal gearbox fault hope you get it sorted though

[Vista]

I'm not an escort expert, but if you can get the bolts out through the gearstick hole you should have enough room to drill and tap the holes.

 

I can get to them fine, but to do it accurately involves something a little more than a battery/power drill and pot luck for getting it vertical as you drill it out. I'm wary of making it worse

 

My quickshift kit did that too. except I had used the bolts that came in the kit . Fitted some longer ones that almost bottom out and its beenok since.

 

Anyway, back to the important bit......did you win???

 

No, I was in the process of doing so (quite convincingly so) Billy Bellend looked quite crestfallen that his Castella 4GI fanny magnet (think it was a Corsa in a previous life) couldn't keep up. Well that look turned to one of glee when he shot passed me as I rolled to a halt with the hazards on

 

It's going again now, but I'm fairly sure it'll happen again if I don't drill and tap the holes out.

[Gonzo]

Heres an idea: Use studs and nuts instead of bolts. Use loctite or summat on the studs [obviously get ones that screw in as far as poss] and use nyloc nuts to hold it all on.

 

Far stronger than bolts in stripped threads.

[Vista]

Heres an idea: Use studs and nuts instead of bolts. Use loctite or summat on the studs [obviously get ones that screw in as far as poss] and use nyloc nuts to hold it all on.

 

Far stronger than bolts in stripped threads.

 

That's a pretty good suggestion, I'll look into that.

[Gonzo]

If you can't get any proper studs, just get some really long bolts and cut the heads off.

 

The amount of times I've had to use this method after monkeys have stripped threads on my bikes is ridiculous.

needless to say I do all my own repairs now.

[Rick]

unlucky mate.

 

bet he thinks hes a racing pro now little shite

[w p e]

bad luck boss. get a cheap helicoil kit about £12.00 and fit these you only need a cordless should take about 15mins

[4parajon]

Unlucky mate, it could have been worse though

[johnny_h]

Nuts and bolts sound like a good fix. I hope you don't have to have the gearbox off mate. I don't wish that on anyone. Even though I am getting quite skilled at it now!

[Vista]

Nuts and bolts sound like a good fix. I hope you don't have to have the gearbox off mate. I don't wish that on anyone. Even though I am getting quite skilled at it now!

 

No I don't think that'll be necessary, I can either drill and tap it as is or insert a helicoil and stay with the same thread size.

 

Trouble with drilling and tapping is you end up with a larger bolt / nut and then have possible clearance issues with getting a spanner / socket onto it. I'll probably go with a helicoil.

 

It's ok at the moment with longer bolts, but I suspect that as half the threads have already been pulled out, then the remainder will go the same way.

[Gareth]

Trouble with drilling and tapping is you end up with a larger bolt / nut and then have possible clearance issues with getting a spanner / socket onto it. I'll probably go with a helicoil.

 

Use Allen bolts

[Vista]

3 M8 helicoils later and I'm back in business . The plastic bush that goes around the fork on the end of the gearstick was scrap though and I though oh-oh an obscure out of production part that's gonna stop me going!!

 

But to my surprise not only can you still but them from Ford, but my local dealer had them in stock for only £1.14!!

 

Sorted, now where's my coolbox for the beer

[Mr Sam]

bit of a bugger

 

lets hope you meet him again

[Vista]

bit of a bugger

 

lets hope you meet him again

 

eh?

[john_3.0s]

bit of a bugger

 

lets hope you meet him again

 

eh?

 

think he meant the dipstick u were racing in the first place mate

[Vista]

 

 

[bomber1]

glad its sorted and yeah defnatly waste the asshole next time