Gear cables - How to Change.

Laz1957 wrote: Not sure yet David - I haven't had a chance to take a look, and I still need to research what I am looking for.

Also, I don't have the equipment to raise the back of the car - what is the best method?

BTW the new shiny exhaust has arrived. I need the gaskets and bolts for the exhaust to adapter and adapter to cat. After our conversation in Scotland are these the best ones to get?

MGF, MG F, MGTF, MG TF Cat Fitting Kit Stainless

Completed

Would it also be prudent to buy a couple of these?

Exhaust Bracket

Yep those will do the job! Got an angle grinder yet?

Rich in Vancouver wrote: I have a cheap Chinese 3-ton trolley jack that does the job.
Under the rear of the car you will see a steel loop sticking down right next to where the gear linkage is. You can jack under that loop and then put jack stands under the subframe
I checked with Rimmers and they only sell the cables singly and at a price about the same as Portland Trading's price for the pair. My reason for wanting to go with Rimmers is that they offer UPS shipping which gets the parts to me within 2 days. Portland only shows air mail which would take a couple of weeks particularly as we are just getting over a postal strike and things are not up to speed yet. I have e-mailed Portland to ask if they can do faster shipping so will be keeping my fingers crossed.
Dieter's site has a good how-to on changing the cables the easy way and a fellow named Valter in Portugal has come up with an even quicker way. Gearchange Cables
I think I'll try his method, but first have to get the cables here!

As Valter writes, it is really just getting at the closure plate fixings that make it difficult. I would imagine if you could get the use of a 4 post hydraulic lift, the job would be easier. :yesnod:

This photo shows the troublesome clip replace by a wire.

A four-post hoist is the stuff of dreams.
Unfortunately I am doomed to spend my weekends on a creeper crammed underneath an MGF on jackstands! :silly:

As for the "troublesome clip" That's the first i've heard of it. I will watch out for it.

Rich in Vancouver wrote: A four-post hoist is the stuff of dreams.
Unfortunately I am doomed to spend my weekends on a creeper crammed underneath an MGF on jackstands! :silly:

As for the "troublesome clip" That's the first i've heard of it. I will watch out for it.

The 'clip' is one of those regular failures. Fortunately very easy to replace and recover all your gears.

The usual 'fix' is to put a tie wrap around the clip to keep it in place.

Rich in Vancouver wrote: Here's a link to Portland Trading's page on the MGF cables. They have good pics of how the cable ends should look.
By the time mine failed they looked nothing like these! There is also a bellcrank incorporated in the shifter mechanism itself. It has a nylon bushing that could cause major problems if it fails but I don't know if they ever do. It sure looks like a part that would benefit from an occasional application of grease. Speaking of the gearchange, do the cables at the front end just snap on and off of the balls?
Portland MGF Cables

Rich,
Check out this How to fit the Mike Satur SSK gear change mechanism, including his bell crank.
Tony says just prise off the cable ends, so presumably the new ones snap on.

Of course they do. It's Nylon ball shape with a small slot.

Btw, I mentioned this already in nearly all Forums, cause it works at my MGF now since several thousand km:
You can use the front ball joints aswell at the rear side. The ball diameter and the thread is the same.

That's good! I was going to give it a whack with a screwdriver and a hammer but wanted to avoid breaking anything if it wasn't meant to come off that way.
WOO_HOO! :woohoo: As I was typing this the letter carrier arrived with my new cables. That's about a week from Portland Trading by Air Mail. Great Service! Unfortunately I won't be putting them on till Sunday as Friday and Saturday will be taken up by a family reunion. If it was my family I would do the cables instead but it's my wife's family so that's not an option. :yesnod:
BTW: An added bonus getting them by air mail...No duty, extra tax or clearance charges as TNT/UPS would have charged. (Probably $70.00-ish! :omg: )

Excellent news Rich

I look forward to hearing how you get on, as you have a lot more experience than I do, so I'm sort of following your lead

I hope it goes well for both our sake!
I'll try to be modern and take pictures as I go.

"I hope it goes well".....Famous Last Words! :rant:

This job should be rated as "VERY DIFFICULT" If you aren't confident doing repairs
and don't have a full selection of tools don't attempt it as you will end up a broken man/woman.
This is one of those jobs that would be much easier the second time.
If you are paying a pro to do this job expect to pay 4-6 hours labour. More if things are rusted up and cantankerous.

Things started out well, I Removed the engine cover to gain access to the cables and the closing plate from above.
I had already removed the center console (More on this later) for access to the forward end of the cables where they attach to the shift mechanism.
The cables were easily disconnected from the gear lever mechanism using a big slot screwdriver and a hammer. Simply place the screwdriver on the "neck" of the cable and give it a whack with the hammer and the fitting will pop off.


The securing clip that holds the front end of the outer cables to the tunnel can be removed with the main body of the console in place but it is nearly impossible to refit it later. Save yourself some grey hairs and remove the outer console first. For reasons unknown Rover didn't slot the mounting bolt hole or fit a captive nut to the clip which would make the thing easier to fit. There is a good how-to on removing the console on the net but I can't recall where . If I come across it again I will post an update.

(Undoing the nut holding the securing clip the hard way with the outer console in place)

The next task was to remove the three securing bolts from the closing plate at the rear end of the transmission tunnel which can be reached from above. This is hard on the hands but they are reachable. Remove these bolts before jacking up the car.

(The gearchange cables are visible to the left of the heater hoses as are two of the bolts to be undone. The third one is hidden behind the bulge to the left. Leave the two bolts to the right of the heater hoses alone)

(1/4" Ratchet with an 8mm socket)

Now jack up the rear of the car and support it on jackstands under the subframe...or raise it on your 2 or 4 post hoist if you are a lucky sod!
You can then pop the ball joints off of the bellcrank. Simply slip an appropriately sized wrench (15mm in pic, 13mm works better!) in between the joint and the crank and lever it till it pops off. Then using a screwdriver lever off the cable securing clips.

(Popping off the joint)

(Levering off the clip)

Now for the awkward part.

The cables are now free at both ends, the middle bit is next. As you will recall you have removed three bolts from the top portion of the closing plate. This leaves two to undo from below. If your bolts are rust free and still have their hex heads this will be straightforward, if very awkward. If your bolts have rusted, rounded off heads you are in for a battle. The bottom bolt can be reached between the subframe and the body with an 8mm wrench. you can slide in between the clutch line and coolant hoses and loosen it one flat at a time.

(The bottom bolt can be seen through the hole in the subframe. The hole, of course does not line up with the bolt! )

(This is my very rusty bottom bolt. I was eventually able to remove it by using my large screwdriver as a lever to apply pressure to the closing plate which reduced pressure on the bolt head and allowed me to turn the bolt out. Do the next guy a favour and replace these crappy bolts with stainless!)

This leaves one bolt which is located neatly between the handbrake cables with very little clearance. You can certainly tell that the closing plate was installed at the factory before the subframe went in! You can get at this bolt using a 1/4"drive ratchet with a 6"-ish extension (8mm socket). The ratchet handle will be back by the gearbox casing with the extension fed between the coolant hoses. This is straightforward unless the bolt head is rounded like mine was, in which case you will have to use violent means to eliminate the bolt head in order to pull the closing plate clear. Our Portugese compatriot says that the cables can be swapped without removing the bolts completely. I can't confirm this as I had to all but destroy the closing plate to get the damaged bolts out so we will have to take his word for it.
With the closing plate clear you will now be able to pull the old cables out.
Before doing this note the cable routing. Take pictures for when you forget the route.
I arranged the rear portion of the old cables so that they were as straight as possible then pulled the cables rearward. It is very awkward as the cables take a turn immediately behind the closing plate and you need very strong wrists and arms to get them out. You will find the front fitting tends to hand up at the front end near the gear mechanism. You may want to cut the cables below the cubby box to eliminate the big ends. The inner of the broken cable can be pulled out forwards to make it a bit easier.
Now you get to put the new cables in. Believe it or not it is actually easier than taking out the old ones.
I started at the closing plate and fed the cables through to the front. It is very awkward and again you need strong hands. (My forearms are still throbbing a day later!) The foam sleeve on the cables can be pushed forward when the forward section of the cable is in place Remember, the short cable runs under the gearbox but takes the upper position at the front while the longer (crossgate) cable is fed over the gearbox and down to the bellcrank, but takes the lower position at the gearchange end. Locate the ribbed fittings at the front first then reattach the securing plate at the front end of the cables. Make sure it locates in the ribs of the cable housing. In order to fit the securing plate I found it necessary to slide the outer console assembly rearwards by a couple of inches to gain access through the round hole on the upper rear portion of the shift assembly. Of course to move the console back the following had to be removed; Windstop, T-bar, Volumetric sensor, vertical cubby assembly and the footwell side panels. Of course even with the added clearance the locking plate is still very awkward to fit. Installing and tightening the securing bolt and nut is worthy of a double jointed chimp.
(pic)
The cable ends can now be attached to the gearshift linkage. There isn`t enough room to get a hammer underneath so the plan was to use a clamp to squeeze the cable end onto the ball. The clamp that I wanted to use wasn't ideal for the job and I was unable to use the clamp screw to push the cable end onto the ball. However I was able to use the clamp as a lever to push the ball up. With a sharp pull back on the clamp the cable ends snapped into place.
After accidentally popping the upper joint off after the console was back in I found that a small pair of channel locks was also able to pop the joint back on. I don't know if it could do the lower joint though so be careful!

(The clamp jaw was fed through the round hole between the cables with the end pad under the ball end)

(This shows the clamp in place to pop the cable end into place.)

Please note that I am not giving any information on remounting the closing plate at this time as I have not attempted it yet. Due to the damage I did to the plate I will have to try to straighten it before I can refit it. The rubber seals for the cable look to be a real bit...um...challenge to get into place. It may be best to install the closing plate before routing the rear portion of the cables just so that things are a bit more movable.
Update! My closing plate is so badly thrashed that I am not even going to try to reinstall it. I will buy a replacement to have on hand for when I drop the subframe, or when I feel particularly masochistic. In the meantime, to prevent fumes from migrating into the cockpit, I intend to stuff the rear portion of the tunnel with some fireproof insulation.

(The thrashed closing plate)

(The remains of the offending bolt shown above an intact bolt. Getting this one out probably added 4 hours to the job)

Next route the rear portion of the cables.
Now you can attach the cables to the linkage on the gearbox. Locate the cable outer in the brackets and slide the securing clips back into place. The cable ends can now be attached to the balls on the linkage. Make sure the balls are clean and apply a thin smear of waterproof grease. I attached the ball ends using channel lock pliers to squeeze them together. I doesn't take much pressure.
When you have the cables in place check the adjustment. You should be able to shift into all gears cleanly. If you don't get all gears adjust the bottom cable first. Put the gear lever in neutral. Pop off the lower joint at the gearbox (levering with a 13mm wrench) and manually pull the bellcrank assembly to the rearmost position (3rd gear) Pull the ball end to the rear and see if it long enough to reach the ball. If it isn't lengthen the cable end by rotating it counter-clockwise on it's thread. Then push the bellcrank assembly to the front position (2nd gear) and check the cable in that position. If it doesn't reach turn it clockwise just enough so that it will reach the ball.
With the crossgate cable the tell tale signs that it needs adjustment is whether 2nd and 5th will engage.
If 2nd won't engage the cable is too long so pop off the joint at the rear and rotate the joint clockwise to shorten.
If 5th won't engage do as above, rotating the joint counter-clockwise to shorten the cable. Note! I may have these directions (A moment of "CRS") backward. If you know for sure please let me know!
You will find that one turn can make the difference between shifting and not shifting, so be patient
After adjusting the cables make sure that all of the cable end locknuts are tight.
Now go for a drive to test, and hopefully celebrate.

Note: I have read elsewhere that the new non-MGR cables are slightly longer. This would be the rod end/cable end portion, making adjustment difficult. I can't say for sure if this is the case but I did have lots of difficulty adjusting mine. Unfortunately my old cables are no longer measureable so I can't compare. I do have all gears and my shifting is certainly smoother than with the old knackered cables/rod ends, but I am still not happy with it.
Suffice to say that a Mike Satur Slickshift has moved to the top of my want list, and will be bought and installed as soon as the budget allows.


(Looks better doesn`t it!)

Enjoy, and may your bolts not be rusty!
Rich

Good luck!