Technical Sloppy Gear Shift

[LiteRye]

Is there a way to tighten up a sloppy gear shift? When in Tuscany and rented a 500 we were told “that’s just how they are” but I would imagine there’s a way to make it less so. I ordered a new set of linkage bushings and lever so I’ll be diving into it if my package ever shows up from Germany.

 

[JumpJet]

You could try to replace your linkage with a rigid piece (never seen one, but it'd be easy to fabricate), but generally speaking, you're never going to get a tight, notchy shifter. You could try one of those billet gates to limit the travel a bit.

 

[LiteRye]

I’m not really looking for “notchy” just reduce the lateral movement so you can discern between neutral and being in gear haha

 

[Uaglio]

Did you examine the shift linkage? Under the car there’s an odd piece of linkage sometimes referred to as the “lollipop”. Two metal parts shaped like lollipops linked/sandwiched by a rubber disc that acts as the main shift linkage damper. Make sure the rubber between them hasn’t perished.

 

[the hobbler]

Uaglio's suggestion is a sensible one---the 'lollipops' are known to come apart, which will give you a very 'sloppy' gear-change. But before you go and order a new 'lollipop', check that the nuts (nyloc) are tight on the special 'stepped' bolts. The idea of the step is to allow you to have the nut tight, but still allow the 'lollipop to move in both the fod coming from the gear lever and the rod coming out of the gearbox--you MUST allow movement at both ends of the 'lollipop'. If the 'lollipop' has started to break up, try to retain and re-use the original bolts. on some of the 'pattern' bolts the shoulder is not long enough, with the result thatas you tighten up the nut, you end up locking the shafts onto the 'lollipop'. There should also be a 'spring' shim between the rod and the metal arm of the 'lollipop' (or 'tirante'--link, to give it its proper name)

 

[LiteRye]

Good deal. When my bits come in I’ll take a look at what’s going on. Thanks folks!

 

[Bounding Bambino]

One little tidbit of info, again i dont know if this is frowned upon. But when i was enjoying my friends 500, before getting a project of my own. I noticed that the more i enjoyed the car, the softer the shift linkage felt. Once putting it on the lift, i was able to see the design, and the mentioned "lolipop" I decided to give it a bit of a upgrade. I definitely didn't want the rubber sandwich to come apart while i was driving. So i drilled 2 holes thru the sandwich and installed 2 bolts with nyloc nuts to tighten the assembly up.

Wow what an improvement it made. Again i didn't put the bolts super tight as to not allow any flex, but it definitely help sporty up the shift feedback. At least it bought me some time to order a replacement.