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Spitfire gear selection

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chris4

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can anybody tell me where reverse is on a 1980 1500 spitfire gear lever very stiff and cant select gears easy looked on some other forums but some say to the right and forward others saying to the left and forward ta chris
 
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A local Brit car club member was carjacked in his Spitfire in a grocery store parking lot. Gave up the car and the keys and made a run for it.

When the police arrived the thief was still sitting there trying to find reverse.
 
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Carjacked in a Spitfire?? Cool in a perverse sort of way.
Once you learn to lift the lever it's simple. If it's still hard to find reverse, the linkage joints are notorious and most likely the cause.
Tom
 
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So...now I'm curious, having never driven a Spitfire. Is it still the usual up, right, and back? or did they change the tranny architecture?
 
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No easy answer. The early car were up and left. Later up and right as I recall. Single vs 3 rail gearbox I think.

Tom
 
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Perhaps they did it to confuse thieves and amateurs? Very different transmissions. Actually shifting doesn't seem to be an issue. A couple of tries and your hand learns the drill.
Tom
 
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chris4 said:
can anybody tell me where reverse is on a 1980 1500 spitfire gear lever very stiff and cant select gears easy looked on some other forums but some say to the right and forward others saying to the left and forward ta chris
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if the shifting difficult... you should start by looking at the plastic ball at the bottom of the shift lever. They wear out and there is no telling how it might have been "repaired" in the past. Fortunately it is an easily available part and easy to replace. shifting shouldn't be stiff... Also to trouble shoot you can take off the shift lever / top plate unit from the transmission and see if the problem is in the shift lever /remote or transmission.
 
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