Morris Minor Owners Club

hi all
Not sure how the gear stick should feel in a moggy as I have only driven mine, but I have trouble finding third gear and keep grinding gear selecting the wrong point. the clutch is fine, the stick doesn't flick back to the centre when put into neutral and is just floppy and I have to pull the stick across to the right all the way and then back a little to find third, this is okay after a while but I keep forgetting that procedure and continue to grind gears, can anyone shed any light on this for me
cheers all

mine is exactly the same. I have gotten used to it. Mine you can't select first if it's rolling either

yep cant drop into first if not fully stopped either

I'm still on L plates. So it's annoying going into 3rd in a new car, I go into 5th by accident

But there must be a way of sorting this surely

oh dear not best thing to learn in really. hey would make driving modern cars easy though

Check for all the little pins/springs/plastic bush etc (see Moss link) in and around the gear lever. For 1st gear you need to double-de-clutch into gear when moving - easy when you know how! http://www.moss-europe.co.uk/Shop/ViewP ... exID=17075

It does, I have lessons in a pergeot 306. And it's a breeze. Just driving my moggie with a supervisor for road experience. I ride a motorbike too so it's all fun.

Emergency stops are a breeze in the modern one

I took my driving test in a British School of Motoring (BSM) A40 Farina (same gearbox as the Minor) and never had any trouble with the gear box even engaging first gear as part of the test and passed first time
Yes you have to double de clutch to get into first gear (What is double de clutching I hear you ask?). Even now with a modern car I still tend to double de clutch. I suppose that I have never got out of the habit of doing so even after all these years.
If you want difficult driving try driving a Lea Francis with the accelerator in between the brake and clutch pedal the gear change to the right of the drivers seat and gate change and I cannot remember there being any synchromesh on any of the gears. And defiantly no power assistance to the brakes
Photo of myself driving the Lea Francis Doctors Coupe at Prescott in 1973.[frame][/frame]

When the wife drives the minor she has trouble with third gear and does try and grind it into 1st, personally I don't have any problem. So for me when the wife is driving the problem is between the gear stick and the hand that operates it
I think Carlos (and Nikki), it's just a matter of getting used to the feel of the gearbox.

I agree, its just a matter of getting used to the box, it will become second nature after a while! A couple of my friends have wanted a drive in the minor and they always have this issue of not finding 3rd easily for a few miles.

It took me a couple of weeks but 3rd is second nature now. Even not driving for a week I find it.

I do need to practice the double de-clutching. Sometimes I get it in first with out even thinking about it.

the stick doesn't flick back to the centre when put into neutral and is just floppy

Is this maybe a guide to the problem you are having?

The Minor gear shift is not biased to one plane (1/2 or 3/4), so in comparison to a 'modern' can feel floppy. The gear lever needs to be manually moved across from 1/2 to 3/4, but don't push too hard or you will overcome the reverse spring pressure, and try to move the stick forwards into a 5th gear position that isn't there!

Is there a spring resistance as you move the stick across to get reverse? If not that will cause selection problems into 3rd.

Don't grip the gear knob, just rest the palm of your hand on top of the knob and guide it into gear

I found putting my Palm on the side if the knob and pushing with my thumb seems to work.

My driving instructor has a campervan and she describes both our gear changers as "sticks in a bucket"

But it shouldn't be like that - the change from 2nd to 3rd can be VERY fast !

It is for me, no I am used to where it is, I have gone from my lesson car to my moggie and struggled at first because it was in a different place, but now it's easy

thanks everyone, shall take her out today and have a play. Not sure about the reverse gear resistance shall check.

The old,very old method I was taught,was that 1st to 2nd palm of hand on the right hand side(Drivers side) of the gear knob then the lever automatically dropped straight past the (gate) neutral point into 2nd.with the weight of your arm holding it over.
2nd to 3rd palm of hand onto left side,(passenger side) of gear knob then automatically went into third with the weight of your hand taking it accross the gate . 3rd to 4th the same side holding the lever straight down into gear. This worked fine untill I bought a datsun sss,I think,From memory the box was the other way round,and was five speed,Caused a bit of fun,since straight down from 1 was reverse,and with a worn linkage well you know the rest