(Author: ikom Saturday September 11, 2004,
Sep,11,2004Sep,11,2004
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Saturday September 11, 2004
A cold and miserable day - I am in the garage at 9:30AM but it is 4 degrees Celsius and I decide to take care of errands instead.
At 11:00AM, while shopping, the sun peeks through and the temperature goes up, so I return home quickly and pull the ULTIMA onto the driveway.
I have to drill the gear shift linkage today, so I set up the drill press with an industrial quality 5/32nds inch cobalt drill bit that I bought during the week.
I assemble all of the joints and rods first and use emery paper to clean each linkage rod end so that it fits in the corresponding joint snugly. I mark each joint and rod so that it will mate in exactly the same orientation once drilled. I intend to drill the rods and joints assembled together so there is no chance for error.
The new bit cuts through the "U" joints and the linkage rods like a hot knife through butter and leaves a nice clean hole as a bonus.
I systematically go though each jointed section and note that the factory diagram shows the threaded portion of the linkage at the second last joint however the pictures in the new factory manual (for a centre mount shift) shows the threaded portion at the selector bracket end.
A dilemma, but I install the threaded adjustable joint on the selector end rather than at the second last joint, since it makes more sense. I will however post a question regarding this anomaly on PISTONHEADS and hopefully get a definitive answer from another builder.
I secure the joints and rods by the roll pins supplied by the factory using a 2 pound hammer while the assembly is resting on a 4 pound sledge hammer. The roll pins seat themselves without drama.
