[alfa] gearshift rattle

["Bill Sinclair" <bills@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I'm coming to this discussion a little late but I figured I'd add my input.
About a year ago I posed the same question and received some good responses
from the digest.  I tried shrink tubing, teflon tubing and surgical tubing -
none of them worked.  The problem seems to be that the internal shaft was
installed with a press fit bushing that can't be removed.  From looking at
an exploded diagram it appears that there was an additional bushing behind
the pressed in one that disintegrates and allows the inaccessible  end of
the shaft to rattle even if you manage to cushion the upper portion.  If you
don't mind eliminating the reverse lockout feature, Skip's RTV solution will
certainly work.  I think that you will need to acquire an additional ball
bearing or two to keep the reverse lockout pin (on a 1600 transmission)
permanently pushed down to disable it.  I'm reluctant to do this myself
because I accidentally managed to downshift from 5th to 2nd on the highway
one time and I sure don't want to try it from 5th to Reverse.   The best
solution seems to be replacing the 1600 2-piece gearshift lever with a
single piece lever from a 2L transmission along with the reverse lockout
gate that was used in those later transmissions.  As Skip described, this
plate prevents you from going directly from 5th into Reverse and eliminates
the need for the "push to reverse" setup of the earlier transmissions.  In
Richard Lane's original post, he had rebuilt a 2L transmission so he should
have that plate already.  Acquiring a single piece gearshift shaft shouldn't
be very difficult.   A question: Has anyone ever had any luck eliminating
the rattle on the push to reverse systems?  Are there actually any Giulias
out there with this system whose gearshifts don't rattle?  I know that an
out of balance drive shaft exacerbates the problem but I wonder if these
cars always had some rattle, even when new.

Bill Sinclair
67 Duetto (still rattling until I find a cheap 2L tranny)
73 Berlina (rattles everywhere else)
Hampton, VA
--
to be removed from alfa, see /bin/digest-subs.cgi
or email "unsubscribe alfa" to majordomo@domain.elided