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...on my pretty-stock 1980 TR7 drophead. it is the 5 speed. i have read of these getting sloppy in the shifter from deteriorated rubber bits where the shifter attaches to the box, so i picked up a new set of those bushings, but it occurs to me that my problem isn't that it is sloppy and loose it is that the gears are hard to find sometimes and you have to be very precise to get the shifter to slot in. anybody have a thought about this?

One test is to pull up on the shifter, if it lifts up then your bushings are shot. I think it could still be your bushings, with the shifter extension flopping around, its relationship to the shift lever is kind of random.

If the extension is moving all over the place because the rubber bushes are shot then its likely you will have all kinds of trouble finding gears. I would fix them first then you will see if there is any other problems with the box.

Hi,

IF bushes are shot, which sounds very likely, replace them with Poly bush type, these will outlast the rubber type by years.

Cheers John

Google LT77 gearlever adjustment or look in the manual and follow the instructions exactly.It is very time consuming and fiddly to do with some dismantling but if the bushes are good will pay handsome dividends.I have done this with two LT77 equipped cars and it transformed the gear change.Steve.

On mine, when I bought it, it had no bushings left. It was like stirring porridge. New poly bushings firmed it right up. Still notchy/hard to shift into 2nd when cold (feature of the LT77). The correct oil to match the requirements of the syncros fixed that. The only thing left to do is adjust the gear shift springs so it is a bit more definitive in the neutral slot (tired 36 year old springs).

JamesH wrote:... my problem isn't that it is sloppy and loose it is that the gears are hard to find sometimes ...

Agree with Steve, but first check spring on top of 'box extension and after that make sure the lever is adjusted properly.
The spring should align the lever with the plane for 3rd and 4th gear.

As you already have a new set of bushes, fit them first before making any other adjustments with the gear lever spring..........otherwise you may have to reset them afterwards.

Just to play devils advocate, when I got my current 7 going, the gear change bushes were almost nonexistent, as they have been in all my 7s. However the gear change was as smooth as silk & quite precise.

I had probably done a couple of thousand kilometres in the car before I got to the extension bushes. After they went in the change was equally precise, but was stiffer to use. Not unpleasantly so, it was still a beautiful gear change compared to most, but not quite as sweet. It went from a 2 finger change to a 4 finger change.

70,000 kilometres & over a decade later the change is still the same 4 finger change, & equally satisfying. The selector spring did loose some tension, & was allowing the leaver to move over into the reverse plane too easily. You should have seen the look on the face of the technician at the large spring makers, when I asked them to retemper my little hair type spring. It worked though, now I no longer have to be careful not to go too far & into the reverse plane, when going back to second in anger.

Hasbeen