Gearbox selector fork
- Thread starter leigh8695
- Start date
Why not silver solder it? I assume you broke a bit off and you have both bits. If you have a clean break and can fit the bits together it shouldn't be that hard and silver soldering will make it stronger than it was new. I mean the silver soldered joint won't break again. Not to say it can't break elsewhere.
The 1 / 2 gearbox selector fork has plastic ends on the tips of the forks. Go figure . When you remove them from the box they fall off and split and are not re usable. We were hoping to weld/ solder /whatever the ends of the forks to build them up and file/grind them to fit/suit. If gearbox/diff man can't do it, then i am not going to but there will be someone who knows how to do it somewhere. Finding that person is the mission. New ones no longer available. Silver solder is an option but I have to find the person who knows how to do it. As you can imagine it's an expensive exercise removing a box, pulling it apart , putting it back together and then hoping it works.
Silver soldering is not that hard, even I managed to do it on a rather difficult bit of material. It was an ordeal (my first attempt) but I got it right in the end. Given your work is small you don't need some clever heating implement (which is the hard part). I managed with a butane torch (not the best idea, but for small work it is good enough).
What about silver soldering some pads of the right metal there? Most forks have bronze/brass (?) pads, not sure why yours has plastic, I mean it doesn't sound like a good idea. What car is it, anyway?
What about silver soldering some pads of the right metal there? Most forks have bronze/brass (?) pads, not sure why yours has plastic, I mean it doesn't sound like a good idea. What car is it, anyway?
What car is it?
I mean if you want to stay with the plastic pads, you could try to make them out of some serious engineering plastic like Vesconite (have a look around) and glue them on with Loctite 480 (Max Black) if they don't have some clever way to attach securely.
I mean if you want to stay with the plastic pads, you could try to make them out of some serious engineering plastic like Vesconite (have a look around) and glue them on with Loctite 480 (Max Black) if they don't have some clever way to attach securely.
Not keen on staying with plastic solution. The gearbox people tell me under track conditions the plastic gets hot and falls off and creates slop in the selecting gears process. Have thought of that and your ideas make sense but I don't think the long term plastic is a long term fix and again it could be an expensive exercise. Just need to find someone who knows what they are doing. There will be someone out there who this won't be a problem for them to do. It's just finding that, possibly old school, fixer person. Only get to do it once. Used gearboxes , for Renault clio 172's ,because of age aren't common on the ground anymore.
Plenty of good Renault people in Melbourne, even near Essendon!
Do you know Auto Paris, Alpine Affaire and French Connection?
So it's a Renault Clio?
Are these plastic jobbies listed as spare parts? Maybe others have had the same problem? What do the internets say?
I would not totally dismiss the French design. Maybe they are trying to protect the synchro ring channel the fork is riding in.
Can you take a picture of the fork tips? Or maybe let us know what is the shape of these caps? Are they round with a hole? Straight or slightly curved?
Vesconite is simply amazing. I tested a few samples and am smitten. You can machine it easily and to very tight tolerance, holds shape, doesn't wear out, self lubricates and is mechanically strong, unaffected by temperature, doesn't melt, doesn't burn. Most unexpectedly it does not break no matter what. I bashed a round sample with a through bore (just under 1cm wall thickness) with a sledge hammer and it does flatten but it flattens like steel, without any chips or bits coming off. Took a lot more effort to deform than mild steel.
I would totally trust it to make these caps out of it. And if they are a simple shape (like a straight round tube) that would be very easy to machine. A bit of Loctite Black Max (or a little bit undersize hole to make sure it's an interference fit) to make sure it holds on and you're done for good I reckon.
I will post a photo when the young fellow with those talents comes home. i think the original design is okay and worked okay for nearly 20 years but when you pull the boxes apart then the limitations show up and the plastic(?) bits fall apart. Have pulled 3 boxes apart to try and find a good selector fork but all suffering same problem and one box only had 83k on it. Age has caught up with them all apparently. If a new part was available , who would care? Pay your monies for a new one and move on but no such joy. There is some light at the end of the tunnel if i cannot get these repaired. Pure motorsport (UK)is looking at getting some made but awhile away unfortunately. Still at prototype stage. gearbox
NLA doesn't always mean NLA. Have you played with one of the UK Forums? Sometimes good as they have so many more Renaults there. Then there are a few good folk on Facebook - Renault Classic Car Club.
Yes, contacted every Renault supplier , spare parts, second hand seller in UK and Europe that i could find. Even tried Russia but my Russian needs a bit of work. Even ordered one from Renault dealers in Australia, took my order but informed out of production six weeks later. Contacted the renault forum in UK- the gearbox expert there said out of production and he didnt have any either. he is waiting for the copies to be made .
Wow. That really IS NLA. Bugger. You even know S/H is no use. Argentina and South Africa? Best of luck!