Both the early (HEH-E) and later (HEH-B) Ford Toploader gearboxes fitted to the Tiger are renowned for their ruggedness, reliability and longevity.
However, as time goes by, they are also well known for having a sloppy gearchange/gearshift. This is due to wear in the gear/shift linkage at several points.
The main culprits are usually the small round pin and the U-shaped piece which is bolted underneath the gearlever/shifter. It is a routine machining job to fit a slightly oversized pin and/or bushes to the ends of the U-shaped piece.
Locator springs and plugs, which fit near the base of the gearlever/shifter are often worn or missing. Brian at the Sunbeam Spares Company (Tel: 01207 581 025) can supply new ones (#TG10).
Wear also takes place between the flat, “rectangular” pin in the cross-shaft and the 3 shift levers. Again, a good machinist can provide a solution and remove all surplus “play”.
NB Before taking the gear linkage apart, do take plenty of photos of the original setup! When the repairs have been done, it is essential that the shift arms (the ones with the R clips) are positioned exactly as shown in the Tiger Workshop Manual (Section E, page 4).
Going from left (front) to right (back), the shift arms must be positioned at:
1 o'clock, 11 o'clock and 1 o'clock.
Then, with the 3 linkage adjustment nuts just slackened off, use a ¼ inch rod or drill bit to obtain the correct alignment. Tighten the 3 nuts and check that you can obtain all the gears easily. If not, repeat the exercise and make sure none of the shift arms has moved from its correct position!
Naturally, use lots of grease on all moving parts.
Warning!
Never run a Toploader without oil whilst doing a test run on a new engine! Yes, amazingly, it has been done. No names, no pack drill. The Toploader is a constant mesh gearbox and therefore most of its internals will be running even though no gear has been selected.
The Toploader takes 3 ¼ pints (just under 2 litres) of EP80-GL4 oil which is obtainable from Smith and Allan, amongst others:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_nkw=s ... m270.l1313
A 500ml oil syringe is useful for filling or topping up the gearbox oil:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sealey-Oil-Su ... 43a8559b64
Toploader Specialists
T & B Transmission and Gear
http://www.tbtrans.com/ford_toploader_4_speed_trans.htm
http://www.tbtrans.com/index.htm
Toploader Heaven
http://www.toploaderheaven.com/
David Kee
http://www.4speedtoploaders.com/
A remanufactured complete linkage is available from galaxieperformance in Michigan:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1964-1965-FORD- ... 4ab2718949
Toploader history:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Toplo ... ansmission