Is there any way...

...of improving the gearchange of the E-series engined cars?

Hi,

depends on what is wrong with your gearbox I suppose??

From new, they weren't the slickest of boxes apparently, but not so bad as to not sell in their hundreds of thousands

Most of the examples around now are at least 30 years old, so plainly replacing all the linkage bushes would be a good start - shouldn't be too difficult to do, the parts could be tricky to track down, apparently the Allegro owner's club have a load of spares, and people who know what they're doing, could be worth joining?

It's worth checking your engine and gearbox mounts, if they're perished or coming apart, then that causes excess play 'thru your linkages which might be fine, or cause undue wear on the bushes if it's been like that for a while - one problem can exacerbate the other

Then you have a full clutch change - I have an auto, so haven't researched this, depends on how you like your clutch to "feel", there are sporty type clutches, harder wearing etc.. out there - personally I'd buy a good brand name kit rather than try to race my Allegro (There are loads of clutches on Ebay I know for sure).

Finally, a full gearbox recondition with replacement of the internal cogs etc.. - I don't imagine that is your problem, I'd do the linkage bushes first, then the clutch if that doesn't help, recondition as a last resort.

Cheers,
Jim

Hi, Jim is right - these boxes were described in trade journals at the time as being 'notchy' esp the 5 speed ones. However, definately check the linkage parts for wear as this will make things a lot worse. Also, check for clutch drag, or oil fouling of clutch plates -crank end oil seal can be prone to leak into bell-crank on high milage engines. There's a small hole underneath bell-crank, if there's any oil fouling from this it's sure sign seal has failed. Check lower main engine mountings have not torn away from above (dead obvious) Also check top engine rebound mountings for security as it all affects alignment.

One final point, check engine oil level & contamination - box runs in engine oil so needs to be kept clean & topped up.

Box overhaul as a last resort, although if box was badly worn you'd probably have other faults showing up by now. Notchy/difficult gear selection sounds like alignment problem someplace, or clutch problem.

Hope this helps. Andy.