[Big D]

Gidday all

Thanks for the replies.

I did some experimenting again with the aligment of the brass bush mounts and the gearchange rod and ball joint. I think it is about as free as it is ever going to be now. It slides freely back and forth with no apparent binding now.

Lynn - you got me thinking about the gearbox and out of interest I took off the transmission housing gap and shone a torch in there. Sure enough I can see signs of rust on the shifter rods. While I can't see everything in there, looking at the transmission from the rear of the carrier, I can see rust on the most rearward position of the right hand shifter rod. I can also see rust on the driver's end of the centre shifter rod.

I'll have to get my Ford manual out to see which gears they affect but presumably all shifter rods will be affected. I wonder how much rust is too much but presumably this would not help, certainly once the engine heats up.

How straightforward a job is this to remove the top cover? By the looks of things I can just remove all the top cover bolts and lift it straight up. Will I need to move the oil filter?

My other worry is how easy is it to get it back on afterwards? Will the selector forks align themselves without any worries.

Is this what you were getting at John?

Cheers

Darryl