Shifter linkage disconnected

[M10Fan]

Hi there. New user, new owner. 1976 2002. Several mods prior to current ownership. 
I started the car up recently and the shifter was nothing but slop. I could hear metal clanging with each thrust of the stick. Felt around underneath and discovered a metal bar swinging freely. 
I have researched the set up of the shifter mechanism. And I have attached a couple photos of the disconnected arm and the connection point is also plainly visible. But I cannot square this equipment with diagrams and repair kits readily available. 
Does anyone know what it is I’m looking at here?

And any advice is very very much appreciated. Thank you so much. 
-Stephen

 

 

Edited June 17, 2023 by M10Fan

[bergie33]

Hard to tell exactly what's going on there, but looks like you have an interesting custom setup. It looks like that flat bar is welded directly to the shifter on the right (beige ball) and to the shift rod joint on the left. Actually, looks like it used to be welded to the nub sticking out of the side of the shift rod joint. I think you need to pull it all out and see if you can fix what's there or if you buy some good used parts. 

[bergie33]

See here...

 

 

[Son of Marty]

It's hard to say with the linkage mods but are the allen head bolts that hold the shift platform to the back of the trans (upper left in your 2nd pic) loose theres one on the other side too.

[tech71]

Majorly bodged sorry to say, a good candidate for the “Friends and their mechanical skills” thread.

11 hours ago, M10Fan said:

Several mods prior to current ownership. 

Is one of them a 5 speed trans? Trying to understand the motivation for such a dumb set up

[M10Fan]

bergie33: Thanks for the edits to the photo. That's much clearer. I think your assessment is spot-on. But I'm actually not convinced that metal arm was welded to that nub. I think the nub was just hammered into that mangled-looking hole.

Having read up on the shifter design in these cars, this one seems really elementary. But I have to admit it did shift very nicely prior to its collapse.

I'll see about re-attaching the current linkage but am leaning toward replacing. Is the best plan to buy one of the LATE kits from IE and go from there? If anyone has had to recently strip out the shifter kit entirely, tips are greatly appreciated. 

[Mark92131]

It looks like the IE Kit with a missing short dog bone link between the bottom of the shifter and the transmission.  The shifter on your car doesn't seem to have the matching connection for the other side of the dog bone.  IE maybe be able to supply the missing pieces.

 

Mark92131

 

Shift Plate for 5-Speed Conversion – 2002 – Ireland Engineering | Racing & Performance Parts for BMW & MINI

WWW.IEMOTORSPORT.COM

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Each

 

[tech71]

8 hours ago, M10Fan said:

I'll see about re-attaching the current linkage but am leaning toward replacing.

Perhaps remove the joint, drill an appropriate size hole through center of the nub, tap it (maybe 5 or 6 mm) and secure with a bolt or screw? Use locktite and a washer. Couldn't clamp it up needs to be able to rotate but you could bottom the bolt to get a bit of torque on it. Get the length right it may work.

May hold up for quite a while.

Driveshaft looks kind of humungous, like maybe a modified E30 shaft, may be the pic angle but wondering if a typical shift lever (seems to stick down a lot more) would clear it.

Appears to be more to this custom set up that just the shifter.

Spit ballin here

 

Edited June 18, 2023 by tech71

[M10Fan]

Just wanted to close the loop on this question. Once I got the car on jack stands and had a look, the selector rod was broken. The pin on the transmission side had broken off at the weld site. I was able to confirm the setup was indeed from Ireland Engineering. I ordered a new DSSR from IE as a replacement and just got it installed. That was really no easy task at all. The fit is incredibly snug and there was lots of grunting and cursing involved. Probably should have taken the drive shaft off, but I really did not want the project to get too involved. Car drives great, gearbox feels fantastic.

Thanks for the advice and insights.

[tech71]

Glad its fixed but it should not have failed like that, must have been some happy welding.

IE should give you the replacement free. Fat chance huh?😉

Edited June 27, 2023 by tech71