Gear Cable bracket

[Exbury]

Ok, rather embarrassingly my mum decided to move the 2.5V6 Galant onto the road and the cable bracket took that moment to break off and leave it blocking the lane and in gear with its backside up the sloping drive .....hmmm...hope she hasn't worn too much of her toyota clutch getting it out of the way!

Anyway the cable is U-cliped to a U shaped steel bracket that is rubber bonded onto the main bracket that is bolted to the gearbox. Obviously even strong glues aren't going to hold these together, I guess the rubber is there as a bit of a 'allowance for movement'.

However
Q1 - why have the rubber at all, surely the cable should be held in place by a solid bracket with no play and any adjustment made at the end of the cable. After all, surely thats how play gets into the gearstick 9I thought there was more play than my last galant).
Q2 - Therefore if no play is needed surely if I am careful, if I bolt the U bracket and the gearbox bracket together in their original positions then the gear selection will be better and crisper, or is this rubber play absolutely necessary?
Q3 - Is there a modified bracket that the club has made up that replaces the Mitsubishi design and gives a short (quick) shift too?

[Kieran]

I would guess that the rubber is there to dampen vibration/noise from travelling up the gear cable sheathing and into the cabin... Not having it at a guess could make the gearknob 'buzz' a tad perhaps - though I doubt it would be major.

There is a mod to make the gearshift 'quicker', but it replaces the gearknob rather than this bracket. I did an article on how to DIY in the members area, however the design of the gear shifter is very similar to the Lancer & Colt, so you could get a shift kit one of those and fathom it out if so inclined.

As regards Q2, I've no idea if fiddling with this bracket will affect the gear change... I suspect not, as it's just a mounting bracket, isn't it? It doesn't have any way of loosening or tightening the gearchange?

[Exbury]

Cheers Kieran,
Took a chance and drilled one hole per centre per side (4 in all). Bolted each side together and gears are back again! Due to leaving the rubber pads in there is still a little play but that problem seems to be fixed......now to find out why the heated seats dont work.....

[Kieran]

Excellent news - Glad you sorted it!:happy: