MASCOT July 1987

ROADSTER NOTES - 4A, 4AB, 4AD Gearbox Covers

Bill Haverly

Singers made both 3 and 4 speed Roadster gearbox covers out of rubber. It was a reasonable material for the job, being flexible, light and easy to fit, but, due to its perishable nature and the hot oily area where it is situated, very few originals have survived intact. It's the area under the gearstick that suffers worst. Here there is a four inch split in the moulding to allow the cover to be dropped into place over the gearstick. Because the rubber here is thinner and is subject to chafing from the propshaft and grease spatter from the front universal joint, it is the first area to rot away.

Given the high costs of tooling for making rubber replacements, a good alternative material is fibreglass, which is light, strong and fairly flexible and can be made relatively cheaply, whilst still conforming to shape and colour. The drawback is that it's not flexible enough to allow the old 'slip over the gearstick' fitting on the 4 speed box. So I've designed a cover which slides into position along the gearbox remote tube. This means that the gearstick, lever end arm and remote tube end housing have to be removed before fitting. No difficulty with the first two, but as the alloy end housing is secured to the remote tube by 2 rivets and a pinch bolt, the rivets need to be broken to get the housing off. Before anyone throws up their arms in horror at this suggestion, let me say that the pinch bolt alone is enough to secure the end housing, the rivets being an example of late Singer over-engineering. A sharp blow to the housing top, using a block of wood as an intermediary is enough to sever these rivets. Mine were already broken when I bought the car and no ill effects have arisen. With the housing off, the new cover is fed into place along the remote and a rubber panel grommet seals the slight gap between the two. Fix the cover down along its flange with countersunk screws and cup washers, open up the pilot dipstick inspection hole to 2" with a half round file, pop in the blanking grommet and the job's done.

It seems odd to see Roadsters running around again with these unfamiliar black 'jellymoulds' covering their gearboxes instead of the usual wooden boxes and metal coverings with carpet on top. I'm well pleased with the new cover, which is almost identical to the original, but not too happy working with such an unpleasant material. So plans are to use up existing supplies, to make another 12 to order. Cost is £20 plus postage, with advice for fitting and grommets supplied.