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Need help on fitting single Rail Shifter Saddle

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Hi all,

I just purchased a single rail shifter saddle to fix the sloppy shifter on my xc but have no idea on how to fit it. It does not seem possible for it to fit.

Now i know it comes in 2  different sizes (small and large), taking into consideration that the box and shifter came out of a XE i was told to get the smaller saddle.

With the 2 different sizes although they have different measurements however the width is the same and that's what is not letting the saddle sit in place.

I'll let the pics do the talking as it will do a much better job than just words.


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Any help what so ever will be greatly appreciated

Cheers Giovanni

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there should be a bush that does go there ,maye check out the rare spares web page to try and find the correct part,also if you need the screw in ball bush to hold the stick in there the same as mid 90s, magnas,yup you read it correct

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i bought a large XC single rail shifter saddle from parts lunacy on ebay, the blue one and it fit my single rail perfectly, mine is a 83DA box too im sure. i didnt know how to fit it so i took the old saddle off the shaft inside the box and put the new one on. seemed to be a perfect replacement.

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i bought a large XC single rail shifter saddle from parts lunacy on ebay, the blue one and it fit my single rail perfectly, mine is a 83DA box too im sure. i didnt know how to fit it so i took the old saddle off the shaft inside the box and put the new one on. seemed to be a perfect replacement.

 

So when you pulled it apart you already had a worn saddle in place? When i pulled mine apart ( Box and shifter came out of a  6cylinder XE Falcon, that my mate wrecked if that makes any difference) there was no sign or evidence of there ever being a saddle. This is honesty cooking my head some say saddles were only fitted on XF single rails, who the hell is right, no fucking clue. I just put the car back together  today can't have the car sitting on stands for weeks. I guess i'll see it through till next yeah when i do the 4.0L conversion with a T5  and piss off the single rail.

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from My experience there is 2 types of shifters.

one uses that horseshoe bush, the other doesn't(guessing the older one doesnt and the bush was later designed for easy repair)

 

how much slop is from the shaft bushes in the alloy shifter housing? near 20 years ago i had that shaft turned down on a lathe a few thou  and oversize bronze bushes put in the alloy housing.. that solved much slop on the older one..

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So when you pulled it apart you already had a worn saddle in place? When i pulled mine apart ( Box and shifter came out of a  6cylinder XE Falcon, that my mate wrecked if that makes any difference) there was no sign or evidence of there ever being a saddle. This is honesty cooking my head some say saddles were only fitted on XF single rails, who the hell is right, no fucking clue. I just put the car back together  today can't have the car sitting on stands for weeks. I guess i'll see it through till next yeah when i do the 4.0L conversion with a T5  and piss off the single rail.

 

i unscrewed the nylon bush to replace it with the alloy one and thought while i was there i should replace the saddle too, the saddle was a marginally worn compared to the new one. im pretty sure mines a XE 6 cyl box too, 83DA-7003-BA 0503-039, possibly a late model box???

i say go with it if youre gonna replace the box later, if youre worried maybe just put a lil sleeve where the saddle would go on that shaft, by the look in the pics, the red saddle looks about the same size as the shaft itself.

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I found a similar difference when swapping an 81 Corty single rail for an 85 XF one. The Corty had metal to metal, the XF had a nylon insert. I do remember the bushed one having a smaller diameter spindle to allow for the extra thickness in the bush. I definitely couldnt use the XF shift lever in the Corty shifter, as they were different lengths from the ball.

 

So what might seem like the same box may be totally different and not interchangeable. What I think has happened here is your box that was apparently out of the XE may have actually been made up of a whole bunch of different bits lying around. I think you have the later shift lever (designed for a bush) with an early (non-bushed) shift rail crank.

 

I had the same problem in my Corty with too much slop in the gear lever (having to re-use the old worn one) so I took it out and welded some metal all around the knuckle and ground it back to shape. Took me a few goes but got there in the end, worked well.

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i recently put a new saddle in mine exactly like the one you are using in my xe. my saddle was totally disintegrated and in pieces and i had heaps of slop with the shifter. when i pulled mine out and cleaned it i realised there was a 2 to 3 mil gap on either side of where the shifter end sat. i dummy fitted the saddle into the shaft and it fit perfectly and the shifter slipped straight over it and all the play was gone. looks like that the shaft that the shifter and saddle sit is the wrong one and most likely from a different box and thats what looks to be the issue, pretty sure you have the right saddle.

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So when you pulled it apart you already had a worn saddle in place? When i pulled mine apart ( Box and shifter came out of a  6cylinder XE Falcon, that my mate wrecked if that makes any difference) there was no sign or evidence of there ever being a saddle. This is honesty cooking my head some say saddles were only fitted on XF single rails, who the hell is right, no fucking clue. I just put the car back together  today can't have the car sitting on stands for weeks. I guess i'll see it through till next yeah when i do the 4.0L conversion with a T5  and piss off the single rail.

 

 

we have been running a single rail in a XE racecar for about 6 years and never had one, bought one, couldn't fit it, threw it in the bin and never worried about it again - just sayin'

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Alright guys i sent a message to the company through ebay and this is there reply. They are offering a full refund so i'm happy and might shed some light into the matter to whom it may concern

 

The email

 

Hello Giovanni, thank you for your email.

There are actually three possible options on the Borg Warner Single Rail Gear Box. Full dimensions and pictures are included in the sale to ensure a correct purchase can be made by our clients.

Other than the two bushes we sell, there are a limited number of units that do not have a bush, mostly imported South African boxes, Replacement parts imported for Ford, some very early boxes and some 4 cylinder boxes that we have found. I am afraid there is no available information to confirm what or when these boxes were used.

We have sold around 250 of the red units and 200 of the blue units since we started on eBay plus numerous other prior with only around 5 people in this time getting back to us to either receive a full refund or exchange for the other unit.

You will find, in the case of your unit that the bushes diameter of the outer "U" is similar to the section it would be expected to sit on. I am afraid you will find that there was nota bush there in the first place nor when it was pulled apart. As such it is not meant to have one fitted.

We do include as much information on the sizing of these units and do request that the purchaser ensures the unit is correct for their application prior to and during the purchasing process. However, as always, we are more than happy to either exchange or provide a full refund if the unit does not suit.

Our return address is
 * i blocked it for privacy reasons*

Please include a copy of your invoice.

Kind regards, Guy

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Interesting on the South African thing

 

The single rail we have in our XE was given to me in bits, I had no idea how to put it together so I gave it (in a box) to one of my local mechanics who is supposed to be a guru on them, when I went to pick it up he asked me where I got it, I told him that I believed it was out of an American Mustang, he said that he had never seen the ratios that were in our box before, hmmmm??????

 

And you can't fit the bush into ours, just like the OP

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I have a single rail In my XF and have an aluminium shifter nut on its way, just wondering what saddle I would need if at all? I can't see any remains of one so I'm think that maybe the box doesn't need one..? Does feel very sloppy though

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I have a single rail In my XF and have an aluminium shifter nut on its way, just wondering what saddle I would need if at all? I can't see any remains of one so I'm think that maybe the box doesn't need one..? Does feel very sloppy though

 

Not sure to be honest. Tack a pic of it and post it up on here, sure someone will know.

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It looks as tho the shifter rail has been modified ?

All the ones i have seen have a very thin flat piece at the back and the pin is smaller also , where yours is opposite . Maby your play in in the nylon shifter nut

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