1-3 Gear stick shape

[russelm]

It seems its my turn to ask laods of questions.

Last night I stripped the gear stick assembly off the dexta so I can clean, check and sort it ready for fitting back on.

The 1-3 shift stick looks bent towards the bottom (below the ball section which fits into the casting) and has a little (but not excessive) wear to the botom chisel shaped secyion.

So my questions are

1) Should they be bent or straight?

2) Are they steel or cast (they look like steel)

I also removed the front axle pin to find horrendous wear but, thats another story!

Thanks again

Mark

[Bensdexta]

Last night I stripped the gear stick assembly off the dexta so I can clean, check and sort it ready for fitting back on.
The 1-3 shift stick looks bent towards the bottom (below the ball section which fits into the casting) and has a little (but not excessive) wear to the botom chisel shaped secyion.
So my questions are
1) Should they be bent or straight?
2) Are they steel or cast (they look like steel)

Here's a pic of my sticks (61 Dexta). I believe they are straight - don't recall them being bent. I had always assumed they were steel not cast.

[Lesfen]

Had a look at a spare gear selector stick off an early Dexta (one with a steel ball on the H/L range stick) and it also has a slight bend towards the rear under the ball.
However, the '61 Petrol Dexta has a straight gear shift lever.

Maybe they were bent slightly to avoid hitting the tach until the updated tach and key housing came out?
I think they msut be steel as others have easily welded and ground the ends to original shape.

Les

[russelm]

Thanks all

This one has a very pronounced bend and some signs of cracking so I will get it glowing this evening and straighten it out then build up the chisel end with weld plus weld the crack to get it back to a reasonable shape.

Mark