Saturday 11th May - A few jobs on the Zetec Cortina

The drive to the MOT station on Wednesday had revealed an issue in the form of gear change movement. Also while having the MOT done, the tester noticed a bent brake pipe bracket which was causing a brake pipe to sit a bit too close to the suspension leg.  

A bit of persuasion with a large screw driver and a 'universal adjuster', (A hammer to you and me) saw the brake pipe bracket bent back to its rightful position. I had to remove the front wheel to get to the suspension leg, but other than that it was no trouble. 

The next job was to remove the gear lever and see what had been causing excess travel whenever I changed gear. Removal of the gear lever showed that the nylon bush that sits on the end of the ball on the gearstick and also sits inside the gear selector part of the gearbox was missing. Apparently, this is a common problem and the bush just disintegrates over the years and literally disappears. So, I have now ordered a new one and will be fitting it once it arrives. So that's this car out of action until then!