Hello all, my name is Christian Mani and my wife and I are new owners of a beatifull 1970 Ser 2 OTS. We literally have owned the car for 72 hours! But we've driven around the neighborhood with it to get to know the car a bit.

This will be primarily my wife's car to weekend drive, so I want to make it as reliable and safe as I can for her.

Presently, we have a very difficult time shifting the car into reverse. It just refuses to go. If I sit and "stew" the gears for a while (5-10 mins) I might be able to get it to shift into R. All the forward gears seem to work fine. Needless to say, my wife feels very anxious about driving it like this. Could a loose or missing reverse nut on the case be the culprit? If yes, would a simple tightening solve the problem? Maybe a new JT-5 gear box os on order.

Secondly, I know the car has 4 wheel disc brakes, but I'm unsure if it is a single master cylinder set up or dual. If single, I'd like to upgrade to a dual system. Is this possilbe?

thanks for reading and sorry in advance for the newbie questions......

Christian

Submitted by switt25@comcast.net on Sun, 05/20/2012 - 12:12

Christian, coincidentally, I just got a new series 1.5 FHC yesterday and had the same frustrations!!!! I exerted lots of force leftward from neutral, until I thought it would break. Of course it wouldn't, But luckily I have a friend with an old Alfa. He come over and showed me and now it's easy. When you're sure its in neutral give it a sharp slap to the left, and it will go right through the gate. You'll know immediately when it happens. It's the slapping motion did it for me...Good luck.

Submitted by switt25@comcast.net on Sun, 05/20/2012 - 12:10

Christian, coincidentally, I just got a new series 1.5 FHC yesterday and had the same frustrations!!!! I exerted lots of force leftward from neutral, until I thought it would break. Of course it wouldn't, But luckily I have a friend with an old Alfa. He come over and showed me and now it's easy. When you're sure its in neutral give it a sharp slap to the left, and it will go right through the gate. You'll know immediately when it happens. It's the slapping motion did it for me...Good luck.

Submitted by switt25@comcast.net on Sun, 05/20/2012 - 12:10

Christian, coincidentally, I just got a new series 1.5 FHC yesterday and had the same frustrations!!!! I exerted lots of force leftward from neutral, until I thought it would break. Of course it wouldn't, But luckily I have a friend with an old Alfa. He come over and showed me and now it's easy. When you're sure its in neutral give it a sharp slap to the left, and it will go right through the gate. You'll know immediately when it happens. It's the slapping motion did it for me...Good luck.

Submitted by SE98-32482CJ on Wed, 05/16/2012 - 08:17

Christian welcome and congrats. First if your car is stock it has dual brakes and a very good system at that. Your reverse problem needs a bit more description but often in a fresh restoration the carpet and padding hold the trans console too high and you can not get the lever far enough back. First and third are never an issue but R and sometimes 4th are. If you infact have a 5 speed forget what I said as I have no idea if that would be equally affected. You did not say if the gears grind while you attempt to shift into R--do they? Finally yes a loose reverse fork not could do that but if it is installed correctly it can not get loose. Let us know and good luck.