[DeTomaso] Shift gate lockout project

[MikeLDrew at aol.com]

In a message dated 3/19/13 8 32 3, garth_rodericks at yahoo.com writes:


> I've never seen a lockout like that installed on a Ferrari shift gate...
> 
>>>I'm not talking road-going Ferraris; they all have their own form of 
mechanical lockout.  Unlike the ZF, you can't just move the shift lever over 
and slot it into reverse; there is a blocking mechanism in the shifter box 
that needs to be overcome, by pushing down on the shifter (towards the ground), 
which then lets it slide under the block, and over into reverse.   

But if you look at the race cars from the late 1960s and 1970s, they all 
have some form of mechanical lockout on the gate itself.

You can barely see it at the top (front) of the shift gate in this photo of 
a 512S cockpit:

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3196/2937238667_ae363ed4eb_z.jpg?zz=1

Here's a better view:

http://atspeedimages.com/image.php/33064200-9f9c-11dd-019c-0019e3f8e432/1969
_ferrari_512s_#1004_gearshift_lever.jpg

Closer to home, the original GT40s also used a mechanical lockout on the 
shifter, such as on this '69 Gulf GT40.   Here it is in the 'down' position 
with reverse locked out:

http://www.racingicons.com/gt/1076d.jpg

And from another car (this one a road car) in the 'up' position allowing 
access to reverse:

http://inautomobile.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/1968-ford-gt40-interior.j
pg

>Crude, but no doubt effective.

>>>I think "crude" is an overly kind word to describe my setup! :>)

Mike