So another day of work saw the lever assembly fitted to the cockpit floor. From there it was simply a case of tweaking the final cockpit rod length in order to get the neutral position perfect.
With everything bolted down tight after a couple of trial fits, I was very happy to discover that I could select every forward gear 1-6, from cold without diff movement! Reading up on F355 boxes it appears that this is not always easy even in the Ferrari, with some owners suggesting it is best to skip 1st until the gearbox oil is warm. I was expecting to need an assistant to rock the output flanges back and forth to help me select gears, and given that I couldn't select reverse this may still be needed.
There is no real telling what the gearchange feel will be like once warm/moving, I may well have to fine tune what I have constructed a lot further. At this stage I am happy enough that I will be able to get gears for some slow speed shakedowns and rolling road mapping when the time comes.
I saw this as one of the main challenges of the project, and I am really happy with what I have achieved in the space available. From a cosmetic viewpoint the look/sound of the open Ferrari gate is extremely satisfying too, and will no-doubt add value to what will otherwise be a pretty sparse, stripped out interior.
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