Was it a thing back in the day to weld up the remote shift shaft (Knuckle to gear change shaft)? The shaft had been clocked so the shift lever is offset, so 1-2 is in the 3-4 plane, making reverse had to select (gearbox & remote setup on bench), but the shift pattern is closer to the driver. This was the remote that came with the car (3/70 mk2 S, owned since 1983). I have cut the shaft & removed the knuckle, but the internal and shaft splines are Ok after grinding off the welds. Knuckle lock bolt thread Ok too. Just odd. I've never seen this on any of my past Cooper S's. Anyway, I'm using the knuckle and shaft out of a spare remote housing and using the original housing with anti-rattle grease nipple and grease nipple under the fork.
See pics below.

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1970 Mk2 Cooper S under restoration

My old 850 had the other one welded up it was a common fix. And didn't stop you removing the selector shift lever in the box.
But I've never seen the female knuckle welded up like yours.

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

I've heard of it happening before but don't know why. Was it done just to tighten things up to avoid any slop in the gear change linkage in the event that the shaft splines became worn or the knuckle bolt came loose? Or was it meant to move the gear stick closer to the driver to reduce the long stretch when selecting first gear?

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Slide
1965 Mini Van (1360)
1970 Mk2 Cooper S (1310)
1978 Rover SD1 V8 (4.6)
1996 Land Rover Discovery V8 (4.0)

Thanks Doc & slide for the replies. If it had a stuffed spline, I can understand why they did it. But, it didn't, either on the shaft or knuckle. The shaft was also clocked to the right, so 1-2 was in the 3-4 position and the lock bolt was ground in the centre to fit the notch in the shaft. It would have been easier to reach first & second but because of the offset of the gear lever, reverse was near impossible to get. BTW, it was welded both sides of the knuckle, just in case....... Another one of life's mysteries.

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1970 Mk2 Cooper S under restoration

A couple more questions. Just about ready to re-assemble.
1.Should the anti-rattle plug have a hole in it so the grease can get through ? The new one doesn't, the old two do.
2.Can you get the locating plate off the gear stick without destroying anything? May need it if I decide to put the KAD quickshift kit that I have in.

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1970 Mk2 Cooper S under restoration

Not all the anti rattle plunger caps had grease points, so I guess they’d have undrilled plungers

I believe my retaining plate came off, but it may have been opened up slightly at some stage.

I’d suggest loctiting every bolt on the splined knuckles as when/if they come loose they allow a lot of slop in the shifting

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The two pieces of the lever are joined via a bush - two steel tubes of different diameter with rubber between. In theory you could separate them as it was a press fit on assembly but whether the bush remains intact is debatable.

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ex-NSW Police 1970 MK II Cooper S
VMCI #43

Thanks for replies. The brass plunger now has a 1.5mm hole in the centre. I will loctite all the knuckle bolts for piece of mind, but never had any come loose in past. For originality, I will keep that shifter intact and use a mk1 retainer if I change shifters.

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1970 Mk2 Cooper S under restoration