Gear shifter won't fit gearbox

Yep, that gearstick is for the early 1pce gearbox or Capri 1600 box which uses the 40mm thread. What you want is a later mk1 '73 Escort - to 1981 which uses the 42mm thread . At least you can fit a quaife style quick stick in there now if you want to 👌😁

I mistaked, .. Actually just having a zoom up look at the stick it's the correct one but the threads are cactus.

A stock escort stick now could cost more than a rose joint quick shifter these days which won't have these problems of wrecking threads .
I could have a normal stick in reasonable usable order . Send me a PM as a reminder tomorrow so I can check for you 👍

So today I popped around Marty's and measured my shifter, crossed referenced with other Escort shifters and even test fitted it into a Escort gearbox. Its definitely a 42mm, defiantly the same as other Escort shifters and even fitted into the Escort gearbox. Now begs the question. Why isnt it fitting into my gearbox. The problem must be on the gearbox end. The gearbox has thread but the shifter simply fulls in and out without even touching the sides of the box. Anyone have any ideas? I'm lost as to what to do. My next option feels like replacing the box with one the shifter fits in.

So your thinking a quick shift wont fit then?

Tbh if it was me id swap the box.

The thread looks bad in the picture because its covered in grease. Once the grease is removed you can see the thread is fine. The shifter has been measured at 42mm and has been test fitted to another Escort gearbox without any issues. I can confidently say the shifter isnt the problem.

The gearbox appears to have plenty of thread however the shifter simply fulls in and out without even touching the sides. I find it hard to except that the gearbox thread is cactus to this point. I just dont think that's the case. The gearbox is definitely a Escort Type E and should except 42mm shifters. A short shifter won't fix the problem as it'll be the same size as my current shifter.

Searching other posts trying to find answers GTV6CAPRI stated that there were 3 different size threads. Apparently there identified by colors. There is a grey, blue and white. I know there is a 40mm, 42mm but unsure of the third size. Doing some reading on other sites I suspect there might also be a 43mm. Unsure how accurate that is but hope someone can verify.

This has completely baffled me and at this point I'm contemplating just swapping the gearbox or at least the tailcase. I'm just hoping I can get some answers and verify the problem.

So I have an update on this matter and have since rectified the problem. Firstly I'd like to thank Marty for all his help with this matter as he was my go to with questions and the occasional visit to his place to cross reference parts etc. So the thread on the extension housing is in good condition and the thread on the gearstick is also in good condition. For what ever reason the thread in the extension housing is in fact larger than the 41.8mm thread on the gearstick. I'm lead to believe there is the rare occasion some extension housings take a 43mm gearstick. I've since bought a spare Escort gearbox from Marty that my gearstick threads into the extension housing with no issues. Plan is to rebuild one good gearbox from the two with the use of the extension housing that facilitates my gearstick. I've cross referenced all part numbers on both gearboxes and all part numbers match each other. This shows that there is three different gearstick threads for Escort gearsticks, early mk1 Escort type 2 gearbox with a 40mm thread, later model mk1 & all mk2 Escort type E gearboxes with a 41.8mm & 43mm thread. I assume the 43mm thread is quite rare to see as even Marty was saying all his years of experience with Escort gearboxes his never never seen a 43mm threaded extension housing.