Gearbox shafted

[surfergirl]

Hi folks,
Too hot for this really, but see if you can help!
My van has popped out of second for 30 years, so I found a good second hand box, the gears look good and wot not, but the main shaft is off centre at the rear.
I did think it had been dropped in transit, but it turns fine and there's no play where it sits in the bearing.
Could the cast housing be off?

[philthehill]

Try the propshaft into the gearbox and see how it fits.
The rear end of the third motion shaft is supported inside the propshaft tube which in turn is supported by the bearing inside the tailshaft housing.
When fitted together it will in all probability be perfectly ok.

It is inadvisable to stand the gearbox on its nose as any crud inside the gearbox will migrate to the first motion shaft bearing and do it no good. A Minor gearbox should always be laid flat when off the car.

[les]

Doesn’t look right to me, especially when the rear oil seal is being fitted.http://www.dorsetmmoc.co.uk/wordpress/t ... ebuild.pdf
This link may be useful !

[philthehill]

When rotating the third motion shaft does it oscillate or rotate perfectly central?

Has the tail housing been loosened or removed and not fitted back correctly. Are there any signs of gaps between the tail housing and the main gearbox casing.

As the remote has been loosened or removed at some time anything could be possible.

That third motion shaft is a tough old beast and it would take a very large force to bend it without doing damage to the gearbox internals.

[surfergirl]

Thanks chaps, I will have a look at the mating surfaces to see if they're clean and square. See if that helps.

[surfergirl]

Pulled the cover off the back of the gearbox and cleaned the surfaces up, gearbox is flat, but the rear housing looks like a fault in the casting? Almost like cracks but not all the way through.
I wonder if this is causing the housing to tip to one side when tightened down, can't think it could have been like it from new and in use.

[philthehill]

I am certain that you have found the problem.
The tail housing should not be cracked like that and more importantly not cracked at all.
I would suggest that someone has fitted the tail housing onto the main case rear bearing incorrectly and pulled the housing down onto the main casing so causing the cracks.
Replace the tail housing with that off your own gearbox to overcome the problem but use the rebuild guide (link above) to set the bearing to tail housing fit.
If this has been done it makes me wonder what else has been done not right to the rest of the gearbox.

[surfergirl]

Thanks,
When you hold a straight edge across the surface there's a slight dent in the casting around the area. Looks like it got wallopped when it was sent to me, I'll keep my eyes open for a remote housing or maybe another box.
I was hoping to do a straight gearbox swap with a new clutch as the van is off the road for less time. I use it most days and have found in the past once it's off the road I find more stuff to do and it's off the road for a month!
Thanks .

[DRMM]

Hi surfergirl,
I have a free gearbox you could use the tail housing from, if you can collect it from Brighton? I recently took it out of my 1967 traveler - it works in 2nd, 3rd and top, just slips immediately out of 1st and reverse if you try to engage them.
Let me know...