26th Aug 2006 - Can't do much more on the engine at the moment. Not going to buy the carb until the engine is in the chassis (and I have save a bit of money for a Weber 500!) Time to look at the Gearbox!! As you can see below, the gearbox was in no better state that the engine so first and foremost I had to get through some of the grease and grunge! I took the Bell Housing off and the remote setup. All this was fairly straight forward as per the Haynes Manual.

18th Aug 2007 - Got the Bell housing back from the engineer's today. The stripped thread has been drilled out and a "Helicoil" put it. These are brilliant but I haven't heard of them before. You  basically drill out the thread oversize, and then insert the Helicoil which reduces the thread back to the original size, enabling you to use the original bolts. They charged me a tenner but it needed doing and enables me to get the gearbox back onto the engine and then refit the Slave Cylinder.

Getting the gearbox back on was a real sod!! It took me three attempts the first time, but then having taken it off to get the bell housing Helicoil'd, it took me an hour to get it back on! You need to line it up exactly because the spline in the clutch plate is a really tight fit. By continually turning the main shaft slightly, the idea is to find the exact position to slot it in. After about an hour, and a lot of swearing, I tried once more............and it popped straight in sweet as a nut!! I then put the Slave Cylinder back on and torqued it up without a problem. Thats it then, ready now to install the engine!!!  Engine install...............

14th Aug 2007 - Went into the garage tonight to fit the clutch "dirt plate" and the Slave Cylinder. Everything went OK until I tried to torque up the second bolt for the slave cylinder, and it just kept turning!! So, had to take the bleeding gearbox off again, together with the Bell Housing, to get the thing tapped out. Hopefully get it done this week by a local engineer. Nothings ever simple is it!!!

11th Aug 2007 -  I Attached the gearbox to the engine today. It was a bit of a fiddle because the main shaft has to be in the right position to fit into the spline on the Clutch plate. It took three or four attempts but after moving the shaft round a tiny bit at a time it finally went in as easy as you like!! The gearbox is quite heavy and I didn't want to put any weight on the shaft while I was trying to get it in so I made a little trolley from some old runners to support it at the right height. I just need to fit the Clutch Slave Cylinder and find a starter motor from somewhere and that's the engine finished with until I put it in the Chassis.

8th Aug 2007 - A bit bored and frustrated at the moment. Not expecting the Chassis for another two or three weeks so I am really looking for things to do. I squeezed half an hour in the garage tonight just to fit the thrust bearing mechanism (pic's below). The orange colouring on the end of the main shaft is Copper Grease, not rust!!!! (in case you were wondering!!). I am ready to fit the gearbox to the engine now but will have to borrow my friends engine crane again as I have now built a bench behind the engine (which is on the floor now) and there isn't enough room to get the gearbox on. Will have to lift the engine and move it forward a bit. Still it will give me something to fiddle about with on Saturday!!!

27th July 2007 - Flywheel and three part clutch arrived from JRV8 today. So as soon as I got changed (home early on a Friday!) I was in the garage and fitting it!! Jim has had the flywheel lying around for a while so its not "sparkling" but its brand new and never been used (also a lot cheaper than Rimmers!!). Jim also threw in for nothing, a centring tool for the clutch, made from a cut down input shaft. It worked absolutely brilliantly and the problem of centring the clutch just disappeared!! Basically I put the tool into the end of the Crank, put the Flywheel on and torqued it up, put the clutch plate on with the tool still in, then put the clutch cover on, torqued it up and then removed the tool. Everything perfectly centred!! Se the series of pics below.

22nd July 2007 - Well I always new I was in for the long haul!! Anyway things seem to be moving along nicely now, with the Chassis ordered and most of the running gear ready (just waiting for the Diff to return from Ward's). My thoughts turned to the engine and gearbox this weekend as nothing else to do till the Diff turns up, and the weather is crap, so I can go and "play in the garage" as my wife calls it!!

Decided to put the remote mechanism together for the gearbox. It's something I have left in a box since I took it all apart a year ago!! Main problem was remembering how to put it together!! Just about managed it with the aid of Haynes and the Internet! I have test fitted it (see pics) but I will take it off again as I am going to replace most of the nuts, bolts and plastic bushes now I know what I need. Rimmers (who are just up the road) should be able to supply them all. I also test fitted the Bell Housing (pic's below). I am getting a new Flywheel and clutch from Jim at JRV8, as the stuff I got with the engine was no good (Talking to Jim tomorrow so should have them in a week).

 

11th Dec 2006 - Picked up the Gearbox today and very pleased (see picture below). The case number starts 34A and has an end suffix of "H". This seems to indicate that its a fairly late gearbox and possibly was originally from an SD1 Sherpa Van. (see LT77 information). This is not a problem as the only difference is 1st gear is a slightly lower ratio, the remaining gear ratio's being the same as most other LT77 boxes. The box has been completely rebuilt to SD1 spec with new bearings, seals etc etc. Just cleaned up the remote mechanism (from original gearbox) ready to put  back on, together with the Bell housing (from original box). Got to go abroad again next week so not sure if I will get this done before Christmas!!

In case you were wondering, the reddish deposit on the shaft is copper grease not rust!!!

8th Dec 2006 - I've exchanged my gearbox for a reconditioned one from my local engineering shop, Northern Road Engineering. The guy has been repairing and rebuilding gearboxes for a long time so hopefully he is giving me a good one. The box I had was a "D" suffix box (see picture at the top of the page) which I believe is one of the first boxes. The problem is when they took it apart there were various problems mainly due to wear and the hardening was breaking down on both shafts. it had obviously been stored outside over the years and there was internal rust. When we added it all up it was going to cost to much to repair so the obvious choice was a recon. They had one on the shelf that had been rebuilt a couple of years ago and never used. Although the casing is an "H" suffix, which I think is from a Landrover the internals are for the SD1 and are the stronger variant as in the original Vitesse box. They have also made some mods on some of the seals which they seem to think will stop the oil leeks that apparently are common with these boxes.  Anyway we shall see......................I pick it up on Monday!!

4th Dec 2006 - Well I have got to hold my hands up and say I have given up with the gearbox!!! On reaching the point where I couldn't get the Synchro hub off or the 5th gear, I started looking around for the correct tools!! These are described in the Landrover Gearbox Manual which I found on the Internet and is very detailed. Click on the picture of the gearbox below to see the manual. These tools (various pullers and attachments) were very expensive making them totally impractical to buy. I tried to hire from the local  Landrover garage and  from Rimmer's but to no avail.

4th Nov 2006 - Still struggling to get the gearbox stripped down. Been away again and only just had chance to look at it again. After this weekend am working abroad again for a couple of weeks so I am getting frustrated at the lack of progress. I stripped down the remote shift mechanism for cleaning and to replace bushes while I was thinking how to get the gearbox apart! (see picture above). The main problem I have is getting the 5th gear synchro assembly off. I have got the selector and plate off but cannot get the Synchro-hub and sleeve off (think that's what it is anyway, see last two pictures above). Will have to take advice on how to remove these.

21st Oct 2006 - I am working away from home a lot at the moment so not had much chance to play with my baby!! Finally got the rear case off by gently tapping round the edge of the case with a piece of hard wood and a mallet (Pic's below).  It had obviously been stuck on with gasket seal but it finally shifted to expose the 5th gear array. I then removed the two bolts retaining the 5th gear selector fork bracket and lifted off the bracket together with the selector fork and slipper pads and the selector spool. I also removed the speedo driven gear (will replace with new part) and the oil pump of which the plastic gears were crumbling so will replace those as well. I am in unknown territory here and everyone is telling me not to touch the gearbox, but hey..................I want to do it all myself and time is not an object. Anyway, how difficult can it be........................!!? :o) I don't intend to totally strip the gearbox to nuts and bolts. I just want to look inside and see what state its in. I will replace all bearings and anything else that looks like it needs it.

26th Aug 2006 - After a lot of degreaser and elbow grease the Bell housing looked something like (see below) and I could actually see the gearbox code No!! The number ends with a D suffix. (early LT77). I then commenced to take everything apart ready for the service and rebuild. First problem arose soon after that!! I took all of the bolts (10) out of the rear case of the gearbox but just could not separate it. I was a bit nervous about to much force because the rear case is aluminium and the gear box is cast iron.