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1500 Gearbox Repair

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mdionne

mdionne

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I have a "79" midget 1500 gearbox apart. The reverse idler gear is shot. Several teeth have been chewed down to nothing. The idler gear has 17 teeth and the reverse gear on the laygear has 13 teeth. Does anyone know where I might find replacements? The laygear teeth are a little rounded. If I replace the idler gear only, will I be removing the gearbox again in the near future? Any other thoughts about the gearbox in general will be greatly appreciated. I am a new member to this forum and to MG's in general. Having a lot of fun in the garage though!
 
welcome - thanks for reposting here. First off, the 1500 gearbox is not derived from the Spitfire, it is an adapted Morris Marina Transmission. You can buy parts, but 1500 transmissions are cheap and plentiful. I suspect it would be easier to replace it all together. Not sure what the rest of your car is looking like, but this might be a splendid opportunity to put in a 5 speed - though it will require cutting. Again, welcome, you are in the right place and they are good people here.
 
You can get the reverse idler at Mossmotors.com or spitbits.com. There is an older 21 tooth idler gear... make sure you don't get that one. I wouldn't worry too much about that lay gear. You don't use reverse that much, do you? While you have the gear box apart, you might as well replace the synchros, bearings and seals... it shouldn't cost you too much.

Sorry to contradict you JP, but Spit 1500 gearboxes are completely interchangeable with Midget 1500 gearboxes. The only differences are external.
 
Morris:

The 1500 trans is not <span style="text-decoration: underline">derived</span> from the Spitfire.....it comes from the Marina. But it's <span style="text-decoration: underline">used</span> in in the 1500 Spitfire (as well as the 1500 Midget).

Earlier Spit transmissions are different from the 1500 unit....but interchangeable.

If there are <span style="text-decoration: underline">any</span> worn teeth in a trans, it'll end up killing everything...with time. So basically, you need to cost out all the worn parts (including the laygear). I'd guess a decent, used unit would be quite a bit cheaper (under $200) than all those new parts.
 
Thanks for the clarification both of you, I wasn't aware of the interchangeability - good thing to learn.
 
I have an older laygear laying around. You will have to use the 21 tooth idler with it, but you can get that from spitbits.com for $52. If you are interested, I will see if I can lay hands on it for you.
 
aeronca65t said:
I'd guess a decent, used unit would be quite a bit cheaper (under $200) than all those new parts.
Click to expand...

I see them on ebay b/w $100-$200 all the time. Most are $150. I'd say swap in another one too.
 
I think new they run $225. I don't know the quality difference between new and OEM, though.
 
Thanks for the discussion! I've learned a lot! I have a bead on a used unit for about $100. I have time to look anyway! Winter is setting in and have several months before I can even think about the top down. Will the 21 teeth idler gear and matching laygear work with the rest of my gearbox?

I haven't been able to find a new laygear with 13 teeth. Again thanks and I'll keep looking. All of your discussion here is great! Glad I joined!

Mike Dionne
 
Found Two-(2) 17T NOS reverse idlers and Five-(5) 21T NOS reverse idlers in my trany parts cabinet. A buddy had these for 25+ years and gave them to me to use.
$35 each and $5 USPO flat rate in a video box until gone. Just let me know if you want one or more. I'll look for other "Standard" type trany parts and if I find something, will post it. Got lots of used stuff as well. TR7, Spitfire or MG1500. Help me out, I've got USC-East tuition for my college senior coming up in January.

Mike Miller
miller64fp@hotmail.com
 
Yes, the bushing is inside the idler gear. I unwrapped most of the gears from their paper wrap and the ones I looked at had bushings. Good question as the VB catalog showed the gear and bush separate.

Mike Miller
 
Good to know. I will maybe one day be pulling my box apart (again) because it's the reverse idler is making some funky noise. Not sure what I'm gonna do if the idler's shot. I keep hoping the miracle 1500 5 speed swap will appear.
 
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