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'63 Midget research

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I can relate to your brake issue. When I bought my Mini, I later learned that 1/2 of one wheel cylinder was all that was stopping the car! 12.5 percent of the brakes were working! All fixed now.
 
Unless you have overfilled it, there are very few spots it can leak from. From the picture you posted it looks fairly clean under there and that should help in locating the leak. The first thing I would do is place a piece of cardboard under it to locate the area it is actually coming from (front, center, rear, right or left side) and then get under there and visually inspect it. There are a couple of plugs near the center, bottom of the tranny, if either of these is leaking it also may help localize your 4th gear problem as they are access plugs for detent installation, the one being level with the drain plug being a detent ball that rests between first and second, and third and fourth. The other is for the reverse gear detent. other than these two plugs, the drain and the side cover gasket are the only other potential leaks at the middle. If the leak is coming from the front of the tranny, the only potential leaker would be the front cover plate (which would require tranny removal to access!). Towards the rear, a leak would have to come from the gasket between the main gearbox and the control lever assembly (again requiring removal to remedy) or from the rear seal (which would most likely indicate an over-filled tranny!). Good luck and keep us posted on what you find!

Hopefully your brake-light issues are electrical, which may be more of a pain to trace, but actually easier to remedy than mechanical problems! I would venture to say from what you have posted that they are electrical, and a methodical tracing of potential trouble spots will track them down too!
 
bugimike said:
Unless you have overfilled it
Click to expand...

How can you overfill it? Aren't you supposed to fill it until it runs out the fill hole? That's what I did anyway. The leak is academic at this point, getting 4th to work with an easy fix is the goal, it's almost certainly coming out anyway so than the leak issue will be addressed.
I'm going to try the MMO.

Can you remove the detent plugs from underneath and see what's going on? I'll do some more looking at the books.
 
jvandyke Can you remove the detent plugs from underneath and see what's going on? I'll do some more looking at the books. [/quote said:
I am pretty sure that you can
Click to expand...
 
I think that you can remove one (the one for reverse), but not the other as it lies between two of the shift rods and is inserted during assembly after inserting one rod and prior to inserting the other. Regardless, a liberal a liberal squirt of MMO in the bores for the detens could not hurt and could help a great deal.

PS: Overfilling the tranny can be accomplished if the car is jacked up at the rear while filling the tranny. The excess oil will drain from the rear at the output shaft when the car is lowered!
 
Well, I don't think the simple fix is going to help.
Drained the gearbox and the drain plug had a fair number of metal shavings in it. I put the MMO in it anyway for kicks.
Sounds, acts and is beginning to look, like she's baked.
So I watched a smooth case tranny go on ebay for $100, should I hold out for another ribbed case, chase a Datsun 5 speed? Is the one on ebay worth the $350+ is at right now?
Or just save my $$ to rebuild mine?
I should probably stop testing mine, probably just ruining more parts.
 
I vote for a straight swap for a ribcae. The ribcase is more robust than the smooth case. While the 5 speed is nice - you're quickly north of $1500 and you have to modify the body and that will lead to a restoration and then you will be like me - 4 years into a 2 year project.

Buy a ribcase - take an afternoon to swap them and go drive!
 
Yeah - Get a Rib Case.
Fastest way back to driving!

Driving is what it's all about, I have an MGC that's been 20 years on jack stands. Man I still remember driving that baby down the AlCan doing 125 mph...

Driving - get a good rib case - swap it in & drive!
 
Where to find one......???
 
Put the word out to the local British car clubs.
 
They're around, and not expensive to ship. I just bought a spare out of Florida for $150 plus roughly $50 in shipping. I'd vote for finding a ribcase -- the 5-speed seems to be a nice upgrade, but a bit spendy these days. You can always make that move later if you want.
 
The bottom of the heater shelf has to be massaged to make it fit IF you want to pull engine/tranny combination. If you want to pull/install separately then no Mods are required.
 
Keep an eye on ebay, the ribbed-case trannies come up regularly enough (run your searches in AH Sprite parts AND MG Midget parts listings!!) and sometimes can be had quite reasonably! I have found the best deals to be the "local pick-up only" deals as that limits the bidding. We have a good enough network here where if a BCF member is local local or nearby, you could post an appeal to have one of us help out in picking it up for you, and as was noted above, a ribbed-case tranny can be boxed and shipped for around $50 - $60!!! :thumbsup:
 
I found one near me for $175 "looks good" says the owner. Pulled from a parted out car years ago which presumably didn't have tranny issues and had 22,000 miles on it.
I think I'll go check it out.
Otherwise I could just spend the $175 on parts to rebuild mine I guess.
I was naughty and drove it yesterday to a car show and a few errands close to home. Then today I was even worse and took it on a 25 mile jaunt through the country side.

So what am I going to need?
Clutch plate
release bearing
oil seals
what other bearings and seals and such would it be prudent to refresh since you're in there?
Best source?
Obviously mine will need at least a few gear parts if I decide to fix it.
 
there's lots else -but I might stop there, assuming everything else is running fine, leave well enough alone - otherwise you're into a restoration - don't ask me how I know
 
there is a rebuild kit from VB i think....
u need a clutch kit, synchros,, bearings etc.
open it up before u order anything....z
 
Yeah, here's your mantra:

It's a Driver, It's a Driver, It's a Driver, It's a Driver...

Repeat over and over, don't let the "well I may as well..." monster get you! :wink:
 
I'll see about this other box then, hopefully Tuesday I'll go pick it up. I've never done a clutch job, let alone an engine pull tranny rebuild. So not sure if you do just the clutch plate or that AND a pressure plate, if you do release bearings and all that as a matter of course, or only if needed.
These components supposedly only have 2,000 miles on them, but no assumptions are being made anymore as obviously, even though mileage since overhaul is low, routine maintenance checks were NOT done, since there's an oil leak in the gearbox somewhere and she went dry, who knows how many years ago.
 
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