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Following my return from Mid-Ohio I drained the Courier's transmission oil and found portions of two gear teeth in the pan so decided it would be a good time to put in the freshly rebuilt (MGA close-ratio) back-up box before I thoroughly trashed the old unit.
Monday morning I pulled the engine, removed the transmission and prior to reinstalling anything I bolted the engine and transmission together on the garage floor and rolled it over to make sure I removed enough metal inside the bell housing to allow the larger MGB clutch to clear. All good!
I separated the gearbox from the engine, reinstalled them and pushed the start button. CLICK--nothing! <span style="font-style: italic">(Hope-against-hope thought: "Why would my battery have lost charge like that?")</span> I hooked up a charger and switched it to the "75 amp start mode". Pushed the starter button--the engine rolled over and fired off and now there is a loud and unpleasant metallic "clack-clack-clack-clack" sound. Feeling around the bell housing while the engine was running I could tell that the clutch is rubbing in the place where I had ground away what I thought was enough material to provide clearance. <span style="font-style: italic">(Thought #2--apparently static and dynamic situations are different.)</span> I called it a day.
Tuesday morning bright and early I pulled the engine and saw the shiny spot inside the bell housing indicating the point of contact and using the old transmission as a guide I ground away a bit more material. I reinstalled the engine, pushed the start button and the engine fired off with no more clanking noise. GREAT!
I thought it would be good to run through the gears and when I shifted into first and dropped the clutch it sounded like someone had left a wrench inside the gear box and it was making a very loud and expensive sounding clatter. <span style="font-style: italic">(Thought #3--[censored] [censored] [censored]! What is that???)</span>
Jon, the fellow who rebuilt the box, comes over and he suggests trying reverse, then 2nd 3rd and 4th--all perfectly fine--but when I go back to 1st the same noise is present. There is no clearance between the inside of the transmission tunnel and the transmission to pull the side plate and peer inside so Tuesday ends with the clear and certain knowledge that next day I will again be pulling things apart.
Wednesday dawns bright to find Jon and me once again pulling the engine, then the transmission. After draining the transmission oil and examining it for metal (none) we pulled the box apart and there. sitting loose on bottom of the case, is a thrust washer. Apparently it must have slipped out of the stack of gears, washers and the like when Jon passed them onto the mainshaft, so as I watch he disassembles and reassembles the components, this time including the washer! Close up the box, put the oil back in and hang it into the car--it is now end of day and we are both tired and frustrated.
Bright and early Thursday we mount the transmission and install the engine one more time, fasten all together and fire off the engine. FINE. Take it through the gears (still on jackstands). FINE. Drop the car down, hop in, fire off and run it down the street: R-1-2-3-4-3-2-1-R. GREAT, the transmission shifts butter-smooth.
What I planned to be a three-hour job took 3-1/2 days to complete, but luckily no damage done. Did anything like this ever happen to you?
Seeya at BeaveRun/Schenley Park!
Monday morning I pulled the engine, removed the transmission and prior to reinstalling anything I bolted the engine and transmission together on the garage floor and rolled it over to make sure I removed enough metal inside the bell housing to allow the larger MGB clutch to clear. All good!
I separated the gearbox from the engine, reinstalled them and pushed the start button. CLICK--nothing! <span style="font-style: italic">(Hope-against-hope thought: "Why would my battery have lost charge like that?")</span> I hooked up a charger and switched it to the "75 amp start mode". Pushed the starter button--the engine rolled over and fired off and now there is a loud and unpleasant metallic "clack-clack-clack-clack" sound. Feeling around the bell housing while the engine was running I could tell that the clutch is rubbing in the place where I had ground away what I thought was enough material to provide clearance. <span style="font-style: italic">(Thought #2--apparently static and dynamic situations are different.)</span> I called it a day.
Tuesday morning bright and early I pulled the engine and saw the shiny spot inside the bell housing indicating the point of contact and using the old transmission as a guide I ground away a bit more material. I reinstalled the engine, pushed the start button and the engine fired off with no more clanking noise. GREAT!
I thought it would be good to run through the gears and when I shifted into first and dropped the clutch it sounded like someone had left a wrench inside the gear box and it was making a very loud and expensive sounding clatter. <span style="font-style: italic">(Thought #3--[censored] [censored] [censored]! What is that???)</span>
Jon, the fellow who rebuilt the box, comes over and he suggests trying reverse, then 2nd 3rd and 4th--all perfectly fine--but when I go back to 1st the same noise is present. There is no clearance between the inside of the transmission tunnel and the transmission to pull the side plate and peer inside so Tuesday ends with the clear and certain knowledge that next day I will again be pulling things apart.
Wednesday dawns bright to find Jon and me once again pulling the engine, then the transmission. After draining the transmission oil and examining it for metal (none) we pulled the box apart and there. sitting loose on bottom of the case, is a thrust washer. Apparently it must have slipped out of the stack of gears, washers and the like when Jon passed them onto the mainshaft, so as I watch he disassembles and reassembles the components, this time including the washer! Close up the box, put the oil back in and hang it into the car--it is now end of day and we are both tired and frustrated.
Bright and early Thursday we mount the transmission and install the engine one more time, fasten all together and fire off the engine. FINE. Take it through the gears (still on jackstands). FINE. Drop the car down, hop in, fire off and run it down the street: R-1-2-3-4-3-2-1-R. GREAT, the transmission shifts butter-smooth.
What I planned to be a three-hour job took 3-1/2 days to complete, but luckily no damage done. Did anything like this ever happen to you?
Seeya at BeaveRun/Schenley Park!
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