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Play in gearbox input shaft

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Tomas_Norway

Freshman Member
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I pulled the engine yesterday - that thing is heavy!

Unfortunately I noticed some play in the gearbox input shaft. The shaft could be moved about 1 mm at the end. How much play is too much? Should it even be any discernable play at all?
 
It is much less when inserted into the pilot bushing. Unless you're having other problems with the gearbox, I'd leave it alone.

That said, it's never a bad idea to inspect the layshaft and bearings, as that's the cause of most problems, and you could renew the synchromesh rings at the same time.

I've just been through all this, and more:
https://www.rfdm.com/gallery/album173
https://www.rfdm.com/gallery/album171

And the overdrive:
https://www.rfdm.com/gallery/album172
https://www.rfdm.com/gallery/album168
 
The input shaft is only supported by the front bearing of the gearbox and the gear at the aft end of the shaft. The bearing has a lot of play in it normally and is located toward the rear of the shaft, so side play of the free end of the shaft is normal. 1mm would not be too much. The front end of the shaft goes into the pilot bearing which will support the nose of the shaft when the gearbox is installed and eliminate the side play.

The 3000 engine weighs about 600 pounds without the gearbox attached (700 or so with it).

What kind of Healey do you have, Tomas?
 
Hi Steve,
Tomas has a BN7. Sometimes members are good and they put their info in their profile. :laugh:
 
Randy,
Very nice looking work, great photos, and I'm sure you'll have the smoothest gearbox in the land. How do you take the photos when you have greasy hands? Here is a small tip. In the aircraft business we always curl the cut pigtail of a safety wire job back on itself. Not that you'll likely be reaching into that gearcase once it is closed, but those cut ends will make hamburger out of you. Curling them leaves nothing to get cut on. Same with cotter keys in castellated nuts. We always cut them so that the piece that is bent back over the top of the bolt is neatly tucked into a castellation.
May you have no leaks for a long time.
 
Steve,

To elaborate; The car is a 1959 BN-7 imported from the UK in 1986. The PO researched the history back to -81, and it was difficult to find any earlier history in the official records. I had the car restored by Jan's car factory in Vilnius, Lithuania. He has published some photos from the restoration: https://picasaweb.google.com/Jancarfactory/AustinHealey3000#

One peculiarity is the addition of rear seats at some stage. It almost looks like the BT-7, but as the wall behind the seats is not moved, the leg room is only fit for very small children or amputees... I guess someone really wanted to have the children along. I considered changing it back during restoration, but felt it was part of its history. The car was in any case built for hard use and to last well in our climate, rather than any monetary value, concourse or anybody’s opinion.
 
roscoe said:
Randy,
Very nice looking work, great photos, and I'm sure you'll have the smoothest gearbox in the land. How do you take the photos when you have greasy hands? Here is a small tip. In the aircraft business we always curl the cut pigtail of a safety wire job back on itself. Not that you'll likely be reaching into that gearcase once it is closed, but those cut ends will make hamburger out of you. Curling them leaves nothing to get cut on. Same with cotter keys in castellated nuts. We always cut them so that the piece that is bent back over the top of the bolt is neatly tucked into a castellation.
May you have no leaks for a long time.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the tech-tips Jon; I am completely self-taught when it comes to safety-wiring, so it's nice to get guidance from a master.

Most of the time (but not all) I am wearing Latex 8Mil gloves when I work, so it's easy to peel them off and grab the camera. I go through about 2, sometimes 3 cases (1000 gloves per) a year.

I am looking forward to see if all the effort spent on the coatings can be felt through the stick. I plan on doing some back-to-back driving with one of the locals...

Thanks for the compliment on picture-taking too; I live for the details :wink:
 
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