[Spitfire Steering]

Thanks everybody I’ve bought a Wanner gun and a syringe so that’s my first line of attack, I assume you’ve used EP80W 90gear oil for this

julian 

[Spitfire Steering]

Thanks Pete I will need to get my head around that!

iain did you force oil through the grease nipple on the trunnions with a grease gun?

julian 

[Spitfire Steering]

Before I put the gearbox back in after finding the culprit of my second gear problem (me), I’m turning my attention to a steering question while the car is jacked up

five years ago I had the body off my mk3 spitfire and rebuilt a rolling chassis

I rebuilt the front suspension and steering, the only parts not replaced were the vertical links and steering rack, I replaced and greased the rack boots and installed a new all metal coupling, I did remove a shim from the rack to deal with excessive steering wheel play 

I replaced the trunnions and misguidedly filled them with grease

tyre pressures are 26psi and the steering wheel is original, toe in seems ok

my problem is the steering is very stiff and heavy at low speeds

Could my greased trunnions be causing the problem or perhaps the rack itself? 

thanks Julian 

[Spitfire gearbox overhaul]

Both hubs are reassembled and the break loads both measure 20lbs

I’m very confident that I hadn’t aligned the second speed synchro unit with the master spline when I originally assembled the mainshaft, so hoping this was the cause of the problem

on inspection I’ve noticed damage to one of the 3rd speed mainshaft gear teeth, pic below, was wondering if this is significant enough to need a replacement?

thanks Julian 

[Spitfire gearbox overhaul]

Thank you Pete, unfortunately I didn’t have the foresight to try shifting the sleeve with the mainshaft on the bench ,it exploded as I removed the shaft

i’ll take the measurements now

[Spitfire gearbox overhaul]

I’ll measure them Johny, you’re right one set looks beefier than the other

julian 

[Spitfire gearbox overhaul]

Thanks Johny, the WSM doesn’t seem to indicate which hub should have the longer springs, but they’re definitely different lengths between hubs

i can see from the WSM how I might have missed aligning the master spline with the interlock plunger correctly 

[Spitfire gearbox overhaul]

I disassembled the mainshaft carefully but couldn’t see any obvious mistakes in the assembly

looking at the synchro hubs the rings are a good tight moving fit

i disassembled the hubs to remove the springs and ball bearings, the longer springs were fitted to the 3rd/4th hub, is that correct?

I couldn’t find any shims under any of the springs which may be correct

the only other thought I had was whether the 1st/2nd hub plunger under the ball bearing was aligned properly as the sleeve was inserted

julian 

[Spitfire gearbox overhaul]

I’m itching to get the mainshaft out and I’ll post some photos 

she who must be obeyed has banned me from the garage todayin favour of a garden centre!!

[Spitfire gearbox overhaul]

When I disassembled the gearbox the 3rd and 4th rings seemed fine, 2nd had no grip at all and was really loose

i replaced all the rings with the new Canley ones so still have two from the previous build 

the box is on the bench and I’m in the process of getting the main shaft out

getting it out of the car the second time was so much easier with the benefit of experience!

julian 

[Spitfire gearbox overhaul]

I fitted new ones from Canley as part of a rebuild kit

Julian 

[Spitfire gearbox overhaul]

Wise advice thank you Pete

ill let you know the oily outcome

julian 

[Spitfire gearbox overhaul]

And there was me thinking there was a glimmer of hope, thanks Johny out it comes!

Julian

[Spitfire gearbox overhaul]

I was tidying up before I settled down with a Laphraig before calling Samaritans when after putting the cover on with the first/second selector wrongly positioned behind the first gear I was able to select second gear 

it seems to me as an almost suicidal gearbox novice that there is a problem with the synchro hubs ability to slide, or is this something to do with the positioning of the top cover selectors?

Laphraig is good though!

julian

[Spitfire gearbox overhaul]

[Spitfire gearbox overhaul]

This is the latest pic showing the second gear and synchro ring, it just doesn’t seem to move forward quite enough to fully engage 

julian

[Spitfire gearbox overhaul]

I will thanks Pete

am I right in my decision to remove the box then strip it out to start again?

julian 

[Spitfire gearbox overhaul]

Yes it does turn, it’s about to come out of the car again as I can’t see any other way to get to the bottom of this

julian 

[Spitfire gearbox overhaul]

I can rotate the third gear ring to line up with the gear teeth and selection is fine but not the same with the second gear ring, it just won’t rotate enough which I guess is why I can’t get second gear selection

In summary then could it be as you said a washer problem or have I installed the synchro ring incorrectly 

julian 

 

[Spitfire gearbox overhaul]

I did fit it Pete after it came apart, could it have dropped out as I assembled?

I also notice that the synchro ring teeth won’t match up with the second gear teeth, is that significant?

julian 

[Spitfire gearbox overhaul]

When I try sliding it back to second gear it just doesn’t seem to want to go far enough to fully engage

[Spitfire gearbox overhaul]

The synchro ring has freed up and has a rattle fit as I’ve pulled the hub into first gear 

[Spitfire gearbox overhaul]

It certainly isn’t a free rattling fit Pete, I’d say it is stuck hard, I’ll try to free it first thing tomorrow 

[Spitfire gearbox overhaul]

I’ll try to free it off in the morning, if I can’t then  I guess it will have to come out 

[Spitfire gearbox overhaul]

I don’t understand it Johny, you’d think that if it can slide one way into first gear across the balls it would go backwards to select second gear