Differentials, gearboxes and clutches!

[Raider]

Taxed the TR7 today and taken it out on the open road again at last. :) It certainly feels more responsive since I put the polybushes in and the engine pulls well. :) It's a pleasure to drive on the country roads where we live near the Yorkshire dales in the TR.:)

However, there's certainly a howl from the diff that i don't remember from before and a couple of times the revs rose with no increase in roadspeed - slipping clutch I think. :(

So, a couple of solutions to ponder.

Diff - turn up the MP3 player - very tempting ;D Or, as this was a second hand axle last year (I bent the first one on the 2002 RBRR ::)) I could pull the axle off my spares TR7 and fit that.
That gives a couple more issues though - it's second hand of course so who knows how good it is and it's a five speed.

If I fit it the propshaft won't match up with the 4 speed gearbox so then I either have another one made up or swap the 5 speed box over from my spares TR7 - not a bad plan but it's alot of work ::) I will have to replace the clutch of course.

If I'm doing that maybe I should replace the rear springs and shocks with uprated items while the axle is being swapped- trouble is if I do that the rear will sit lower than the front. Solution - uprated and lowered front springs with new inserts. :o

I don't think I'll be buying your uprated brakes Ellis! ::)

[GigGleR]

of course, you could always do what I'm doing with my TR4. Take it to Gearbox UK in Doncaster. he's going to strip out the diff from the car, check it, recondition it and put it back again for £300 + vat. It'll do me since he wants the car for a few days rather than the 3-4 weeks that Moss would want the axel for to do the same job :D

Don't know how much he'd charge for a TR7 tho'.............

[Raider]

Yes, I saw that - it seems a very good price.

How many hours labour is there involved I wonder? Must be at least 4 at £30 an hour (?), that's £120 before any parts are needed.

[GigGleR]

true and, of course, it doesn't include a crown wheel and pinion set but it is unlikely that thats the problem. Both the mechanic and myself belive its probably the bearings. At least I don't have to strip the damn axel out myself :D

[Raider]

I have to do something about the diff - 332 miles with a very noisy diff is no joke ::)

At least the car went well though and the polybushes have made a big difference.

Now I just need to move on to the transmission ::)

[Lister]

we have done a few MG's recently by taking out the dif and re shimming it.

Have done it a few times i think it only takes a few hours as long as the shims are available you should speak to my father in law he should be able to do it . I might even bring him with me on sunday to the vintage thingamy

[Ellis]

There's a place on eBay that do TR7 Diff kits for about £25... just depends on how much you want to get involved with the work I suppose.

[Raider]

If I am going to take a diff out and then faff about trying to fix it I reckon I should go for it and do the full monty - a 5 speed conversion :o

Then I'll spend time and money putting things right on the 5 speed set up - should make a good article for you Ellis. ::)

Short terms though I need to make sure there's enough oil in the diff to survive the road rally Tim and I are doing - there'll be enoough abuse being shouted between the crew to drown out the noise from the diff I reckon. ;D

[Malcolm]

Think twice about this Martin.  You have a nice original 4-speed car (as do I!).  They are quite rare now and taking off the diff, getting a proper rebuild from an expert, and replacing need not be a very expensive job.  I have to admit going for a new CWP on my V8 when I did this, but the justification was the extra stress all that power puts on  ;)

As for the rear springs/shocks - now IS the time whilst the axle is off.  The standard car really does benefit from poly bushes (done) and sensibly uprated suspension (& brakes).  Makes a world of difference.  You should also have a good look at the tank.  Perhaps it is fine, but if it's starting to weep it would be a lot easier to sort it out now.

Clutch replacement on a 4-speed?  I just did this during my engine swap and can recommend the £6(!) spent on a clutch alignment tool.  What an excellent piece of kit.

Cheers
Malcolm.

[TRishaTR]

There does seem to be a sway (if not exactly a full-blown swing) toward the early FHC.  As Malcolm says the 4spd is v.rare and thus could be worth a premium - shows the screwed up BL production though when my 1976 one had the 5spd from new.

The 5spd may be a more relaxing drive but I'd give it plenty of thought before going down that route.... surely the thing to do is buy yourself a tidy Speke FHC, with the extra gear, before they rocket in value ::) ;D

[Raider]

Now I have a dilemma - thanks guys! ::)

I did intend keeping the car as original as possible but also, as you know, I go in for long distance endurance driving where a 5 speed would be an advantage in terms of fuel economy and lower noise levels.

The thing is though, a 5 speed was available as an option as is proven by TRisha having a 5 speed on a 76 and the donor being a 76 TR7. As a result originality wouldn't be compromised by the conversion IMHO.

[TRishaTR]

But it is a good excuse to get another one  ;D ;D 

[Raider]

Quote:

But it is a good excuse to get another one   

Lead me not into temptation ex-mate! :P

[TRishaTR]

;D ;D ;D I shouldn't encourage peeps to increase their TR7 stable when I'd be effectively signing up to the Eunach society were I to purchase another one :o

[Raider]

Just looked back and I started this thread on May 1st - I can say that I have now completed the job of making my car a 5 speed (fingers crossed ::))

It was a swine of a job as anyone can see from the on line sagas but I have to say the car is so much better. Only done about 15 miles in it but it is so quiet and the fifth gear makes a hell of a difference. The car should be much less stressed on the RBRR as a result. ;)

One last task was to put some fresh oil in the gearbox so I put in a litre of EP80 last night as I could have sworn it had gear oil in. That was until red ATf ran out when I had got the EP80 in!
:o

Doh - what now? It seemed fine with a 50/50 mix but I wasn't happy so I have bought some Lucas (!) semi synthetic ATF which is supposedly capable of looking after drag racer transmissions! ::) So, drained the oil/ATF combination out and filled it with the super ATF.

Test run proves gear change excellent, transmission nice and quiet - I hope it stay that way :-/

There's alot of debate on the right oil for these 5 speed/Rover SD1 gearboxes - I hope I have made the right choice.

[Ellis]

From what I've seen Mr Raider, I think it's a wise choice. I think while mine is up in the air, I'm gonna drain mine and change it also. I can feel a trip to Car Spares in Cheshunt coming on !!!!

[TRishaTR]

The concensus is definitely in favour of ATF... can't actually remember if the stuff I have is synthetic or not.  Maybe I'll check when I head out to the garage!

And 'congrats' on a successful transplant Mr.Raider.

[Ellis]

Hmmmm, I'd question that TRisha...  I think that USED to be the case due to the lack of synthetic oils around that were suitable.  However, due to ATF being so thin, it does burn up quite easily.  The recent posts I've seen about the LT77 box states a synthetic 75W/90 gear oil is definately the best option. Yes it may make getting 2nd and 3rd a bit difficult when the car is cold, but a small price to pay against the cost of a gearbox rebuild.  It's also what Dale recommends as well !!!!  ;)

[Raider]

Oh no :o

Why did you have to say that? Now I am still not sure if I have done the right thing ::)

Cost of a rebuild actually isn't that much of an issue - I have another spare gearbox available from my brother but I certainly don't fancy changing the gearbox again any time soon.

Thinking about it though - the current gearbox is from a 76, ran on ATF and is fine. As I am likely to do less than 5-6000 miles in a year maximum it's probably academic anyway :-/

[Ellis]

To be fair, I've been running mine on ATF for the last 2 years and the only problem I have is a little bit of gear oil loss, but the box runs fine. Just remember to check the level every now and then. ;)