To replace or rebuild

[nicey2a]

Hi I need some advice I had a problem with the beast (1971 series 2a) dropping out of 1st&2nd going down hill so replaced the detent springs and balls, now it drops out of 1,2 and 3. So looks like a rebuild or replace, there seems to be a wide variation in prices and no one near me to go to ( forest of dean) to replace. Should I whilst I am at it go for a series 3 as they seem with the all round synchro a good buy???

I followed the rebuild of the s3 on the forum and it looks hard but possible.

Sue

[ejparrott]

I would personally go for the Series 3 box, I much prefer it to the IIa box I have also driven.

I don't know of any transmission experts down your way, all the ones I know are the other end of the M5

[Bowie69]

Gloucester road gearboxes? No too far from you, (North Bristol) http://www.gloucesterroadgearboxes.com/

If up in Brum, try http://www.drivertransmissions.co.uk/

Or of course there is Ashcroft's...

[Jon White]

Ashcrofts don;'t do series gearboxes.

Jon

[Bowie69]

Hmm, they did last time I looked for one, I admit it was a while back!

Sorry

This may help, not a bad price I think in all honesty : http://simmonites.com/gearbox.htm

[lexi]

Just a few pointers. Advantage of a series 3 box? 1/ If you give a lay person your truck to shift or borrow, they will be able to drive it with a 3 box. With the crashbox they most probably wont......or may wreck it.

2/ The ser 11 clutch is heavy. The 11a diaphragm item, a bit lighter. The ser 111 is lighter again.

The 11a clutch system and box, I like. Large wet thrust bearing, never wears out. Building that 11a box would keep your truck original. That is good for resale if the rest is original. Bear in mind though some parts for that box are getting hard to get and expensive.

No doubt though, for everyday use, a ser 3 box is easier to get on with.

[ejparrott]

Reading LRM on Saturday there's Bristol Transmissions, might be closer to you?

[nicey2a]

Hi thanks for your help. I think I am going down the DIY rebuild I have space and time and a friendly mechanic so we will work together

(Mostly me handing tools and cleaning parts). I had quotes for a series 3& 2a but they come out about £ 600 and the 3 needs to much mucking around for me. So one more favour has any one got a detailed manual on 2a rebuild please. Or can recommended one more detailed than the Haynes I have perhaps focusing on just gear box.

Thanks again for help

Sue

[ejparrott]

The Haynes manual is actually as good as if not the same as the LR Gen workshop manual - I have both

[secondjeremy]

Worth looking at the nut on the back of the mainshaft especially if you have a S3 box. Take top cover off transfer box - and see if strange looking castle nut is tight. It should be locked but often you can see it move even while locked if you try and move it. If loose it allows the change of thrust from drive to overrun to move parts on the mainshaft - which then slip out of engagement.

[Snagger]

Something missing from some manuals and just about every rebuild, even by LR themselves, is to use bearing seating compound on the rear bearing carrier when you refit it to the gear bx casing (not the visible one on the back of the transfer box but the one in the gear box secured with a huge circlip). This prevents the carrier spinning in the case but also stops the oil migration from gear box to transfer box which is so common as to be thought of as normal. Also make sure you use OEM parts wherever possible - a lot of the pattern parts are made of substandard materials or are dimensionally poor.

[Phil Hancock]

I did see in a parts book IIRC that the dowelless rear bearing carrier was loctite fit.

[Snagger]

I did see in a parts book IIRC that the dowelless rear bearing carrier was loctite fit.

I read it somewhere too, in an LR manual. It might have been their Worshop Manual. It's not in the Haynes manual, and no-one does it. Even my current gear box, which was bought new from LR as a replacement, wasn't sealed. I don't ever need to top up the gear box - the level only drops an imeasurable amount between the 10,000 mile service intervals (book suggests 12k) from sweating through the selector seals, no more than a soup spoon full.

Anyway, I always advocate DIY rebuilds if you're competent to do it. Professional rebuilds never seem to work well or last - they put far to many worn, defective or poor pattern parts in.

[Normbourne]

My vehicle is a 2A, round about 1967.

I'm. Coming to the end of a massive rebuild, and revamp, and was wondering if it is wise to change to a series 3 gearbox. Even if I stick with the 2A, it has to be overhauled.

Is the series 3 a straight swap, and is it a 5 speed box....?

Thanks guys,

Norm.

[Snagger]

The SIII box is a straight swap as long as you swap the bell housings and clutch mechanisms over so that the new SIII unit has the SII bell housing and clutch system. Alternatively, you can use the SIII clutch (you'll need a new pressure plate, friction plate, release bearing and fork, and the slave cylinder and piping). The SIII stuff is better in most respects if you go for the bigger HD clutch and buy quality components - it eliminates the torque rod and clevis pins which are prone to wear and other problems, and also gives a sealed bell housing that reduces mud/water ingress (eliminates it if the wading plug is fitted to the flywheel housing). The one weakness is in the pattern part clutch release bearings, but if you buy gen parts (Timken), or good quality alternatives (like NSK, SKF), you should have no trouble.

It depends on budget. The SIII box is easier to use and has a much more robust lay shaft (the bearings are all identical to the SII), and the clutch plates are stronger and stay cleaner, but it'll cost more and comes at the expense of some of the vehicle's original character...

[Normbourne]

Thanks mate, Is the series 3, 5 speed....?

[Bowie69]

Nope, it's just an improved S2 box in all honesty....