The Crack Of Doom!

[Campercrazy]

Evening,

So before the whole lockdown and the great toilet roll rush of 2020 I was happily (sometimes) trying to bring my Devon T25 / T3 back to life in some way.

After replacing the Tank, fuel pipes, fuel filter, engine (bought a low millage 1Y), water pump, all the seals on the engine and various other bits totaling about a grand, I thought i'd cracked the dodgy running from the knackered old 1Y!

After a couple of road tests It was all running perfectly (apart from a gearbox whine in 3rd and 4th), as the inevitable virus lockdown approached I took her out for one last spin. We had a great run until I got back and tried reversing!

I put her in reverse and there was an almighty crack, the gear stick went limp (something no man wants!) I managed to get up the drive backwards however now I can't select any gears, I managed to get out of reverse somehow and now I seem to be stuck in 3rd (I think) it's an old 4 speed box!
Before this happened I had a quote for getting the gearbox reconditioned but £850 seemed quite steep! so I have 2 questions if anyone can help...

1. Is it likely to be the linkage that has gone somewhere underneath?
2. Does anyone know anywhere I can get the box recondition (post apocalypse) that is likely to charge less than £850? or is it worth trying to get a replacement gearbox?

Thanks for any help in advance.

[Mocki]

Bad luck on the gearbox, but £850 is cheap , my five speed cost lots more to be refurbed

However it’s not all bad news, the good news is there are plenty of diesel boxes out there secondhand , but if they are any better than yours is a different matter

Dan Illsley at Derby had a used diesel box not so long ago .

[The Hairy Camper]

Sorry to hear about your van. Like Mocki said, you're best looking for a second hand box or better yet sending it to Aidan Talbot and getting it refurbished.

I used to see second hand boxes on fb groups quite often.

Refurbished will be expensive (at least £1000), but it will basically be a new box.

Good luck.

[gary1998]

start with this you do it yourself ..
https://www.brickwerks.co.uk/t3-parts/d ... iesel.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Mr Bean]

I'm with the Hairy Camper on this one. I got my gearbox rebuilt for £750 eight or so years ago (not by Aidan) and it failed big time again in the middle of France. I got it fixed under warranty but had to do a line bore and re-sleeve on the casting in my workshop and source some parts for the repairer as he had clearly run out of steam. Sounds like a possible minefield out there.

[Campercrazy]

Thanks to all who have commented!

I’ve decided to take your advice, I’ve contacted Aidan and discussed a rebuild!
He seems like a great guy! Hopefully when the apocalypse is over I’ll finally be able to get some quality time out in her!

Thanks again to all who commented!