Club 80-90 Forums

Hi,

I got my van about a year ago. It needed a bit of remedial upkeep at the time, water pipes, new carb, lots of gaskets and general tidying. I got the work done at Jack's Garage in West London, they did good work from what I can tell, and fixed niggles quickly afterwards. Once all the work was done we had a great time in France with the kids and a couple of trips down to Devon and Cornwall, put a couple of thousand miles on the clock without any major incidents. Then, three days after hearing I'd got a grant to travel around the UK doing my dream photography project (backwards karma?) the gearbox started to play up - bouncing out of fourth on the motorway. Took a deep breath and limped it into Jack's who pulled the box and took it to Cogbox...

So the diagnosis is not good. It needs a donor box and as you know they are not exactly easy to find, except there is a near match available, emphasis on near. My van is a 1987 1.9l petrol, box code 6P or 6PA the potential donor is from a 1987 1.6l diesel, which I figure must be a AGZ or AHF. On paper it looks like the ratios are the same except for 5th gear (0.85 on mine 0.78 on the donor). I don't mind a higher 5th gear if the engine can push it.

Has anyone out there done a similar swap? Jack's and Cogbox will be letting me know if they think they can do it but I'd be interested in hearing about similar experiences. The last thing I want to do is spend money on a solution that's going to blow up in 6 months.

Thanks,

Maybe you should have a word with Aidan... http://www.aidantalbot.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Trouble is.. Aidan is very busy at the mo..

And if a donor box is required then our resident Danish breaker may be able to help..
But unless any donor box has been rebuilt in the near past.. its gonna need to be done..

toomanytoys

I was in contact with Aiden for advice when the trouble started and he gave me some useful advice but his waiting list is way to long for me, the van is my only transport and my accommodation when I'm working...

Good point about the donor box. I don't know much about it other than the fact it was running before it's engine blew up, but then mine seemed fine until it didn't. I wouldn't want to swap one problem for another, I'd ask Cogbox Pete to check it out I guess.

Sorry to be clueless but who is your resident Danish breaker?

Ta

Jason aka Hugomonkey

New crown and pinions are now available for 7/38 final drive, from Germany, via Brickwerks, so Cogbox could just rebuild your existing box around a new c and p and keep the gearing as is, chances are any donor box will want a rebuild anyway

Ta Syncrobaz, good to know.

Aiden: thanks, that might be a life-saver. I've been in touch with Brickwerks and will let Jack's and Cogbox know. Don't tell me how you knew I needed the C and P, I'd like to believe you are psychic!