One man photo guide to removing a late Petrol van gearbox.

[what2do]

I can see your fuel line, what keeps the radius part tight to the bodywork as it goes from horizontal to the near vertical angle? Mine has a clip to stop it from moving around.

[itchyfeet]

nothing, it's just there, yours is a year later perhaps an addition

[itchyfeet]

This is the crown from my gearbox, Aidan ran it with some engineers blue to show where it was touching,

IMG_0082 by Paul_Barr, on Flickr


0.38mm shim fitted in place of 0.32 and end float rechecked at 0.1mm
O ring and felt seal replaced, make sure o ring groove is cleaned out, you can see the Oil seal groove here, most flywheels will have one worn from high mileage, ideally I fit the seal in a different position to avoid the groove.

P1020883 by Paul_Barr, on Flickr

I measured up the Elring seal dimensions and calculated if I fit the seal 1mm under flush it will be over 1mm off the groove, last time I changed the seal I tried flush and it was binding slightly. Other manufacturers of seal may be thicker and not enable any positioning.


P1020888 by Paul_Barr, on Flickr


hammer the seal in with a block of wood then use the old seal to gently tap it under flush.

P1020908 by Paul_Barr, on Flickr

refit flywheel, add the anti rotation bolt and torque to 110Nm ( as per Bentley) not Haynes.

Using a clutch alignment tool place the parts together, clamp and check it's concentric and bolt back on, 20Nm

P1020920 by Paul_Barr, on Flickr

[itchyfeet]

Change the oil while it's out, easier to refill when out, this is a 4 speed 3.5L of GL4
P1020932 by Paul_Barr, on Flickr

good time to clean up the gearbox earths, all these mating surfaces have really made a big difference, use Vaseline/petroleum jelly on reassembly.

P1020942 by Paul_Barr, on Flickr

P1020943 by Paul_Barr, on Flickr

P1020945 by Paul_Barr, on Flickr

some copper grease on the release bearing arms and some high temp grease on the input shaft.

P1020946 by Paul_Barr, on Flickr

good time to check the torque on the outer CVs as it's easy to get to them, 45Nm

P1020951 by Paul_Barr, on Flickr

drag the box under in a piece of wood or skateboard (or a tarp)

P1020948 by Paul_Barr, on Flickr

Put the engine back on a hydraulic jack, get the box up on the ratchet straps ( same as lowering) and align the gearbox and engine so it's dead parallel

P1020957 by Paul_Barr, on Flickr

[itchyfeet]

push the box home with your feet and fit lower Nuts to engine studs.

P1020958 by Paul_Barr, on Flickr

fit gearbox mount and remove jack, clean bolts new washers if possible and fit drive shafts, torque to 45Nm, don't try and torque if the bit is not square, if you can't get a torque wrench on square rotate the wheel.

P1020964 by Paul_Barr, on Flickr

P1020966 by Paul_Barr, on Flickr

starter motor back with both top bolts, gear linkage back, make sure the bush plate is to the front of the vehicle and make sure the relay leave is home on the spines before tightening or it will slip and damage the lever

P1020967 by Paul_Barr, on Flickr

slave cylinder on, a thin square of plastic or beer can hold the tricky rear bolt in place while you fit the nut, best to bleed clutch, it's self bleeding, just open the nipple ( preferably add a pipe to the nipple so the fluid does not run down the gearbox) and watch/ top up the reservoir.

P1020969 by Paul_Barr, on Flickr

coolant pipes back in the clip on top of gearbox, reverse light switch connected, battery reconnected, test drive Job done.




This was the point I found out the clutch release bearing was not fitted right, one press of the clutch a thud and the lever was stuck bearing clip/spring had come off.
I think what happened is I accidently moved the release arm while raising the box (I was working from the other side so would not have noticed) and that pushed the bearing too far forward and off the forks, when the box was pushed on the bearing and lever were pushed back but one spring came off.
So take care not to move the lever, maybe tie it up.

So 3.5 hours later box off again, bearing replaced and box refitted, grrrrr

Job done

P1030002 by Paul_Barr, on Flickr

[Bigface]

Awesome thread, explains the process so easily and fully (having just used it to pull the GB on mine), so thanks for that Itchy.

Only thing I would add to anyone using this as a reference guide would be when lowering the engine at the front to take care that you're not stretching/stressing any cables, especially at the fwd near side - a cable break on mine had me chasing a horrendous misfire/backfire for weeks. I learnt a lot, but it was an expensive process......