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Perhaps by now many of you will figure out that I have the attention span of - oh look a butterfly.

In the midst of a heatwave here in Toronto (currently 27 but feels like 37) and therefore not moving far or quickly.

Last weekend I went to use the MG only to discover the wipers weren't working. Fairly certain it is the switch so, of course I dismantled the motor (as one does) and now I can't get it back together with the brushes in place, so, before it went through the window I figured I should do something else.

Looked down on the floor and there was a GT gearbox just waiting to be cleaned. So, since it didn't involve crawling under anything or sharp edges I thought I might get back to it. At this point I have mounted the gear lever and it seems to shift OK so, I will be leaving well enough alone - clean, change the oil and reinstall.

That said, two questions.

1. as per the picture attached, there is a rubber boot at the end of the gearbox, it has a small tear and there is some abrasion on the edge - does this matter? all I see is cast underneath.

2. am I correct that removing the linkage to clean is a dumb idea as it would require setup when I put it back?

thanks all as usual.

(oo and, bonus question any special instructions for changing the oil? kerosene to clean or oil weight or amount in or incantations?)

Cheers!

Untitled by John-Peter Smit, on Flickr

That rubber boot is the rear oil seal. The key part is the inner edge, where the propshaft slides in - if that's in good nick, then the trouble around the outside probably won't matter too much - you could probably just stick a sheet of thin rubber around the outside to neaten it if you felt like it.

Not sure about the linkage, I think it's different on the HB box to the HC box. Other than packing with washers of varying thickness, I don't think there's any adjustment on the HC linkage.

A new rear seal is difficult to source and when you do find one it's expensive for what it is. The HC linkage has a sideways adjustment to alter the sideways throw of the lever. It has quite an effect on the smoothness of 2nd to 3rd changes and visa-versa. Some of the complaints of poor synchromesh on these boxes is due to poor adjustment here.

1972nail wrote:A new rear seal is difficult to source and when you do find one it's expensive for what it is. The HC linkage has a sideways adjustment to alter the sideways throw of the lever. It has quite an effect on the smoothness of 2nd to 3rd changes and visa-versa. Some of the complaints of poor synchromesh on these boxes is due to poor adjustment here.

thanks for this! Next question - were gearboxes painted?

On my HC boxes, I think the body was painted black, and the tail extension left "bare".

That's the way I think they were painted too. I just painted mine all black.

Continuing to clean the gearbox - last night was removing cleaning and replacing the reverse light switch - lovely bit of kit - replaced the O ring and all is good.

I dismantled the pivot point of the shifter (the bottom piece that attaches to the gearbox itself - when it comes to reassembling, what do you suggest for lube? oil? assembly lube? nothing? It seems like it needs something but on the other hand a greased pivot will attract dirt and grit.

thoughts?

I've just used some assembly grease sparingly on mine. There'll be enough lubrication from the engine oil leaks to keep it moving OK.....

1972nail wrote:I've just used some assembly grease sparingly on mine. There'll be enough lubrication from the engine oil leaks to keep it moving OK.....

kind of what I was thinking - thanks!

Almost there - gearbox cleaned off and linkages lubed and reinstalled. No surprise to find that when I took out the oil plug nothing came out. Soooo two questions.

1. Is one of the circled screws the fill plug? and.

2. If I fill it now will it flow out through the tailshaft as it does on some MGs?

thanks as always