2redrovers

woo. precision  

Yeah thats it 

that kind of thing is the reason i won't be pulling down a good gearbox lol. i'm partly interested in pulling a broken one apart, but still haven't got anywhere near doing that job

Well the last few days since the last update, have been a pretty wild ride emotionally. 
 
I had the gearbox together, but couldn't get it to change gears. I realised the selector rod was still too long. 
 
We modified it, got the gearbox together in a dry run, had it changing gears and working really well with the new short shifter. Pulled the extension housing off again to fit a new gasket and sealant and put it back together for good. 
Something didn't feel right with the mechanism, so before i bolted it together pulled it apart again, and in doing so accidentally popped 5th gear synchro to bits. 
I didn't want to have to pull the darn thing off the output shaft, because that isn't a simple task, so i tried to put it back together, working against the two spring clips that hold the synchro mechanism together, and I fucked up big time, snapping one of the synchro blocker bars. 
 
I did some asking around the club, and suppliers both here in Aus, and overseas, with everyone coming back with, "no we dont have them as a seperate item". I was so angry at myself, and so worried that id be without a working gearbox until i could get an entire synchro. 
 
Eventually I managed to T something up with a fellow car club, who had a spare 5 speed in bits in his workshop, he met me at work today and gave me the 3 blocker bars that I need. 
I did manage to also order some from Germany, (along with a new reproduction washer bottle), and have told Gerry who gave me the blocker bars, I will give him the new ones when they arrive from Germany. 
 
The blue tape is how much I had to cut off the selector rod, approximately 13mm. 
 

 
Gearbox together and being tested. I love this shifter, and am super excited to drive it. I can guarantee im going to miss a few gear changes though. The distance between 1st and 3rd, is only a matter of mm apart, with the new short shifter. Same with 2nd and 4th. 5th, has a bit more a jump sideways, but im sure there will be a few 1st to 4th changes, or attempts to take off in 3rd haha.  
 

 

 
This is what happens when I try to force the synchro rings back together against the spring clips.  
These little blocks are the things that locate the inner and outer synchro rings, and the things you hear "click" as you change gears
 

 

 
So the gearbox is half pulled apart again. 
 

 
I also delivered the new front windscreen and seals ready to be installed. from the body work point of view, the car is finished. I just have to install the driveline and suspension to get it rolling, bring it home, and assembly can begin. 
 

 
 
 
 

Thanks Ford Man. I'll be giving it a try tomorrow. Fingers crossed for no body in the boot! I like the idea of leaving a rope running through to the back seat!

Just looked at bros ZH fairlane, easiest way would be undo the bottom latch, 2x 1/2" bolts with a few long extensions should be able to reach from back seat,
My Brother said he has done it that way before, cable arm is behind the latch (blade screw head holds the cable)

Off the top of my head if you can get to the inside of the boot to the latch there is a 2nd latch for the boot release cable that was optional or on fairmonts, Fairlanes. LTD's, had a chrome handle next to drivers seat for release with a cable running to the boot latch, similar to later XDEF falcon that had electronic boot release that was just a solenoid that pulled a latch with a short cable. Once opened you should be able to remove the lock barrel & locksmith should be able to cut a key from that/decode the barrel
XF sedan we have here I squeezed through the rear armrest hole into the boot & pulled the cable, then tied a rope to the latch so you can pop the boot from the back seat.
 

thanks .. this is very helpful.. i saw the pics on rare spares and also resto country but i couldnt work out how it fits .. i understand now because of the cut where the vertical fold is ... from the pic of the red ute ...
 

Haha s***. I knew id forget. 
you’ll have to wait until monday or tuesday now 😬 

Challenge accepted 😉 
 
i reckon i could bend the gear lever a bit more, give it a 90 degree bend. She’ll be right 

Would make a pretty good helicopter gearbox though

Sent from my CPH1920 using Tapatalk

After a small drama with the bush replacement, i got the extension housing back today, and used the afternoon sun to spray it. 
 
Im letting the paint sit for the weekend, and ill assemble the gearbox once the paint is set hard. 
 
 

Yep. that was the Masport rally team. 
 
While i was researching the bell housing yesterday, someone here in Australia, in fact a member of the car club, has an alloy Masport bell housing that was produced for that rally team. 

you are braver than Me.. 
 
 
ah, that's interesting, when i Had My transit and was on fordtransit.org forum, there was a Mk2 being built to tow an escort, had all the Masport signage and i didn't understand why(i wasn't even playing with lawn mowers back then)
 

Looks nice and shiny

Dopey me forgot to measure it, so if you're able at some point to measure the gearbox casing that would be great. That way I have a reference measurement for the jig if I don't have a giant cast iron chunk bolted to it.

Yep ill do that tomorrow or whenever i start working on it again. 
this freezing weather is far from motivating 

Looks nice and shiny

Dopey me forgot to measure it, so if you're able at some point to measure the gearbox casing that would be great. That way I have a reference measurement for the jig if I don't have a giant cast iron chunk bolted to it.

Don't leave it in too long though or it could be like this ^^

It's usually diluted with water for this, not sure on the ratio but I thought it was something like 10:1 sort of thing. It's definitely reusable over and over.

A cheap molasses tank would be one of the plastic water/chemical tanks that hold a cubic metre. Would fit a couple blocks in at the same time. If you cut the top off in the right way and you have a lid to cut down evaporation.

I love suburb nicknames that locals give them, and for very real reasons

Sent from my CPH1920 using Tapatalk

StAlbans is not near Me,  50km and at least an hour away across the other side of the CBD, besides that, i don't have a car that works, or an engine crane or freedom lol or an interest in going to "stab albans" as it's known at night time. 

I don't know what yours are like but the bars are fairly flimsy in comparison to other cars. They have flexed while I used them as grip to push the car around the shop. If they are genuine and not replacement ones, they would be very easy to reco and straighten.

Bingo. thats what I was getting at. 
 
You flip them upside down, and put them on the opposite front corner to use on the front. they are identical. and its rare to find a panel van with them still because people take them to use on the front of their cars 

My front has the full width bar but I'd be thinking it's a safe bet they're the same small bumpers as used on the fronts too. If not, they wouldn't take much effort to tweak the shape to fit. Not exactly heavy duty steel.