T50 swap

Ever since I got my car there has been a bit of a shudder up through the gearbox on the off throttle over-run. It was pretty bad in 3rd and 4th gears, and over the last few months it has been getting worse, starting to get quite noisy when on throttle too. So a gearbox overhaul, or swap at least was added to the list. Being my daily I couldn't have the car sitting up for more than a day with no transmission so I picked up a cheap 2nd hand T50 from the local forum, and hoping for the best, once again my Trueno was flung up on the ramps of GarageHachi heavy lift division!

 

Actually flung is not the right word, carefully maneuvered and manhandled is more like, it as due to  plenty of "moAR low", sleepers, spare wheel jack and trolley jack are needed to get her on the 2 post lift..

 

 The old gearbox came out with no stress, and we discovered yet another coolant leak caused by a loose heater hose, that was quickly put back into place and will hopefully end of that orange on my hachis underbelly! A nice suprise that we found living in the bellhousing was a Fidanza uprated flywheel, and a spurious ebay looking clutch with a bit of life left on it. (Will eventually be replaced by one of  Exedys or Oguras offerings).

Fidanzeh, yer dinners ready!

   

The new gearbox was put in at a leisurely pace, mount, fork, bearing and speedo drive swapped over, filled up with fresh 75W90, and after final checks we went for a quick test run. The new box was really quiet, and through my C's shifter it felt a little more precise up and down through the gears, so I was smiling as I was approaching a roundabout....

...until I tried to shift down to second from third. Nothing. Just about 6000rpm and no forward motion! F&*^£$(! It would absolutely not go into second unless the car was stopped. So I cruised back round to GH and back on the ramp she went. The box was pulled out in a matter of minutes pit lane style and the original went straight back in, giving us enough time for lunch (Wonder what the record for a t50 swap is?).

   Once the car was on the ground again the split case was prised apart to feast on its insides and try find the problem. Initial examination by Dr.Kev revealed a worn blocker ring on 2nd gear, so we just cleaned out the box and wrapped her up for transport to and later surgery in GarageHachi workshop division.

I was hoping a quick swap would be the end of an annoying noise, but now this will become a tasty gearbox refresh, as the "while you are doing it you might as well.." rule of tuning comes into play. By the time it is done it will go back in mated to a new clutch, spigot and release bearings, and the slave cylinder will be also replaced as it was noticed to have started leaking.. And then theres no point changing the slave without installing a neat braided clutch line by APP... At least my shifter is complete..