Jan 15th 2007 Gearbox rebuild
Started to rebuild the gearbox, all new bearings except the ones underneath 1st,2nd,3rd gears which were perfect and I am told usually are. I found a great posting at The Mini Forum which pretty much covers the job and is a great guide, Thanks Guessworks whoever you are! I found re-installing 2nd/3rd gear quite easy, once you understand how it works. The rest of the build went off without a hitch, I even had the right size shims and was able to get the leyshaft endfloat down to 3 thou. Later my sexy Crosspin diff arrived and looks the job, I just need to get a new bushing in the crownwheel before I fit it. Also the final piece was the straight cut dropgears. If you have never done a Mini these 2 items are almost mandantory if you are going to put any power into the gearbox. the diff is a definite, the standard one will not take much over 90Bhp, the standard drops are actually quite strong but because they are hypoid cut cause huge sideloads so the general consensus is that over 120Bhp (or if you intend to thrash it..I do!) you need to install straight cuts to avoid that problem. These gears are NOISY, but I am assured its a good noise...
