Help! Need SIII Trans.

[Jim E]

Jeff I am with you 100% on the working on tranny thing. Eric G. and I pulled the shift forks out of one I toasted and I can say with confidence I want nothing to do with rebuilding these things. Would rather swap in and out half a dozen unknown units to find a good one.

 

[jumpinjan]

jan :these are my cars and i am very happy with them.

I'm happy for you

 

[65beam]

transmission

fowfam,

it wasn't me that needs the transmission.i replaced the tranny in my series 5 with one i had rebuilt. since then i have had the one that i replaced rebuilt so i have a spare rebuild on the shelf.won't go into what was done to it since i don't want to say something wrong.also had the trans and overdrive rebuilt in my harrington.nothing worse than breaking down and having to call your wife to bring the trailer.i think a few of us remember that happening to me outside of atlanta.

 

[jumpinjan]

Jeff I am with you 100% on the working on tranny thing. Eric G. and I pulled the shift forks out of one I toasted and I can say with confidence I want nothing to do with rebuilding these things. Would rather swap in and out half a dozen unknown units to find a good one.

They ALL need repair.
I have made tools to properly hold the shafts (without damaging them) & modified large hex sockets to help with the assembly and torque the shaft nuts down. Practicly every box that I tear down, the nuts are all butchered & loose. Backyard mechanics are doing the damage? (and some so-called British repair shops I might add too?).
I'm presently repairing Ian's Harrington tranny, and for some reason the rear output shaft ball bearing is loose in the case (it should be a press fit). I have never seen one this loose! I find all kinds of screw'd & monkey'd up stuff on these cars.
It's my quest to get them done right
Jan

 

[Jeff Scoville]

Well, at least we all agree.
I must say though, Jan can sometimes come off as a real jerk.
He and I have had our "dissagreements" in the past.
I believe (and hope) that it is because of his passion for these cars, and the frustration of seeing some of the crap that he comes across.
Although I think there are better ways of getting one's point across, I don't think Jan is trying to be a jerk, he just doesn't know any better.
And just for my curiousity, why the hell are the yokes not all the same size in the first place?
Were they from the factory, and then they wear down?
We should really talk to somebody about changing this design as it seems to cause too many arguements.

 

[Jim E]

Most every thing on these cars is worn out or leaking or both. I fried a transmission in my SV because I forgot to top the oil. Got lucky and the spare I had shifted fine with only a little bearing noise and of course it leaked.

 

[65beam]

transmission

i have to agree with jan that some repair shops don't have the know how to work on these cars.i just know that the person that does work of this type for me has as much knowledge of these cars as anyone.my feelings are to give it to him, let him do whatever has to be done and do it right.we all need people like jan and several others that i know around the country due to the knowhow stored between their ears.jan is not a jerk,he just knows right from wrong and i feel the same way. nothing erks me more than to pay good money out for repairs and not get what is expected. most of you that know me know that my wife spends a lot of money on our cars. pm me sometime jan and i'll tell you who does my work .

 

[Pumpkin]

repairs

And one more for the case of best do it your self, all the books that are out, all of the info you can gather from here and others, the subject stays the same, take it apart, look at it. Look at the book for two hours and call the wife for a beer.

I am not a bright guy, in the past I have torn every tranny, differental and engine apart that needed it. Then found how to get parts. Or machineing done all locally. I did find difficulty in the early ford auto tranny , but a book and some new parts it all went together, and ran well I might add. This one was worked on out side in the rain and on a steel plate for a table.

What is a matter with trying something you self and quite the hageling. Hey it is not rocket science.!!! Get your butts away from the tele/computer and go to work on it.

Boy, I could be upset, A) if two floor jacks hadn't decide to puke on the floor, B) could have gotten parts on time, C) If my time spent on the car equalled to the drive time.

nuff said and I won't read to much into retorts about my comments.

Chuck in Portland....

 

[lemansvk]

Well, with the few emails that I have received, I am not sure what to do.
I would like my SIII to be as original as possible, I like when a car is original (well, I try my best to keep it as original as I can with the limited funds that I have). The car has a SV Tranny in it now and I worry that it is going to let me down. So I guess I would like to ask the group what they think would be best! Would I be better to rebuild the SV tranny that I have or should I make the change? I just thought that if I have to pull the SV tranny, I might as well change it back to a SIII, that is if I could get my hands on a good tranny. Is there that much of a change in the cars and how they run as per what tranny is installed?
Andrew

Andrew,

I have a professionally rebuilt non-synchro-1st trans in the Alpine and an all-sycnhro box (history unknown) in the Vogue. The Alpine tranny is nice but the Vogue is better - quieter in 1st and better shift quality. I'd love to have a box that good in the Alpine. If I were in your situation I would have the all-synchro trans reconditioned, for two reasons... First is that you already have it and don't have to go finding and probably reconditioning an SIII box, and Second, it will drive nicer.

Cheers, Vic

 

[Jim E]

I just do not want to deal with transmisions or as they say a man must know his limitations.

 

[Andrew]

Tranny

Hi Vic:
I think I will do what you are recommending, I will recondition the SV trans that I have and put it back in the SIII.
Thank you for your post, it is always nice to get a little help!
Regards,
Andrew

Andrew,

I have a professionally rebuilt non-synchro-1st trans in the Alpine and an all-sycnhro box (history unknown) in the Vogue. The Alpine tranny is nice but the Vogue is better - quieter in 1st and better shift quality. I'd love to have a box that good in the Alpine. If I were in your situation I would have the all-synchro trans reconditioned, for two reasons... First is that you already have it and don't have to go finding and probably reconditioning an SIII box, and Second, it will drive nicer.

Cheers, Vic

 

[skywords]

It's a no brainer, I have both types of transmissions in drivable cars. Dump the idea about using the early tranny and go with the later box. If you have not driven the early box find one and drive before you buy, you will throw rocks at it.

Rick

 

[Alpineracer8]

Let's take this thread one step further, shall we? I have a transmission that, according to the previous owner, was a Series III close-ratio box and was, to use his words, "ready to go." Consequently, after a cursory check of a mechanic friend, I put it in my Series I race car. I was aware that 1st was non-synchro but, since very little racing is done in first gear, that was no problem. I did find out, however, that not only did the transmission leak like mad, but that the damn thing won't go into 2nd gear when downshifting from 3rd; it just grinds. I have to actually stop the car to engage 2nd! At first, I thought I was inadvertently trying to stuff it in reverse on the downshift, as reverse is over to the driver and down (exactly where it shouldn't be for this type of activity...). But, as I was coasting down the street, trying to engage 2nd, I was very careful not to push the shifter past the reverse detent...and it still wouldn't engage 2nd. More grinding ensued.

I have a good Series V box that I took out of the car in favor of installing this "ready-to-go" box. What I ended up with is car I can't drive. The gear ratios of the Series V box suck for racing, which is why I wanted to change to the Series III box in the first place. At this point, I'm looking for opinions (I know...be careful what you ask for...). Is it worth it from a performance standpoint to rebuild the Series III box, or should I stick with the better-shifting Series V unit and just live with the huge ratio gap between 2nd and
3rd gears? Let the opinions fly...

Thanks,

 

[Jeff Scoville]

Is it possible to put early gears in a later gearbox?
It would be nice to put whichever ratio gears into an all syncro box.
Anyone tried it?

 

[RootesRacer]

Let's take this thread one step further, shall we? I have a transmission that, according to the previous owner, was a Series III close-ratio box and was, to use his words, "ready to go." Consequently, after a cursory check of a mechanic friend, I put it in my Series I race car. I was aware that 1st was non-synchro but, since very little racing is done in first gear, that was no problem. I did find out, however, that not only did the transmission leak like mad, but that the damn thing won't go into 2nd gear when downshifting from 3rd; it just grinds. I have to actually stop the car to engage 2nd! At first, I thought I was inadvertently trying to stuff it in reverse on the downshift, as reverse is over to the driver and down (exactly where it shouldn't be for this type of activity...). But, as I was coasting down the street, trying to engage 2nd, I was very careful not to push the shifter past the reverse detent...and it still wouldn't engage 2nd. More grinding ensued.

I have a good Series V box that I took out of the car in favor of installing this "ready-to-go" box. What I ended up with is car I can't drive. The gear ratios of the Series V box suck for racing, which is why I wanted to change to the Series III box in the first place. At this point, I'm looking for opinions (I know...be careful what you ask for...). Is it worth it from a performance standpoint to rebuild the Series III box, or should I stick with the better-shifting Series V unit and just live with the huge ratio gap between 2nd and
3rd gears? Let the opinions fly...

Thanks,

The late SV gearbox has similar ratios as the SIII close ratio box.
That is the ratios are closer than all the other transmissions.

The earlier SV and SIV allsync are also wide so make sure you know what you are getting.

 

[RootesRacer]

Is it possible to put early gears in a later gearbox?
It would be nice to put whichever ratio gears into an all syncro box.
Anyone tried it?

Nope cant do it, counter gear cluster is totally different.

 

[Alpineracer8]

Rootesracer:

Is there any way to tell whether or not a Series V box has the gear ratios that are similar to the Series III box? I have another Series V box and motor but I have no idea of the serial # of the car they came out of. Are there any numbers or markings on the box that give a clue as to the gear ratios it contains?

Thanks,