3-Speed Gearbox Queries.

[John P]

Hi,

Shortly I think I will have to take the engine out of my Ulsteroid to try to fix the oil leaks I have been ignoring.

Whilst the 3-speed gearbox is out I'd like to improve the oil-tightness around the input shaft and some while ago I did buy a modern lip seal from one of the cherished suppliers which I naively thought could be fitted without any machining.    The reason I thought this was that there was some info on the Dorset Austin Seven Club site which read:-

“A simple and cheap way to overcome this problem is, firstly, to renew the bearing and then insert a modern oil seal in the nose piece between the input bearing housing and the roller bearing.  This stops oil from reaching the worn quick thread.  There are 2 types of seal: either Payen NA080 or Payen NA092 will do the job and they are simply a press fit in the housing, It is a good idea to grease the new bearing as hopefully no oil should now reach it”.

Anyway, the seal I have is marked SC 1-1/8  1-7/8  ¼

So, does anyone know if this is the correct seal and if the gearbox front cover / nose piece which contains the quick thread needs to be machined to fit it?

At the same time I'd also like to do something about the baulking I often experience when changing from 2nd to top gear.  Any suggestions what may be causing this and what could potentially be done to improve matters.

Many thanks,
John.

[Howard Wright]

Hi John

I can’t help with the lip seal but regarding the smoother change between 2nd and top, I fitted a set of Andy Bird’s Andes gears and when they arrived the output dog had been ramped. This has improved the gear change no end.  If you have the box to pieces I would recommend this mod.

Cheers

Howard

[Terrytuned]

John you have the correct seal but you need the machine out the scroll to fit it, the earlier box with the felt seal a same dia; seal but 3/8" thick replaces the felt seal.The 4spd roller race can replace the loose rollers.  Terry.