Don,
Only true way is to do a tear down and clean and check everything paying
particular attention to the countershaft condition and the condition of all
bearings. Many, if not most, of the countershafts I have seen from parted
out cars have had problems with the case hardening being worn through. In
many cases metal particles from this problem were contained within the
countershaft assembly and were not blatently obvious on casual inspection
of an open top cover. Toward the end of the natural life of many of these
cars that are now parts cars, they bore little value to the owner, so
things like adding lube to the gearbox often were overlooked or done only
after a noise was detected. The quick look at an open box may well give the
observer an idea of the condition of gear teeth but you won't know about
bearings or cracks until it's under load.
As an aside, given the amount of time/work to open the box up and
disassemble/clean/examine and the relative low cost of bearings, why not
put new ones in and be confident. Also be cautious of some of the
reproduction synchro rings being offered for sale at various locations.
Some have a dimensional manufacturing error that makes them extremely weak
and prone to an anticipated short life. I copy this to the list for the
comments of others who have experienced this first hand. I have remachined
some of the better used ones with good results and find them a better
choice on occassion. Seals and bearings are a very good sound investment.
Preventive maintenance is almost always cheaper than a major repair later,
which I might mention always occurs in remote locations in bad weather
requiring the only parts you didn't bring as spares!
Good luck.
Russ Moore
At 09:35 AM 10/28/98 EST, you wrote:
>Amici:
>
>I have a TR4 transmission that I may want to use and I need to know what to
>check before putting it in a car.
>
>It came out of a junked car and had been sitting in a wrecking yard for many
>years, but when I drained the oil it looked brand new. I've pulled the top
>cover and looked for any broken teeth or other metal, using a magnetic probe
>to see what I could collect, and didn't see anything. It turns easily in all
>gears. I know I'll need a new throw out bearing, but is there anything
else I
>can do to check it other than just putting it in and trying to drive it?
>
>Thanks...
>Don Marshall
>
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