"They look to clean for your 500. There's no Patina!"

As if???!!!

I think you're looking at Tony's setup; his do look good (as always)....mine have got full-blown patina (as always).

The little package containing the new gears arrived today.
Obviously there is quite a difference in the teeth on the sprockets where they slide into each other.
I just need to get the external casings of the box clean now.:yuck:
MAL_6741 by Peter Thompson, on Flickr

I don't remember the puzzle of putting all the gears, bearings and synchros back in the right order; so although i have definitely worked on a 600 and a 126 box I guess I may only have tinkered with the top end and the back of the box previously.
I have done a dry run prior to oiling the components and threadlocking the setscrews.
I am re-using all the bearings. There doesn't seem to be any wear and after cleaning and blowing them dry there is no roughness.
MAL_6756 by Peter Thompson, on Flickr

wow.. those sprockets suffered.. :O
good luck putting that all back together..

I've finally got the gearbox finished and mated back with the rebuilt engine. You may want to mock my presentation and finish, but I am very pragmatic and concentrate on the mechanics of replacing everything with signs of wear so that I have an assembly that should be as reliable as my present engine and gearbox. I guess I have spent about £500 on parts between both items.
MAL_7627 by Peter Thompson, on Flickr
The rubber gaiters on the driveshaft at the gearbox end are originals because the modern versions are made from a thinner and poorer quality rubber.
I am having an experiment with the covers for the driven end of the driveshafts. The little cup rubbers that are available new are pretty ineffective and last only for a short time before the rubber falls to bits. The splined connection is taking a lot of strain and benefits from good lubrication. But unless you make very regular checks I find that they get very dry. I bought a random, universal gaiter kit with securing clips.
MAL_7624 by Peter Thompson, on Flickr
Although slightly over-engineered for this application, it looks like it's going to work. The bonus is that the kit comes with a big sachet of lovely slippery molybdenum grease.

My "new" rubber gaiters at gearbox end didn't even make it to the end of the restoration! !!
I like your driven end solution.
A good looking piece of work Sir!

Hi Peter,

I like your idea of using a universal boot at the driven end. What was the kit you bought, and was it a universal item for a particular car?
John

jjacob said:

Hi Peter,

I like your idea of using a universal boot at the driven end. What was the kit you bought, and was it a universal item for a particular car?
John

Click to expand...

John, I think it is a universal item but it was listed as suitable for the Fiat 126 on this website...probably UK and Europe only though.
http://www.mister-auto.co.uk/en/joi...k-bol-17086100e_g90271_a999BOL-17086100E.html
There must be plenty of other options that would fit but this one is really nice. The thing that would have made it better is that it can only be pulled on as far as shown in the image I posted and I would have liked to clamp it at the alloy/rubber connector for a better grip and to cover the little slot in the coupling. I think the slot is there to allow lubricant to be drizzled in from time to time. I may put in a slug of silicone to prevent loss of grease and ingress of dirt and water.
If I put enough grease in and prevent grease loss, this should be reasonably "fit and forget". Although I find that running a Fiat 500 involves regularly dismantling systems in any case.:bang:
Incidentally, the same supplier lists the gearbox end boot and seal assembly, a bit more expensive than most specialist suppliers but stated as made by SKF.

fiat500 said:

John, I think it is a universal item but it was listed as suitable for the Fiat 126 on this website...probably UK and Europe only though.
http://www.mister-auto.co.uk/en/joi...k-bol-17086100e_g90271_a999BOL-17086100E.html
There must be plenty of other options that would fit but this one is really nice. The thing that would have made it better is that it can only be pulled on as far as shown in the image I posted and I would have liked to clamp it at the alloy/rubber connector for a better grip and to cover the little slot in the coupling. I think the slot is there to allow lubricant to be drizzled in from time to time. I may put in a slug of silicone to prevent loss of grease and ingress of dirt and water.
If I put enough grease in and prevent grease loss, this should be reasonably "fit and forget". Although I find that running a Fiat 500 involves regularly dismantling systems in any case.:bang:
Incidentally, the same supplier lists the gearbox end boot and seal assembly, a bit more expensive than most specialist suppliers but stated as made by SKF.

Click to expand...

Ooh they are cheap going to get myself a set. Are you going to clamp them over the sliding piece with the four bolts where it attaches to the flexible joint? What I mean to say is will it clamp ok over the four bolts, as, as you say it doesn't reach the flexible joint. Might be worth getting a pair of those SKF boots for the other end. Was it you who said the pattern ones are cr*p?

I might get a set of those

Vitesse said:

I might get a set of those

Click to expand...

If you do, I would wait until you need other consumables such as oil, spark-plugs etc. or even parts for a modern car so you can get free postage Mister Auto are very cheap. i don't know how it works but things on an order can come in several parcels, but always quickly and correctly.
The boot easily clears the flange bolts and will protect them; they have a habit of being corroded and hard to grip. It won't go as far as the aluminium so this leaves a relatively narrow bearing surface on which to get the securing bands to grip. The good thing is that these are the narrow things that you stretch to the furthest holes and then crimp with pincers.
It's all a bit overkill but gives a bit of peace of mind.

The boot will have to be clamped to the flexible joint. There is not enough surface area on the cast iron flange to hold the boot in position.

Here is another possible boot to use. This one would definitely reach the flexible joint.

jjacob said:

The boot will have to be clamped to the flexible joint. There is not enough surface area on the cast iron flange to hold the boot in position.

Here is another possible boot to use. This one would definitely reach the flexible joint.

Click to expand...

The limiting factor with the sample I have is the geometry of the internal taper....it cold be forced on, but that defeats the objective by putting strain on the rubber.
In my case I thing I have good chance of it working fine, but your US product looks better and I am sure a bit of research over here would find a better one.

Yeah the problem is there are shed loads of them available but not many give the length of the gaiter. The one for the Rover 25 looks about right 85mm diameter at the wide end and 21mm at the shaft end, a length of 103mm that doesn't sound long enough to me? I'll have to have a measure up on the spare engine tomorrow.

Keep in mind that the boot should not be completely extended when installed. As the axle moves up and down the boot needs to expand and contract. The boot I pictured is silicone and is very flexible. I have one installed on my daily driver inner joint (Nissan Primera, Infiniti G20 in the USA). It is long enough and also designed that you can shorten the length by cutting if you want. I would bet that it is available in Europe. Dorman is a huge supplier.
John

Now I am at the stage where this thing has been fitted I thought I had better report the fact that the CV boot can't be secured to the drive flange or the splined rubber joint because there is insufficient clearance within the swinging arm, particularly for the securing clip.
So I have trimmed it down to clamp it just beyond where the proper boot beds into a groove. I don't know if this will stay in place when clamped but will obviously report back as things progress.