General Franko the 1971 500L

[Franko500]

You can never have enough! The annoying thing is I only actually needed a gearbox for my 500 but because mine was shot I thought I would upgrade to a 126 box. But every time I find a gearbox I keep ending up with an engine.

 

[stevehg]

At that price with the seats, the engine is a bonus whether you need it or not. You'll have plenty of spares now.

 

[Franko500]

Gearbox no2 is now apart. Casing is in process of a deep clean (not again) must be the worst job so far on this car. Well on first impressions the gearbox didn't look to bad. The clutch shaft seal has been leaking as it was a little oily in the flywheel housing. Everything else is in tact.
Only problem is the centre sprocket on the Primary shaft is rather worn as is the first gear teeth. So I guess I will have to bite the bullet and order a new kit for about £100. I cant go buying anymore gearboxes on the odd chance I will find a mint 30 year old gearbox. At least with a new one you know it will start off okay. Then I will just need the usual gaskets, seals & drive shaft gaiters etc.

 

[Bigvtwin996]

is that bloke Peter from Birmingham, the miserble Burger you have mentioned previously????

 

[fiat500]

is that bloke Peter from Birmingham, the miserble Burger you have mentioned previously????

I suspect he can be as miserable as he wants with leads like that

 

[Franko500]

is that bloke Peter from Birmingham, the miserble Burger you have mentioned previously????

The very same.
Cheers oh mighty web browser, finder of great bargains

 

[timgarman]

Hi Sean
What did you use to clean your loom?
That's a job that's coming up for me soon.
Tim

 

[Franko500]

Hi Tim,
I used petrol on a rag. Removed the tape a section at a time, cleaned the cables and then reapplied the tape to keep it all in shape. Obviously need to do this in a ventilated area & make sure all petrol evaporated before connecting to power. Only problem is that the petrol can remove the coloured line on some of the cables. You could also try white spirit, this might be less harmfull. The front section of my loom on the left was covered in under seal & also the cables to the brake switch so I needed something strong.
Came up quite good though, just need to do a trial refit before doing a final taping & replace a few joints. Also as I'm changing from dynamo to alternator I will need to do a few alterations.

 

[Vitesse]

The tin work looks good Sean, saved a lot of rubbing down and time getting it done for that sort of money.

I don't think that primary shaft is really that bad, you are never going to find a secondhand gearbox that doesn't show some wear on that gear as you said.

The one in my synchro gearbox has a little less wear but it's only on a couple of teeth but all the rest have some wear on the edge.

Tony

 

[Vitesse]

I used panel wipe on my wiring loom, but I did go slightly over the top in lacing and looming it together afterwards and then covering it all in loom tape.

My defence is I had nothing better to do at the time and it was a nice sunny day or maybe I am just a bit mad when it comes to detail.:nutter:

 

[Franko500]

Hi Tony, I have a bit of work to do on them before painting but they sure do remove the rust. The thermostat housing looked really bad before.
I don't know how you done all that to your loom, I spent most of the day cleaning mine and it was a tedious boring job, but nice to be in the sun though & glad when it was finished.

 

[fiat500]

maybe I am just a bit mad when it comes to detail.:nutter:

Hmmmmm!!!! Maybe!?

 

[AndrewHarvey]

Sean
when I dismantled my 126 box the main shaft was horrid.....this means that 1st is certainly worn (its straight cut not syncro) and also reverse will be tired.
Breaking the box down to change the main shaft means bearings out.....are you going to leave them or is it a full re-build?
When i inspected the axel drive it was worn in bearing positions, so new ordered...it comes with diff bevel gear.
Then fifth gear.........

 

[Franko500]

I will probably reuse the main bearings in the box & diff. They appear to be okay, no signs of damage to the ball bearings or seatings, they run smooth & I cant feel any play in them.
Due to the low bhp I cant see too much damage being done to the bearings.
I think I will buy the primary shaft, 1st gear & reverse as a kit.
As you said Andrew the 1st gear doesn't have synchro and therefore gets a hammering.
To be honest it doesn't take 5-10 minutes to remove the whole lot. If you are having some machining done you may as well pull the lot out. the only difficult part is removing the 2 cross head screws holding the main shaft bearing in place.

 

[AndrewHarvey]

Have you checked the main axel shaft?
When i stripped it down it was well worn in places.......not sure if it was a problem - but i'd kick myself if it gave trouble later.

 

[Franko500]

What do you mean by the main axel shaft? Are you referring to the layshaft that holds all the main gears & synchro hubs?

 

[Franko500]

Just worked out by the bevel gear that you do mean the layshaft. Mine was ok. The bearings were quite tight on the shaft. They shouldn't really wear there as the inner race should be a fairly snug fit to the shaft, it could be your box had been run without much oil and the main bearings have got worn causing the shaft to move around. If you are changing that shaft you would probably be best to renew bearings.
You will also need to make sure that the diff is set correctly by adjusting shims found on the lay shaft otherwise you could get serious diff wear issues.

 

[AndrewHarvey]

Yes - sorry for the confusing terminology - european suppliers call it an axel shaft - that exits the box into the diff housing.
When I stripped it down wobbly as anyones business - new one sitting ready for re-build along with up-rated drive shafts

 

[Franko500]

Hoorah!
My parts turned up today. So good to see new parts awaiting fitting.
Sadly it was short of the main bearings, Timing gear, Alternator brushes & the wrong gasket kit was supplied. So no engine building for me for a while.
Oh well, back to the parts I can do!
This order was listed at 1255 euros - 10% discount + postage.
I actually got charged 1084 euros in total. Which will be between £750 -£830 time I get the bill from Barclaycard. I done a comparison with a certain company in the UK - wait for it.....


£1529


Who wants to go over to the Euro when we have such a strong £.

 

[Vitesse]

Bargain. That's one of the best bits when all the parts arrive Sean but not as good as when you finally get to bolt them all on.

Did Fred just forget those bits but still charge you for them? Really unusual for him to screw up and order if he did?

Oh and the bumpers if they are the same ones I got from Axel Gerstl are really good quality.

Tony