Technical Gearbox Radbourne Abarth.

[ciccio]

Good afternoon and happy new year!
For many years under my bench I have had a 500 gearbox gathering dust.This was given to me by a fellow enthusiast in the early 90’s, however hopefully this is where it gets interesting (well I hope so!)
Fellow enthusiast bought a 1968 car that was a Radbourne supplied/ converted Abarth out of a hedge.Car was really very rough but complete but had provenance and paperwork to substantiate.
Engine and gearbox were removed to evaluate and subsequently a specialist bought the remains of the shell.Engine eventually ended up back with the car but I have the gearbox!
What I’d like to know is if the gearboxes were standard 500 from factory or were they enhanced along with the engines etc.
Looks standard to me from outside.
It’s very dirty and is being steam cleaned ready for disassembly soon.
Any pointers where to look to compare to a standard gearbox if any differences?
Thanks in advance.

 

[the hobbler]

Good afternoon and happy new year!
For many years under my bench I have had a 500 gearbox gathering dust.This was given to me by a fellow enthusiast in the early 90’s, however hopefully this is where it gets interesting (well I hope so!)
Fellow enthusiast bought a 1968 car that was a Radbourne supplied/ converted Abarth out of a hedge.Car was really very rough but complete but had provenance and paperwork to substantiate.
Engine and gearbox were removed to evaluate and subsequently a specialist bought the remains of the shell.Engine eventually ended up back with the car but I have the gearbox!
What I’d like to know is if the gearboxes were standard 500 from factory or were they enhanced along with the engines etc.
Looks standard to me from outside.
It’s very dirty and is being steam cleaned ready for disassembly soon.
Any pointers where to look to compare to a standard gearbox if any differences?
Thanks in advance.

To the best of my memory, when I worked at Radbourne Racing, the gearboxes were left "standard". In all the time that I was with them, I cannot remember a gearbox being taken apart and the internals altered (different ratios etc.) From looking at your picture, it is still a "4-speed" box, probably from an "F" as it has the "3-bolt" starter mounting