Under Construction

September 29th, 2008

Please pardon our dust while we improve the website over the next few days.  If you need anything please feel free to call 616-301-2888 or email Mike.  Thank you!

Q & A: Stages of assembling the Transmission in MGB

Monday January 02nd, 2006
Q & A, MGA, MGB, MGC, MG T-Type, Midget
I have a 1968 MGB with synchro transmission. I am in the final
stages of
assembling the transmission, and have some questions:

I am trying to calculate the shim thickness between the front
cover and
input shaft bearing, and the wording and method used in the
factory manual
is confusing me. Maybe because I don't speak the King's English
all that
good. I'm at work now and don't have the exact specs in front of
me, but
In
simple terms, am I trying to create a gap between the bearing and
front
cover, or am I trying to put on a slight preload with the front
cover,
thereby bending the cover inwards with the studs?

If you read it yourself, you can see it's written to indicate
preload.
First you measure front cover cavity depth, then add in for the
compressed
gasket. Then measure bearing height. Then they tell you they want
you to
add
shims until the bearing height is more than the front cover cavity
depth!
Do you agree? Wouldn't that crack the front cover? Shouldn't
there be a
gap
instead?



My second question regards the wear of the synchros. The teeth on
the
brass
rings of my synchros are fine, and so are the teeth on the gears.
It's the
teeth on the sliding hubs that are about half worn off. These are
the
parts
that are listed at $400.00 apiece in Moss! Is there any service
available
that will remachine these as they do for other makes of cars? Or
do you
have any good used hubs available? Maybe I'm jumping the gun here.
Will
half
worn teeth cause grinding? I don't have any driving time on this
tranny so
I
don't know how it shifted. I'm building a Heritage shell from
scratch, and
trying to avoid problems before installation. Thank you.

John!

I usually simply replace the shims I removed - with this extra step.
I use a prick punch and a hammer, and put about 100 little tiny prick punch marks in the front cover on the annulus that meets the bearing.
... read more