Rebuilding Duffy

[StuartC]

Anyone know the significance of these numbers on the transmission of a 1959 series 2 stn wagon....?

[oldgravy]

Yours looks like it might be in decent shape? The special nut on my mainshaft (heh) is mangled.

I am building a parts list...

[StuartC]

Yes, I believe it is in decent shape (has not been driven since 1985)......although there is no reverse.
It is out of the vehicle, on the bench, so I will dismantle it and investigate.....
Will be interested in your progress and what you find.

[oldgravy]

I think I have concluded that, due to the general age and heavy wear on the running components in the vehicle, (no surprise) the gearbox is beyond saving. Possibly the transfer box also.

1st gear is worn and chipped; 2nd and 3rd are worn. Almost every sliding surface is well worn.

The mainshaft looks okay; and the layshaft looks okay. But the selector shafts have rust on them, the synchro looks like it has some rust spots on it as well, and with the price of replacement parts it could be too expensive to replace everything.

Pretty sure the mainshaft distance piece isn't supposed to be, you know, broken. Heh!

I wasn't going to pull all this stuff apart, figuring it would be fine if I just left it. In retrospect, I'm glad I took the time to strip it and do more than a cursory inspection of the parts.

[oldgravy]

Here's the 'mud' I mentioned:

[StuartC]

ouch....looks like someone was trying to learn how to shift without a clutch.

[oldgravy]

It's a mess. I will have to post more on what I have discovered soon.

[oldgravy]

Here's the damage. A list of parts that *for sure* need replacing.

I am hoping I can save the shifter linkages, maybe the synchro? and the output shaft on the transfer box.

PXL_20230203_224252227.jpg

In addition I need all the parts that were missing (the entire yellow lever), the whole clutch pivot assembly (shot), and every bearing, seal, and gasket.

[oldgravy]

New blog post: I have begun taking the gearbox / transfer unit apart and separating into its major components.

[oldgravy]

And because I do these things in bunches, it would seem, I just added another post on disassembling the main gearbox.

[ANDYD]

Thanks for the update, I see your going in deeper
If your like me you will feel like a dentist doing Heart surgery !!

Like you mention in your blog, taking it apart and putting back is cheap if you don't need to replace parts, Good luck!

Think how much lighter Duffy will be without all that muck and grime
Looking forward to the next update.

[oldgravy]

Heh, I feel like a clown attempting to construct a skyscraper. Or as my old man is fond of saying, like 'a one-armed poster hanger in a stiff breeze.'

I am afraid all that labour is for naught. I don't think I can afford the replacement parts. A second gearbox, at least, will have to be sourced... and probably a t-case.

Ah well. It definitely helps knowing others have gone before me! Having a community of knowledge is most welcome.

[TimberPig]

Heh, I feel like a clown attempting to construct a skyscraper. Or as my old man is fond of saying, like 'a one-armed poster hanger in a stiff breeze.'

I am afraid all that labour is for naught. I don't think I can afford the replacement parts. A second gearbox, at least, will have to be sourced... and probably a t-case.

Ah well. It definitely helps knowing others have gone before me! Having a community of knowledge is most welcome.

The biggest challenge with Series gearbox rebuilds is no matter where you start, the newest Series 3 boxes are 40 years old, with 2a,2 and 1 being 51 to 75 years old, and many have had rough lives. Most haven’t been as abused as yours, but most parts trucks are likely to be rougher and their gearboxes are probably going to have many parts needing replacement just like yours.

Add to this that getting quality gearbox parts can be a challenge as the quality of many current parts for these gearboxes is less than the original parts, and NOS parts are getting harder to find and pricey.

Buying another gearbox could be a crapshoot, as you may get one better to start from but it may be as bad or worse. Without cracking them open, it’s hard to say. Best bet is if you can find one someone has already checked out to confirm condition.

The one advantage to fixing what you have is you know where you are at, and once it’s rebuilt you’ll know what you have. Either way, you’re going to end up going through the whole thing. Just the amount of parts replaced that might vary, depending on how good a used gear/transfer box set you can pick up.

[oldgravy]

Current parts total: £1,451.84.

Before shipping, taxes, and duty.

It's a mix of genuine parts, where available, and whatever is available if genuine isn't. That's the total from my cart at Craddocks. I've put everything into a spreadsheet and I'll be working through lrworkshop to see if it's worth splitting an order into two but... I rather suspect this is what it's gonna be.

At current exchange rates it's $2374.

[oldgravy]

New post on taking a look at what's inside the main gearbox here.

Also catching up with some stuff I've already posted in the thread here as I take apart the bellhousing and input shaft assembly.

[oldgravy]

Stymied by the gearbox I decided to clutter up to workbench even more by taking a look at the defender 200tdi I have as a donor motor for the project. If it's a good one, I will pick up a disco timing chest and front cover / water pump so it hopefully drops right in.

This motor was bought by the previous owner off eBay. Serial number is ground off so it's likely a stolen motor.

Don't care all *that* much as long as the head is good.

[oldgravy]

Looks like someone's been in here.

[oldgravy]

Catching up on blog posts. Numbers 24, 25, and 26 all posted.

[oldgravy]

I see I have written up a few new blog posts but none have been posted here. Whoops.

In my last entry, in a bid to keep moving forward I decided to pick up a series 1 gearbox from a collector here in South Surrey, hoping that I could salvage some of the internal components and reduce the cost of my transmission rebuild... only to find out that sadly it, too, was quite worn and I was able to salvage almost nothing from the 'box.

Finally, frustrated with gearbox problems (and no money to solve them) I turned my attention to another thing I could work on, starting to strip down my 200TDi.

Keen-eyed observers will note that I have changed some of the naming conventions in my blog, so previous links are probably broken.

[oldgravy]

I painted a thing!

Hope it lasts.

[TimberPig]

I painted a thing!

Hope it lasts.

Looks good, but as I understand it you’re leaving the POR 15 as the top coat? It isn’t UV tolerant and degrades if not top coated, so it would be better to top coat it now rather than needing to tear the truck down again later when the POR 15 starts to show the degradation.

[red90]

I painted a thing!

Hope it lasts.

Looks good, but as I understand it you’re leaving the POR 15 as the top coat? It isn’t UV tolerant and degrades if not top coated, so it would be better to top coat it now rather than needing to tear the truck down again later when the POR 15 starts to show the degradation.

He used POR15 top coat which is UV stable.

[TimberPig]

Looks good, but as I understand it you’re leaving the POR 15 as the top coat? It isn’t UV tolerant and degrades if not top coated, so it would be better to top coat it now rather than needing to tear the truck down again later when the POR 15 starts to show the degradation.

He used POR15 top coat which is UV stable.

I missed that part when I read it. Oversight on my part.

[oldgravy]

Yep, the exact paint I used is on one of the photos. I was aware of the UV issues with (standard, not top coat) POR plus, I figured it wouldn't be better than any other coating on top of new galv.

I don't know much about coatings, so I went with one that I had used previously on my axles. I had some ideas how it might work.

It seems okay, but as with most things time will tell. I've also heard that Eastwood chassis black is pretty good?

[oldgravy]

Wow, look how long it's been since my last update. A lifetime!

New posts, starting with #30, and ending up near to the present time with #35, a look inside my 200tdi.

Thanks again to the board members here and good luck to everyone with their ongoing projects.

[oldgravy]

And for a small teaser at what I've been up to since then:

PXL_20250330_223907007.jpg

[ANDYD]

Battery Connection ..... Start up?

[cbalme]

Pinch clamp for a steering bar?

[oldgravy]

*electroplating*.

And yes, it is a pinch clamp for the steering connections.