Vera R.I.P

M · Post by M » Tue Oct 11, 2005 11:47 am

Mr.B - recycler of BX's wrote:

Bloody hell, we have a baby bath just like that one - lord knows what you do with that.

Mr B · Post by **Mr B** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 6:39 am

jonkw wrote:Nice to see the cranes in action over the UK this weekend!

Yep, cracking piece of kit it is too

, well worth the money.

Marty. Babies bath is for coolent draining, I have another for oils, very handy as I can drain engine, gearbox and oil filter at the same time

RichardW · Post by **RichardW** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 10:18 am

Dave,

Before you go spending all day ripping the box out - worth noting that some of the 16Vers have just changed the 5th gear in their boxes to the TD one to lower the revs in top. You can do this with the box in situ, as 5th is just bolted on the end under the end cover - if you've got a brown Haynes, it even tells you how to do it (first 5 items or so of stripping the box - even tells you the size of the primary shaft nut!)

. Unfortunately, whilst giving all the gear and final drive ratios for the early boxes, Haynes just says BE3 for later cars, and doesn't give a break down

. It's got to be worth whipping the end cover off and counting the teeth on the 5th gear to see if you will get any difference from just fitting the 5th gear unit though.

Of course, if the teeth are the same, then it's the final drive that needs changing, and then you will be pressing that crane into service again

Mr B · Post by **Mr B** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 12:20 pm

Thanks Richard! I thought the box is different as mine is an N/A with that silly push/pull clutch set up and the TD box has the direct pull cable, can I still swap over the gears?

RichardW · Post by **RichardW** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 12:50 pm

"I thought the box is different as mine is an N/A with that silly push/pull clutch set up and the TD box has the direct pull cable, can I still swap over the gears?"

Ah, now that I don't know I'm afraid

I'd have thought the box and interals were the same, just the clutch operation that was different (don't know why it's different though). There's only one sure way to find out - which clearly you should do in the interest of expanding the BX knowledge!

DLM · Post by **DLM** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 1:35 pm

I've just noticed your new signature, Richard. Good luck - there are still some good ones around if you look hard and long enough.

Stewart (oily!) · Post by **Stewart (oily!)** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 2:47 pm

The actual box is the same, you just swap over the clutch operating arm, pop some new plastic bearings in while you are at it

Stewart

Mr B · Post by **Mr B** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 6:17 pm

I want to be without the crappy N/A clutch arm, replace the octopus and the bulkhead insulation for the turbo version with the heat shielding, so I think I will remove the power unit and change the gearbox.

Jaba · Post by **Jaba** » Mon Oct 17, 2005 10:48 pm

Looking at the gearbox ratios the turbo box has higher 3rd 4th and 5th gears. There is therefore a performance /acceleration penalty if you swap boxes.
The best option as Richard has suggested is to just swap the 5th gearset. It takes less than an hour to do. It will give you lower revs - the gearing gives 3.4 mph per 1000 revs more than the standard box.

I have done this on two 8v GTis and the difference is startling. Much less engine noise and better economy and without sacrificing any performance in the lower gears.