The Triumph Dolomite Club - Discussion Forum

... is it 88312190 V3263 as cast behind the starter motor aperture on the rear face.
I'm hoping this is an 1850 single rail overdrive unit.
I can't see it on mine.
Thanks ,
Tony.

Sorry, perhaps I should have said. I have been given a " Triumph Dolomite 1800 Sprint gearbox" (!) which has been sitting in a leaky garage for some years.
Well ... its not a Sprint unit. I've deduced that.
So I think its either an 1850 O/D unit or a 1500 O/D unit.
I don't think the 1300 O/D ever existed did it ?
If its an 1850 box I will overhaul it and I can use it.
If its a 1500 / 1300 unit I will probably pass it on.
Its going to need a lot of work whichever one it is. The external casting has a lot of surface rust.
The main casing casting number is 22G 1553 on the side .
Where I expect to find the gearbox number is a W? 0950?3? number.
The input shaft has the fine splines.
No gear lever.
I can count the number of teeth on the cogs if that helps.
The bell housing has an 1850 style casting for slave cylinder ( one broken stud / bolt ) but the main casing has the side fixings for what I think are the 1500 slave cylinder.
Thanks ,
Tony.

Ah now I can help.....
That looks to be a single rail box from the side pics and the spline count and the bell housing will be alloy if its for an 1850 with the clutch slave
mounting top and drivers side with box in the car. OHV cars have a cast iron bell housing and the slave sits low down on the passenger side.

In both cases the slave mounts on the bell housing and the case is clutch agnostic.

Can we have a pic of the top to be sure...

Jonners

_________________
Note from Admin: sadly Jon passed away in February 2018 but his humour and wealth of knowledge will be fondly remembered by all. RIP Jonners.

Hi Jon, Thanks for that. I made progress today. I had a 2nd pair of eyes on the gearbox number and the 2nd character is an " M" with 2 vertical sides rather than 4 sides at 45 degrees. So that is probably a " WM" serial number. Yes the bell housing is alloy and looks very similar to what I already have on my 1850.
Here is a piccy of the top of the bell-housing.

So its good news and I've started on dismantling and cleaning.
I've extracted the broken clutch cylinder bolt and retapped it.
I think the rear of the main casing will need a skim as there is rust pitting on it. I'll take it down the the machine shop tomorrow and see what they say. It'll probably need a sand blast and then a chemical clean as I remember the process to clean it all out.
Now I've never done a gear box before so I may call on your experience please Jon.
Looking at the parts book there are supposed to be 3 springs on the layshaft end which were missing and I couldn't find a pair of split collets on the end gear assembly.
I'm starting a list of bits I'll need.
Thanks Jon,
Cheers for now,
Tony.

The 3 springs are in holes at the bell hosing end of the layshaft and bear on the thrust washer. When the bell housing is removed depending on
how the gasket sticks, and yours looks like its stuck on the bell housing, the springs will fall out.

The split collets on the mainshaft have probably fallen in to the gearbox if you managed to get the end circlcip off behind the input shaft.

If you have trouble with these bits I'm sure I can find you some spares from some scrapped boxes up here.

Jonners

_________________
Note from Admin: sadly Jon passed away in February 2018 but his humour and wealth of knowledge will be fondly remembered by all. RIP Jonners.

O.K. Thanks Jon; I will come back to you on that if I may please. I made progress today with the dismantling and keeping all the cogs and bits together and got the main casing into Classic & Modern for cleaning the front and rear faces and a chemical clean.
I have the early and late 1850 parts books and have found 3 anomalies on the main shaft. Now bearing in mind this is an overdrive box I have some questions.
1. At the front end of the mainshaft is a ball bearing which seems to be press fitted into the mainshaft. It is not sprung. Does it need renewing ? What does it do ? It seems to be under the front cog;
2. About 2/3 the way along the shaft is a keyway cut in the shaft. There was no key in it and there isn't one listed in either parts book. Do I need something here ?
3. There is an oil hole here which seems to connect with an oil gallery running to the back end of the shaft. How does oil get in here please ?
4. At the end of the shaft just in front of the rear splines is a snap-ring. Not listed in the parts book. I've left it for now as if it breaks I wouldn't know where to get a new one. What does this do as well please ?
Photos herewith.
Thanks very much,
Tony.

I have never changed or worried about the ball bearing. I think it helps locate a ring of some sort?

The keyway is essential as this is the thing that hold the overdrive oil pump cam to the shaft. You can get the keys from Moss. Do you not have the pump cam?

That funny spring clip in the end photo doesnt seem to do very much except help get the snap ring on that holds the oil pump cam in place. These are not a lot of fun to fit... I always leave these on but I think Moss also sell them.

I hadnt noticed the oil hole...probably worth a poke with some wire to make sure its clear,

Jonners

_________________
Note from Admin: sadly Jon passed away in February 2018 but his humour and wealth of knowledge will be fondly remembered by all. RIP Jonners.

Hi Jon, Thanks for that. Yes, you are quite right. That keyway is for the overdrive pump cam. Yes, I have the cam but not the keyway. The more I get into this gearbox the more I think someone has been here before. So the overdrive could never have worked. The good news is that the mainshaft is in lovely condition as is the O/D solenoid. So I'm still winning !
I can get new circlips / bearings etc;
I've got the casing in for cleaning up and I'll see what bits are going to be in short supply from the usual suppliers -or otherwise ?
I'll have a look at the overdrive unit later and see what needs doing in that.
I'm wondering if the unit was ditched because the O/D cam was not connected and there was no O/D. Have I got a brand new O/D unit on the back end ?
Thanks,
Tony.

Without the woodruff key I suspect strongly the pump cam would have just spun on the shaft. Does it look "polished"?

Anyway good news. I would try the o-d with just a clean of filters myself. If it doesnt work you can always detach it from the box in situ
on an 1850...bit of a faff but it can be done.

Jonners

_________________
Note from Admin: sadly Jon passed away in February 2018 but his humour and wealth of knowledge will be fondly remembered by all. RIP Jonners.

Thanks for that Jon; No, there is no polishing of the shaft where the O/D cam was.
However I'm now back on this mini-project having got the casing machined nicely.
So first thing to go in is the reverse gear idler and spindle.
The old one looked a bit worn so I've got a brand new one. This is coated in a black compound that doesn't wash off with brake cleaner solvent. Is it meant to be run like that or what do I need to clean it please ?
Thanks ,
Tony.

The numbers after the 25/ on the overdrive identity plate will tell you what it was originally fitted to...

Thanks for that Alun,
The full number is 25/115847 -00239 on a green label
Is this 1850 please ?

Another question if anyone can help please.
A 2nd gearbox that I also got looks like a 1500 Dolomite one with the slave cylinder underneath on an adjustable bracket,
( so not 1850 with the clutch slave on top and the Vitesse style clutch fork ).
But underneath the dirt and dust is the number WH 8278 ... which is an 1850 series gearbox number.(??)

Is it possible to fit a 1500 bell housing to an 1850 single rail non O/D gearbox . Certainly the ratios would be wrong.
I'm boggled on this one as well.
I think the previous owner of these has been mixing and matching.
Thanks all,
Tony.

Overdrive 25/115847 is early 1850.

_________________
Current fleet: '75 Sprint, '73 1850, Daihatsu Fourtrak, Honda CG125, Yamaha Fazer 600, Shetland 570 (yes it's a boat!)

Past fleet: Triumph 2000, Lancia Beta Coupe, BL Mini Clubman, Austin Metro, Vauxhall Cavalier MK1 & MK2, Renault 18 D, Rover 216 GSI, Honda Accord (most expensive car purchase, hated, made out of magnetic metal as only car I've ever been crashed into...4 times), BMW 318, Golf GTi MK3 16v x 3

It is a long time ago that I worked on some 1500 gearboxes but I believe the part number for the woodruff key is KW316 and if you do not have it already you will need a spring ring clip part 22H228 to keep the oil pump operating cam in place.

The Rimmer Bros paper edition of the Dolomite & Sprint parts and accessories catalogue has a good table showing most of the various manual gearbox components for the various models. A lot of the components are the same for the 1500 and the 1850 gearboxes.

I suggest you check the layshaft and the bearing surfaces in the laygear cluster carefully as these are often damaged when the needle rollers give up.

I noticed that Rimmers were selling what look liked the gear selector shaft very cheaply in their spares sale recently. I have replaced a couple of these over the years.

That confuses matters then, as the early 1850 gearbox had fat splines on the input shaft...!