If you look in the Official Triumph Dolomite Range 1976 0nwards Part Catalogue on page 1F 04L Titled Gearbox – Countershaft and Reverse Idler Details -1300cc, 1500cc, 1500HL &1850HL it shows a part number 137532 alongside the lay shaft or to be correct it indicates three should be fitted, and if you look up the part number it is described as a tension spring.
The front of the gearbox casting has three holes surrounding the lay shaft hole and for some time I have wondered, if these tension springs should be fitted in these holes which surround the lay shaft. There is no reference to fitting them in any of the workshop manuals which I have read or any of the magazine articles that cover gearbox rebuilds.
I have never come across these springs being fitted when I have removed a clutch bell housing from a gearbox and they are not shown in the earlier Official Triumph 1500 RWD parts catalogue.
My questions are that what are they for if they are not for what I have described and if fitted would they just increase the wear on the lay shaft thrust washers.