The Sprite Forum

Finished the carb work, made some other small repairs and test drove my Sprite for the first time, lots of noise from the trans.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2018-05-19 09:31 AM by Hemidavey.

And how was it? ☺

Wow, I sure fouled that up, lol. Few sentences missing...
The car is a blast to drive, could use a few more "adjustments" . The big issue is the noise from the gearbox, first, second and third gears, fourth is quiet. I'm concerned the cluster gear or shaft has failed and finding parts or a whole gearbox. Previous owner said the trans came off a 1275 he had sitting in the garage.

LOL. No worries. How's the fluid level? It could be as simple as low or no fluid in it. I had a beetle that was the same. Turned out the transaxle was almost dry...

Oil level is ok. My friend Jerry drove it and thinks bearings in cluster gear could be worn out and cluster has dropped down a bit. We couldn't find any gears in the Moss book. Jerry had a British car repair shop in the 60's, super kind fellow and very knowledgeable.
So a few questions
Has anyone had this problem?
If bearings go, does it usually ruin the gears too?
Will trans from any other cars fit?
Anyone local have good parts or a trans available?

Dave,
Rib case transmissions are generally cheap and plentiful. It’s been a couple of years, but I’ve bought several good ones on eBay, Craigslist, etc. for under $100, but it looks like they’ve gone up a bit. Shipping is about $75 cross country. I would happily send you one, but I lost all of mine in a shop fire along with the Datsun 5 speeds. Put a wanted post in the BST forum and check the above inter web sites...looks like a good one in Kingman, AZ on eBay, search mg Midget transmission.
Good luck, Rut

Rut, sorry to hear about the fire, hope no one was hurt. I'll start searching!
Thanks for info

So I went through this exact situation with my BE. I rebuilt the transmission myself (first timer), replaced with a combination of new and used parts, including the countershaft and its bearings. My trans ended up just like yours.....noisy in all the indirect gears, but quiet in 4th. I must have spoken to a half dozen builders and they all said about the same thing: The cut on the gears did not remain the same throughout the time of the rib production and with new parts. They all said they could try to rebuild it, but there would be guarantees. A couple said they could try to use machine blue and maybe find the problem gear (s). All said I should try buying another trans that is complete, and has been run in.

I ended up with a Datsun 5-speed, which transformed the car.

Scott in CA

Scott,

And I have that same picture of 60FROG aka BUGI that I had the privilege of driving 2 years ago and experiencing a memorable drive down Hwy 94 east of San Diego. A great road and Bill let me drive home.

Bugsy has engine and tranny installed. Tight fit and lots of fettling going on. Tranny is bled, solid pedal, short shifter installed and all looks good, new aluminum radiator & electric fan w Revotec in line switch going in. Carbs rebuilt and mounted in place, driveshaft installed, almost done. Unfortunately my buddy is leaving for a three week vacation in a week or two. Hoping to hear vroom, vroom sounds soon. And I now have a freshly power washed garage that will receive a coat of paint and house goes on the market 5/31.

---

Jim Gruber - Apollo Beach, FL
Bugsy IV - '60 Bugeye - 1,275+.040 and a 5-Speed - CA Car - 2nd Owner from new - Driving It Like I Stole It!
A truly rust free, garaged in Los Angeles for 57 years Bugeye
Mr. MAX - '04 Miata MAZDASPEED w Factory Turbo - Zoom Zoom Fun and Fast!

Thank you for the advice guys. We are going to pull it out, disassemble and see what I've got

I have some NOS gears if you tell me which gears you need I may be able to help. I also have some good used gears. The cluster gear will have a part no. stamped on it. Once you have this number it is easy to determine which other numbered gears go with it. I have a parts manual that will give me that info. I have rebuilt a number of these transmissions and have never had noise in the first 3 gears. The places to look for wear are the straight cut gears for first and reverse, and wear on the layshaft that runs through the laygear or sometimes called cluster gear. Also the syncro rings should be checked for wear as they will cause a crunch when shifting into that gear, usually second and third gears. Hope this helps

Chick, great info. I'm going to pull the engine -gearbox after the car show on Father's Day and see what we have inside. Hopefully not too much damage, I'll cantact you then. Thank you, Dave

I would let an expert rebuild it if you can get the necessary NOS parts. Why try to do it yourself and maybe end up back where you started?

PM sent about parts needed, thank you

Well it took a while to get a spot in the shop for the Bugeye, we have been slammed with work (good problem to have) so not complaining, just wish it were earlier in season. After pulling the engine/gearbox and disassembly we found damaged parts as expected. I was planning to replace the Layshaft and bearings, hoping the Laygear would be OK , I'm not that lucky...
Jerry my chief sports car mechanic told me this was a very common problem from the begining. He said there were variation in heat treating the parts and many failed. since the parts wear over a long period, lots of people get accustomed to the noise because it increases slowly over time.
one end of the shaft is worn .004" and the corresponding end of the gear is worn .021" (small end) by first gear
I ordered a full compliment of bearings, seals and needed parts, will try to have her back on the road by next Friday

I looked at 2 used transmissions trying to avoid downtime of a rebuild, both had same problem so I'm recommending that anyone who has their trans out of the car, pull the cover off, reach in and try to move the laygear side to side, if it moves more that a tiny bit, you have the same problem!

Moss does not list the gear in the bog book, however they do have it in stock as well as all of the other parts, so happy they exist!