mannykay
New Member
- Posts
- 3
- Location
- Johannesburg South Africa
Hi everyone
Overhauling the R360 gearbox found on many Land Rovers has a few obstacles which, at first, seem to be insurmountable for the home mechanic, but, in my experience, can be overcome with alternative methods. My hope is to detail the difficulties I've encountered doing this job and share how I managed to get around finding the expensive special tools detailed in the works manual.
I've built gearboxes before and don't remember ever having had too much difficulty. Admittedly, I haven't done one for at least 20 years, but did find the Rover R380 quite tough in parts to tackle - especially without the specialist tooling. That said though, it is beautifully designed and built and looks really solid.
Usual disclaimers apply, and you will need to exercise caution to avoid possible damage if choosing to use any of these methods.
Essential tools you'll probably need or need to have access to:
Manual - download any of the free PDF LR factory manuals found on the net.
A shop press
Bearing separator
A 1" drive, 32mm socket to release & tighten the layshaft nut (1/2 drive probably not be strong enough)
Large vice
Piece 16mm round bar
Dial gauge & magnetic base for setting fine end-floats
0 25mm micrometer if grinding shims
Oil Seal collar removal: The first obstacle you'll encounter is this collar at the rear of the box which, by all accounts, is extremely tight. I tried using a hydraulic puller attached to a bearing separator which did nothing but flex the separator to the degree that I thought it might break! The solution offered to my by the local Landy mech is to drill a hole as near parallel to the output shaft as possible - short of drilling into the shaft. Support the underside of the collar on a steel block etc. and break the collar along its length using a hammer and chisel positioned over the drilled hole. This was fairly easy and a hairline crack makes it slide off with your fingers.
Please don't be tempted to try using heat here as you will certainly damage the plastic collar feeding oil to the main shaft.
Oil pump removal: The pump has 3 x 2,5 torx screws holding it in the rear case which break the bit they're so tight. I even tried using an impact driver and only managed to get one screw free before breaking the second bit. I used a Dremel with a friction cutter to make a slot in the screw heads for a flat bit. Used the the impact driver. Works beautifully.
Layshaft nut: This nut is also seriously tight and I clamped the gear between two blocks of softwood in the vice (after removing the front case) and using a 32mm socket on a 1" drive wrench, cracked it fairly easily.
Selector shaft & selector spools: You don't need to remove the detent balls and springs, so slide in a + 2" long piece of 16mm round bar behind the shaft to keep the balls in place. Mark the front face of the 1/2, 3/4 selector spool, as it can go in either way (not detailed in manual), but as it's not perfectly symmetrical, will only work one way round!
Shimming the tapered rollers: New bearings will need shimming to tolerance, and as Land Rover South Africa love to frustrate their customers, they didn't have any of the shims I needed. Fortunately, my existing shims were all too thick, so I had to grind them down +.2mm to size. To do this, I cut a piece of MDF about 3 square and placed the shim about in the centre of the square and drove in 6 panel pins around the inner circumference of the shim to hold it securely. Clip the proud pieces of pin as close to the shim face as possible. Using a 12 disk sander, grind the shim down, holding it flat against the disk, rotating it whilst sanding ( grind one side only, keeping the other as your reference face). Regular cooling in water keeps it happy, and regular checking of thickness with a micrometer around its whole perimeter lets you know if you're keeping front and back parallel. Marking high areas with a pen, grinding and checking with the micrometer will get you a close-as damnit 'true' shim. Grind to within a thou or so and lap on 400 grit water paper on a flat surface, using the square block as your lapping holder. Take your time in this whole process - this won't be quick without possibly ruining the shim!
Incidentally, to determine by how much you need to reduce the shim, you can add shim stock pieces between the front bearing housing and the case until the shaft end-float is to spec, then subtract the thickness of the shim stock from the thickness of your existing shim.
Assembly: Assemble the box as laid out in the manual, but don't press in the rear oil seal leave this for last. You can also leave the oil pump for last too, if you wish to do quick trial fitments before final assembly.
Layshaft nut: Hold gear in the in the vice between soft wooden blocks. Tighten and stake nut.
Rear roller bearings: Gearbox supported in vertical position, rear shafts facing up. On the layshaft and main shaft, using a butane torch, and holding the races on a steel rod, warm up (not too hot!) the inner races and drop them down their respective shafts, and let them cool.
Oil seal collar: In the absence of a LR screw press you can use the torch & heat the collar until it changes colour to a light golden brown. It also drops into place, without any extra force.
Rear oil seal: Once collar has cooled, slip a fat 'O' ring into the radial groove on collar and grease well. This is to prevent the sealing lip fouling the hard-edged groove when setting the seal. Ease seal over collar and 'O' ring and set as per normal using suitable round tube etc.
Oil pump: I left this till last as it was one less item to align with the layshaft upon assembly. Use longer bolts with washers and nuts to press it into its housing and replace these with the correct screws when set.
I hope this helps if you decide to tackle this gearbox yourself.:screaming_bug_eye_f
Manny
Overhauling the R360 gearbox found on many Land Rovers has a few obstacles which, at first, seem to be insurmountable for the home mechanic, but, in my experience, can be overcome with alternative methods. My hope is to detail the difficulties I've encountered doing this job and share how I managed to get around finding the expensive special tools detailed in the works manual.
I've built gearboxes before and don't remember ever having had too much difficulty. Admittedly, I haven't done one for at least 20 years, but did find the Rover R380 quite tough in parts to tackle - especially without the specialist tooling. That said though, it is beautifully designed and built and looks really solid.
Usual disclaimers apply, and you will need to exercise caution to avoid possible damage if choosing to use any of these methods.
Essential tools you'll probably need or need to have access to:
Manual - download any of the free PDF LR factory manuals found on the net.
A shop press
Bearing separator
A 1" drive, 32mm socket to release & tighten the layshaft nut (1/2 drive probably not be strong enough)
Large vice
Piece 16mm round bar
Dial gauge & magnetic base for setting fine end-floats
0 25mm micrometer if grinding shims
Oil Seal collar removal: The first obstacle you'll encounter is this collar at the rear of the box which, by all accounts, is extremely tight. I tried using a hydraulic puller attached to a bearing separator which did nothing but flex the separator to the degree that I thought it might break! The solution offered to my by the local Landy mech is to drill a hole as near parallel to the output shaft as possible - short of drilling into the shaft. Support the underside of the collar on a steel block etc. and break the collar along its length using a hammer and chisel positioned over the drilled hole. This was fairly easy and a hairline crack makes it slide off with your fingers.
Please don't be tempted to try using heat here as you will certainly damage the plastic collar feeding oil to the main shaft.
Oil pump removal: The pump has 3 x 2,5 torx screws holding it in the rear case which break the bit they're so tight. I even tried using an impact driver and only managed to get one screw free before breaking the second bit. I used a Dremel with a friction cutter to make a slot in the screw heads for a flat bit. Used the the impact driver. Works beautifully.
Layshaft nut: This nut is also seriously tight and I clamped the gear between two blocks of softwood in the vice (after removing the front case) and using a 32mm socket on a 1" drive wrench, cracked it fairly easily.
Selector shaft & selector spools: You don't need to remove the detent balls and springs, so slide in a + 2" long piece of 16mm round bar behind the shaft to keep the balls in place. Mark the front face of the 1/2, 3/4 selector spool, as it can go in either way (not detailed in manual), but as it's not perfectly symmetrical, will only work one way round!
Shimming the tapered rollers: New bearings will need shimming to tolerance, and as Land Rover South Africa love to frustrate their customers, they didn't have any of the shims I needed. Fortunately, my existing shims were all too thick, so I had to grind them down +.2mm to size. To do this, I cut a piece of MDF about 3 square and placed the shim about in the centre of the square and drove in 6 panel pins around the inner circumference of the shim to hold it securely. Clip the proud pieces of pin as close to the shim face as possible. Using a 12 disk sander, grind the shim down, holding it flat against the disk, rotating it whilst sanding ( grind one side only, keeping the other as your reference face). Regular cooling in water keeps it happy, and regular checking of thickness with a micrometer around its whole perimeter lets you know if you're keeping front and back parallel. Marking high areas with a pen, grinding and checking with the micrometer will get you a close-as damnit 'true' shim. Grind to within a thou or so and lap on 400 grit water paper on a flat surface, using the square block as your lapping holder. Take your time in this whole process - this won't be quick without possibly ruining the shim!
Incidentally, to determine by how much you need to reduce the shim, you can add shim stock pieces between the front bearing housing and the case until the shaft end-float is to spec, then subtract the thickness of the shim stock from the thickness of your existing shim.
Assembly: Assemble the box as laid out in the manual, but don't press in the rear oil seal leave this for last. You can also leave the oil pump for last too, if you wish to do quick trial fitments before final assembly.
Layshaft nut: Hold gear in the in the vice between soft wooden blocks. Tighten and stake nut.
Rear roller bearings: Gearbox supported in vertical position, rear shafts facing up. On the layshaft and main shaft, using a butane torch, and holding the races on a steel rod, warm up (not too hot!) the inner races and drop them down their respective shafts, and let them cool.
Oil seal collar: In the absence of a LR screw press you can use the torch & heat the collar until it changes colour to a light golden brown. It also drops into place, without any extra force.
Rear oil seal: Once collar has cooled, slip a fat 'O' ring into the radial groove on collar and grease well. This is to prevent the sealing lip fouling the hard-edged groove when setting the seal. Ease seal over collar and 'O' ring and set as per normal using suitable round tube etc.
Oil pump: I left this till last as it was one less item to align with the layshaft upon assembly. Use longer bolts with washers and nuts to press it into its housing and replace these with the correct screws when set.
I hope this helps if you decide to tackle this gearbox yourself.:screaming_bug_eye_f
Manny
