Hey everyone, a rather nervous question follows. First time I've restored a gearbox of any sort and as such learning through exploring and making mistakes. I have completed the rebuild of the main gearbox and the transfer case. I'm now working on the front output. I believe I've made a mistake in the sequencing of reassembling, and I want your opinions before I disassemble.

I mated the Bell Housing to the Gearbox, then the Gearbox to the Transfer Case. I realized when I came to complete the front output that life would have been much easier had I mated the Front Output to the Transfer Case... and then mated these to the Gear Box. The front output IS in place, but in retrospect it does not seem like the recommended sequence. Here are some points that might help you help me

- The shifting to low range and the engaging of four-wheel drive prior to disassembly was fine.
- I did not dismantle the Selector Shaft, the Pivot Shaft or the Four-Wheel Drive Selector shafts. so any spacings or configurations should be as they were prior.

Have I screwed myself by assembling in this order?
Is it as simple as dry testing the selection of low ratio and four-wheel drive to confirm I've not screwed myself?

Thanks again!

In the middle of sorting my series 3 box [ lost reverse ] and plan to do some transfer work, just seals I hope as it was working ok.
Recon a dry test with spinning of gearbox input shaft with box in gear as you test will tell you what you need to know.

tottot said:

In the middle of sorting my series 3 box [ lost reverse ] and plan to do some transfer work, just seals I hope as it was working ok.
Recon a dry test with spinning of gearbox input shaft with box in gear as you test will tell you what you need to know.

Click to expand...

Cool. I’ll report back!

Frisol said:

Hey everyone, a rather nervous question follows. First time I've restored a gearbox of any sort and as such learning through exploring and making mistakes. I have completed the rebuild of the main gearbox and the transfer case. I'm now working on the front output. I believe I've made a mistake in the sequencing of reassembling, and I want your opinions before I disassemble.

I mated the Bell Housing to the Gearbox, then the Gearbox to the Transfer Case. I realized when I came to complete the front output that life would have been much easier had I mated the Front Output to the Transfer Case... and then mated these to the Gear Box. The front output IS in place, but in retrospect it does not seem like the recommended sequence. Here are some points that might help you help me

- The shifting to low range and the engaging of four-wheel drive prior to disassembly was fine.
- I did not dismantle the Selector Shaft, the Pivot Shaft or the Four-Wheel Drive Selector shafts. so any spacings or configurations should be as they were prior.

Have I screwed myself by assembling in this order?
Is it as simple as dry testing the selection of low ratio and four-wheel drive to confirm I've not screwed myself?

Thanks again!

Click to expand...

Are you saying that the low/high isn't working properly now? If so, check that the bracket (219709) with a hole in that the lever pivots onh is bolted on the 'not obvious' way round. That one caught me.

im not sure its that important, i prob did similar but fitted bellhousing last, the front output housing has those shafts that tie to gether and swivel so as long as you have not dislocated that bit and shafts go in easily should not be a problem,
if you connect up the gear levers you should be able to test various gear lever movements particularly the red/yellow knob actions

I originally did my in that sequence to lower the weight humping it around. Certainly on a S3 you can't fit the front output section once the main gearbox is attached. i had to split off the main box again and put this on last.
The pic above is exactly what I originally did, and had to reverse to fix

Thanks for all the input. I'm heading down to the workshop to test the gears prior to panicking too much. One other piece of information that I think is important, and not clear in my original description

Because I had the Bell Housing + Gear box + Transfer case in place prior to fitting the front output, it meant I had to install the Selector Shaft, the Pivot Shaft and Four-Wheel Drive Selector shafts into the transfer case, and then I slid the front output case over the top (it was impossible to installed the shafts into the front output housing and then mate to the transfer case because the bell housing was in the way)

Because of this it was impossible for me to install the front output (including shafts) complete with the four-wheel selector pin as per the manuals. The four-wheel selector pin was fitted post...but it's a black box and I not sure if it is seating correctly, or if breaking that installation process is going to be impactful.

boguing said:

Are you saying that the low/high isn't working properly now? If so, check that the bracket (219709) with a hole in that the lever pivots onh is bolted on the 'not obvious' way round. That one caught me.

View attachment 304259

Click to expand...

boguing said:

Are you saying that the low/high isn't working properly now? If so, check that the bracket (219709) with a hole in that the lever pivots onh is bolted on the 'not obvious' way round. That one caught me.

View attachment 304259

Click to expand...

Hi boguing, high/low was moving OK albeit bloody hard to shift without the long gear shift handle in place. I loosened the detent spring a bit to release some of the pressure temporarily so I could test. The trick now is to see if the four wheel drive selector ping is working as expected.

Success tonight. Everything appears to work as intended. Onwards to work on the clutch release mechanism, and then back into the Landy. Thanks again!

Good news! And I've just remembered that the bracket problem only became noticeable when it was back in the car. It makes it impossible to shift the lever forwards far enough to engage as it hits the bulkhead.