Transmission rebuild

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rjkoop
Posts: 976
Joined: Thu Nov 08, 2012 6:45 am
Your car is a: 1981 Fiat Spider
Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Re: Transmission rebuild

Post by rjkoop »

MattiR wrote:Hi Richard,

I took it as a challenge as well to renew all bearings and gaskets due to grinding noise. With Shop manual it is not so difficult. Some tricks needed to remove and install the two spring washers.
I had to tilt the gearbox heavily in order to get it out. Bellhousing is touching the car body, and not possible to pull straight backwards. I replaced clutch and the bearing in crankshaft as well, and the flywheel was lightened a bit.
Now I am installing the gearbox back, but looks like I did not align the clutch carefully, so need to wiggle the gearbox away again. And I do it all on garage floor without a lift. Great fun though!!

Good luck with your efforts!!
Great info. Thanks.

Richard
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rjkoop
Posts: 976
Joined: Thu Nov 08, 2012 6:45 am
Your car is a: 1981 Fiat Spider
Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Re: Transmission rebuild

Post by rjkoop »

Removed starter, guibo and all bellhousing bolts. I'll probably rebuild the start since it's out of the car anyways.

A few questions...
1. How do you remove the reverse indicator switch? Do I just unscrew the entire thing or can I just pull off the plastic/wires? I don't want to break anything but wasn't sure if I could just unscrew the entire thing without breaking the wires.
2. Do I need to remove the driveshaft center mount to give me enough room to slide the transmission back? And if so should I remove the E-brake mount? Seems that if I remove the driveshaft mount it will hang on the E-brake cables.
3. People mention that the driveshaft is balanced. Does this means that I need to ensure both sides that attached to the guibo (the transmission output and the driveshaft input) are put back in exactly the same orientation? Or is the balancing only from the differential to the guibo?

Richard
ORFORD2004
Posts: 1120
Joined: Wed Mar 17, 2010 9:48 pm
Your car is a: 1983 PININFARINA
Location: Sherbrooke, Qc, Canada

Re: Transmission rebuild

Post by ORFORD2004 »

1: Yes but you can unplug it from inside the car.
2:Yes to give you more space.
3:You better but it's not major.
Grease trick: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28bSl4r1kwQ
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rjkoop
Posts: 976
Joined: Thu Nov 08, 2012 6:45 am
Your car is a: 1981 Fiat Spider
Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Re: Transmission rebuild

Post by rjkoop »

Transmission out. Finicky but not crazy. Had to remove shift mount plate inside car to have enough room so when I pulled backed the transmission the shifter wouldn't get caught inside the car. To get it out I essentially lay under the front of the car and pushed the bellhousing with my feet back a few inches, lowered the rear of the transmission a bit, pushed it out a few more inches, repeat...

Next up degreasing and disassembly. Do you think it's best I just take everything apart or can I inspect some shafts/components in place and if things looks good leave them alone? My only issue was only 1st -> 2nd shifting grinding unless I let RPMs come down before I try to shift which I think points to the 1st -> 2nd synchronizer ring.

Although clutch felt fine probably makes sense to do the clutch while I'm in there I guess. And clutch cable.

Richard
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rjkoop
Posts: 976
Joined: Thu Nov 08, 2012 6:45 am
Your car is a: 1981 Fiat Spider
Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Re: Transmission rebuild

Post by rjkoop »

So far so good... I'll keep all the pictures I take in a google drive public album in case anyone is curious or notices anything strange...

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... sp=sharing

So far I've only noticed one bolt missing on an external cover plate. Not too bad.

Now to get into the guts...

Richard
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rjkoop
Posts: 976
Joined: Thu Nov 08, 2012 6:45 am
Your car is a: 1981 Fiat Spider
Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Re: Transmission rebuild

Post by rjkoop »

Still plugging along. I'm trying to remove the large bearing from the countershaft with the countershaft still in place. I tapped it with a soft mallet on the output side (like the disassembly instructions say)...

https://www.mirafiori.com/faq/content/f ... age20.html

...which moved the shaft enough to remove the snap ring (which the instructions don't mention) but the bearing doesn't come out easily. Do I just try prying around the edge where the snap ring was with a screwdriver and hopefully it will start to slide out? My gear puller won't sit on the snap ring edge to allow me to use it.

Richard
ORFORD2004
Posts: 1120
Joined: Wed Mar 17, 2010 9:48 pm
Your car is a: 1983 PININFARINA
Location: Sherbrooke, Qc, Canada

Re: Transmission rebuild

Post by ORFORD2004 »

Use a hammer and a punch from inside if i remember correctly. Or cold scissor between the gear and the bearing. It depend what is stuck
User avatar
rjkoop
Posts: 976
Joined: Thu Nov 08, 2012 6:45 am
Your car is a: 1981 Fiat Spider
Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Re: Transmission rebuild

Post by rjkoop »

ORFORD2004 wrote:Use a hammer and a punch from inside if i remember correctly. Or cold scissor between the gear and the bearing. It depend what is stuck
Ummm... what's a cold scissor?

Richard
samakijoe
Posts: 132
Joined: Wed Mar 15, 2017 9:56 pm
Your car is a: 1975 Fiat 124
Location: Original Washington (1776) NC

Re: Transmission rebuild

Post by samakijoe »

ORFORD2004 wrote:
Grease trick: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28bSl4r1kwQ
It would have quicker if he used a syringe like the one below to put the grease in. I keep a few of these around. Always handy.

https://smile.amazon.com/EXELint-Dispos ... way&sr=8-6

This guy could have ground down the diameter of the bolts head to match the opening or found something closer to the diameter of the opening.

It's still a neat trick.
SAMAKIJOE
AKA GRANDPA GRUMPYPANTS
ORFORD2004
Posts: 1120
Joined: Wed Mar 17, 2010 9:48 pm
Your car is a: 1983 PININFARINA
Location: Sherbrooke, Qc, Canada

Re: Transmission rebuild

Post by ORFORD2004 »

Ummm... what's a cold scissor?
Un ciseau à froid ou à fret en bon Québécois. But be polite because you don't want to hit the shaft.
https://www.tenaquip.com/produit/outils ... gKbwvD_BwE
And also, no need to remove the ring from the bearing.
DieselSpider
Posts: 2130
Joined: Wed Dec 24, 2014 10:21 pm
Your car is a: 1978 124 Spider with Isuzu Turbo Diesel

Re: Transmission rebuild

Post by DieselSpider »

ORFORD2004 wrote:
Ummm... what's a cold scissor?
Un ciseau à froid ou à fret en bon Québécois. But be polite because you don't want to hit the shaft.
https://www.tenaquip.com/produit/outils ... gKbwvD_BwE
And also, no need to remove the ring from the bearing.
A Cold Chisel is what I took it to mean.

Cold Forged Scissors:
Image

Cold Chisel:
Image
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rjkoop
Posts: 976
Joined: Thu Nov 08, 2012 6:45 am
Your car is a: 1981 Fiat Spider
Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Re: Transmission rebuild

Post by rjkoop »

Transmission 100% disassembled now. The bearing just required patience and a strong screwdriver in the snap ring groove to work it out.

Next I'll try to figure out what the issue was with the 1st to 2nd grinding at higher RPMs.

Richard
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MattiR
Posts: 25
Joined: Wed Aug 22, 2018 5:13 am
Your car is a: 1972 Fiat Spider BS1 49498
Location: Espoo, Finland

Re: Transmission rebuild

Post by MattiR »

rjkoop wrote:Transmission 100% disassembled now. The bearing just required patience and a strong screwdriver in the snap ring groove to work it out.

Next I'll try to figure out what the issue was with the 1st to 2nd grinding at higher RPMs.

Richard
Hi Richard,
I recommend to replace all bearings and gaskets, just when you are there. And the forks are easy to replace as well.

I got my renewed gearbox back to its place last night. Will be interesting to see if the grinding noise has increased or decreased. I replaced all bearings and gaskets, + clutch assembly + bearing in crankshaft. At least it feels more tight when using the shifter.
Matti
Fiat 124 Sport Spider -11/71
MB 560SL- 87
User avatar
rjkoop
Posts: 976
Joined: Thu Nov 08, 2012 6:45 am
Your car is a: 1981 Fiat Spider
Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Re: Transmission rebuild

Post by rjkoop »

About to order the parts for my transmission from AR.

Generally the parts look good. Bearings are smooth and no play with anything. So because I had the 1st to 2nd grinding issue at higher rpms I'll definitely get the 1st/2nd shift fork and new sync rings and springs. And should I go ahead and place the clutch because I have the transmission out even though there was no issues with it?

https://autoricambi.us/products/clutch- ... -oem-valeo

Here's a low-res (to fit on this post) picture of the sync rings.

Image

Here's a link to a bunch of hi-res photos of the transmission parts.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... ExImE6JrtG

I'll probably do the 3rd/4th shift fork since I went to all the work to take it apart.

If anyone sees anything weird please let me know.

Richard
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Nanonevol
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Posts: 828
Joined: Thu Nov 13, 2014 9:17 am
Your car is a: 1977 Fiat 124 Spider
Location: Medway, Massachusetts

Re: Transmission rebuild

Post by Nanonevol »

Replacing everything would get very pricey. Mine wouldn't go into second gear. Never found out exactly why but I replaced the fork as you are doing. There was wear on the bearing face. Also all the brass synchros. I replaced the second gear itself but in hindsight maybe didn't need to. My input shaft on the end that goes into the bearing in the motor showed some wear so I replaced that, which also replaces fourth gear. I replaced the input shaft bearing and the needle bearing because it was cheap (like me). All new seals and gaskets of course.
I would look at the clutch and see how much wear is there. I did mine.
Although it would be easier the second time, I don't want to do this job again soon!
1977 Fiat Spider
1985 Jaguar XJ6
1967 Triumph Bonneville (hard-tail chopper)
1966 BSA Lightning
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