Alfa Pages

[RBL]

My gearbox has been in my car for about 10,000 miles (I bought it for £50 a few years ago), and during that time I learnt to double de-clutch down to 2nd pretty well, but the worn synchros, difficulty getting into first from standstill, and all gears getting a bit stiffer when hot, finally got to me.

I've just rebuilt another engine, with raised CR, ported heads and Megajolt electronic ignition (thanks Baldy for your encouragement!), so while the engine was being swapped, it seemed a good time to tackle the gearbox.

A local Alfa specialist quoted £350 +vat to do the job. The parts they recommended I get to do a complete job came to almost £500. I was determined to get it sorted but couldn't afford a bill of £900, so decided to do it myself.

I bought replacement snychro rings for gears 1-4, a replacement selector sleeve and fork for 1-2 and all necessary seals and gaskets. Bill = about £300.

With the aid of a couple of good manuals and these pics: http://fragged.nu/cars/alfa-romeo-33-gearbox-overhaul/, it took three afternoons to complete. I didn't uses any special tools other than some good circlip pliers, a couple of pin punches and some fuel hose to hold the detent balls in place - oh, and a big 38mm socket (a telescopic magnet is a good thing to have to hand as well).

It really wasn't as hard as I expected, so have a go! I'll let you know if it still changes gear when get it in the road in a week or two!

Rich
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Porsche 550 spyder replica with Alfa Sprint 1.7 engine

[gritsop]

Hi,

I guess it can be very enlightening to post a few words about the rebuilt.

People would be interested to hear how one (DIY mechanic) would distinguish a good from worn gear/synchro, things to know preliminary etc.

By the way a good article for http://www.alfa-restoration.co.uk



Regards
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Thanassis Gritsopoulos
1991 Alfa 33 1.4 IE
2001 Alfa 147 1.6 Distinctive

http://www.alfa-restoration.co.uk
Parts Shop: www.alfa-restoration.co.uk/shop

[john 33_16v]

Well done, bit of an inspiration to us all.

My original gearbox has sat (completely in the way) on my bench for 18 months, with a view to a possible inspection/ rebuild one day.

John
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If it aint broke, fiddle with it until it is!
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93 33 16v Mirtle Met
08 Fiat Grande Punto Exotica Red
90 Yamaha FZR600 Genesis- Silky white/red/blue

[RBL]

At £30 to £40 each I just replaced the first four synchros as I didn't know what I was looking for either, but from driving I knew 2 was bad and 4 could crunch if it was really rushed. I bought all the parts before opening it up so I wasn't sure what to look for either. Once open, I couldn't really tell if the sliding sleeves (selector rings) were worn but the forks of the selector forks did look worn, but how much wear is ok I don't know.

John, just open it up and have a look. If you're going to spend the effort doing it, it's worth getting new synchros ('baulk rings') for 1 to 4. Assuming there are no teeth missing from any of the gears or sliding sleeves (easy to see) it's not worth getting new gears unless you can see some real wear (especially at about £120 each!) (As an aside, I bought a used gearbox last year for a friend who has a similar project, from someone on this site, and when I drained it and looked inside, there were 7 teeth missing from the gears, so you never know till you look). If either of the selector forks are worn, it's more likely to be the one that controls gears 1 and 2, and at about £70 each I only changed that one (I've never really had any problems with gear 3, 4 and 5).

As must have spoken to at least 5 people before going ahead with it, I thought I'd be left with a pile of parts and a useless 'box!. I only ordered the parts before stripping the 'box because I was short on time - I wanted to get the engine back in. If I wasn't in a rush, I'd remove the selector rods and forks, the pinion shaft and then the main cluster. Then check them and order parts according to noticable wear, how it had felt when changing gear and obviously budget!

Oh, and find a way of supporting the 'box horizontally while working on it. I used an old wooden box and cut bits out of the side to hold the gearbox in place.
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Porsche 550 spyder replica with Alfa Sprint 1.7 engine

[RBL]

Last thing - Find a large, clean work bench, some Molyslip lube for assembly and keep the parts in order as you take them out so that you know how they go back in!

(The only Alfa tool I would have liked to have had is a roll pin remover, but I made do with a straight pin punch. I was just worried about damaging/bending the selector rods, bit it was fine)
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Porsche 550 spyder replica with Alfa Sprint 1.7 engine