Awsome, always good to get good news...

 

easy fix! Great tp hear. Double check there isnt a miscue on if its filled with oil or not. Better be safe than sorry.

 

Rick BOL with the tranny. Easy fix and a huge relief I am sure.

Mike

 

Glad to hear things are OK!

Now let me tell you about the Austin Marina rear main crankshaft seal that I installed in my wife's MGB....

 

Well, my luck took a turn for the worse today. Everyone here, please learn from me. It will save you a lot of money.

My buddy called last night to say he thinks we forgot to remove the duct tape from the shift fork. No biggie. I knew the starter wasn't all wired up and the battery was disconnected, so there was no chance of anyone starting it by accident. I told Patrick's to remove the tape. Jim called and said he doesn't think they got it all, but that it would probably not be a problem, as I assured him we had it will above the TO bearing and there was no chance the guide tube caught any of it. As I was on my way to pick the car up today, Jim called to say the shaft was not in all the way and asked me if I had put that outer bearing in the bell housing ears or on the shaft. I had put it in the bell housing ears. That told him that the shaft wasn't in all the way because some needle bearings had probably fallen out while we were wiggling the tranny to mate it up and thus the shaft got hung up on the fallen needle bearings. And so now they had to pull the tranny back from the engine to fix that.

Of course, they can do that in no time, while it's a half-day job for someone like me. But it went from a 45 min. charge to a few hours. Lesson here: insert shaft as one piece and do NOT put that outer bearing into the ears first. Keep it on the shaft. Shaft should recess well into the ears if in all the way so the plastic cap fits in over it. Gawd, I feel like and idiot. I'm not sure if my pride or wallet are gonna hurt worse. But that really should be the end of this job.

 

Man don't feel bad if you knew the stuff I have screwed up doing it myself and the $$$$$$$$$$$$ it cost you would be amazed. Best lessons in life are the ones that cost you money. I burned through paint on a freshley painted SL 500 hood ($600.00). I had to pay another $600.00 to fix my mistake. The guys that do my paint work I have known for over 20 years and went to high school with them so I got it from them and my wallet. Don't worry it happens.

Mike

 

As long as you learned something, i think it's OK. So you had to pay a few extra $$, no biggie. A bad mistake would be one where you grenade the tranny. Now, that would put me to tears.

 

Yep. I personally ruined a $300 oil line not too long ago. Look at it this way, you'll never make that mistake again!

Cheers,
Joe

 

Well, that was a $719 lesson I learned today. Turns out the outer shaft bearing and needle bearings weren't the issue, but rather we had shoved some of the duct tape into that hole and it was binding up the shaft. Car sure drives nice, especially with all that weight reduction from my wallet. Now, if anyone wants a new in box shift coupler, the longer kind with the 950 part number, I'll sell it for a fraction of the $258 dealer cost. Going on eBay tomorrow.

 

I admire your honesty Rick, and truly appreciate you sharing your unfortunate experience with us so we do not make similar mistakes.

Enjoy your new gearbox................Joel

 

It's all in the rear view mirror now. Have fun with the car and you will soon forget about it.