Gearbox change question

[Igotaholeybus]

Morning everyone

I took my 68 bus out for it's first ever uk drive the other day but gearbox sounds a bit like a bag of spanners so I'm assuming it's knackered, so whilst thinking I need a new box I think I remember someone saying the later gearboxes are better with a higher gear ratio.
So should I go for a later box and is it easy to swap the gearbox mounts. Thanks to everyone for looking you've all been a great help in the past

 

[StuF]

Replace the gearbox oil first and see if that makes any difference - a bit easier than changing the whole box

 

[Igotaholeybus]

Cheers dude it already has new oil, I replaced it before re fitting it. Also I can't get into 2nd but 1st 3rd 4th and reverse are ok but just really noisy

Thanks, Dan

 

[911gt2]

Depends on your engine.
I you run a stock SP 1600 running a 'bigger' gear will reduce RPM, reducing RPM on a stock engine reduces cooling... So think ahead 8)

 

[Igotaholeybus]

Okay I have a 1600 TP sorry I should have said that

 

[Trikky2]

Depends on what box you have. For a 1600 you need the standard box, not the mountain ratio.

If you want longer gears such as those fitted to 1800 and 2 liter busses then you will need more power or you will spend a lot of time in third gear.

To get slightly longer gearing the easiest way is to change from stock 185/80/14 to 195/80/14 tyres.

A lot of busses are not very nice to drive on a longer run because they are running tyres that are a smaller diameter than stock.

There's several tyre size calculators online so you can check what you have and how much the gearing changes with different sizes. It can be significant.

 

[Igotaholeybus]

Okay thanks for all the info. It sounds like I should just go ahead and buy a recon early box then.

Cheers, Dan

 

[Igotaholeybus]

But I'll probably go for the bigger tyres soon great idea thanks

 

[911gt2]

Bigger tyres do come with their own problems though.
You either get a 'rake' or need to mout bigger ones in front to.

If you do your speedo will be off big time.

Also, bigger tires means the car is slower from the line.

There is no 'magical solution' you need to tweak and find out what's best for you. But be carefull it's a slippery slope though :lol: