Yeah my problem was always that when I went for third too energetically I crossed the gate - you know, and head for fifth instead.... except that there is no fifth and thus I'd quickly get lost whilst the car I was racing against shoots off into the sunset....

So there is an event at Wakefield next weekend? Might be up for that, though I'm currently wondering if I should go to Eastern Creek this weekend (I have a ticket). Don't urgently need a spring since I'm running a rod box at the moment (although my gear stick is severly worn at the bottom meaning you don't have to lift it to go for reverse - that could end badly ) But thanks anyway.

Cheers,
Anto.

Thanks mate, itll go on my never ending "to do" list.

OK the box is good, no crunching going from 1 to 2, 2 to 3, 3 to 4, and back down (fast or slow) from 4 to 3 and 3 to 2, but from 2 down to one, when I am crawling at snails pace to a set of lights and getting ready to start off again, unless I am completely stopped, there is a slight grind like the clutch is not in all the way and the gears touch...

I have been told that is a sign of the sychro going out, but then I have been told that the remote box didnt have a synchro..

Can anyone give me a helping hand on this new dilemma

Early remote change boxes did not have a synchro on the first cog - which means that in some early boxes the first gear cannot be engaged while the car is moving. A synchro very simplisticaly (since I dont know much more) syncronises the speed between differential and the gears so that they mesh properly (you hear that crunching noise when they fail to mesh). Many british cars from the early to mid sixties were lacking the synchro on first - in fact the best car ever created or invisaged without any exception (and I am objective the E type Jag in its most classic MK1 form had an unrefined Moss 4 speed 3 synchro box in it).

The fact that you can shift to 1st while moving means that its a 4 synchro box and the crunching suggests a worn synchro (very unusual just for the first one to be worn?) or maybe clutch issues.

Sounds to me like it's a 3 synchro box. What year is the car- all Minis had these boxes up to 1968.
Ist gear is the last synchro to wear out on 4 synchro boxes, I've found.

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

yup yup, gotta agree with the Doc there.

My old Shifting method
1st to 2nd- What clutch?
2nd to 3rd- Jam it up and right, its there somewhere
3rd to 4th - Well, its pretty soft, but still a big load on the clutch and box
4th to 3rd- Clutch in, shove stick forward, usually done in a hurry to assist my piss poor drum brakes
3rd to 2nd-The one I take most care of, I actually wait till I feel it notch in before releasing the clutch out, so I'm certain I've grabbed the gear.
2nd to !st- Only ever change down to 1st as I'm stopped/stopping.

Uh hem, anyway, as Doc said First gear takes a long time to wear as you're nearly always stopped when changing down to 1st. Synchro's take up for the piss poor judgment some people have in using a clutch (I've ground a few teeth).

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"He's always been a dickhead, He always is a dickhead, He will always be a dickhead. So stop complaining when he acts like one."

Doc, but in a 3 synchro wouldnt 2nd to 1st shift in any speed cause a symphony of whining and grinding rather than a "slight grind" like he describes"?

And any affirmation of the E type's supremacy?

Mike,
He did say he shifted while `crawling at a snail's pace'. Description of noise is typical of a 3 synchro.

BTW I used to be able to shift ( by double declutching) my 3 synchro MK1 S box from 2-1 at 30MPH or more without crunching, and lay rubber... but I'd been driving and shifting a Ferguson tractor with a crash box since I was 8 or so.

E type Jag ( and the XKs etc before it) did use the old Moss box, 1st gear was a low `emergency gear' like most pommy boxes then. Good to get rolling then shift to 2nd. Later E type did get a proper 4 synchro box.

Mini box simple test 1:
1. push clutch in
2. immediately push into 1st gear
3. if it snicks it's a 3 synchro.

Simple test 2:
Check the throw of the lever from N to 1st and N to 2nd. In a 3 synchro 1st is a lot further, in a 4 synchro 1st & 2nd throw are around the same distance.

_________________
DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.