After getting a thicker drop case gasket from Matt Reed I still had zero movement in the idler gear. Scratching head and taking a closer look I could see obvious gap between the case and the shim which made me think something is not right (duh) Didn't take long to work out the idler gear shaft was hitting the tabs on the circlip on the inside of the bearing hole. A bit more fiddle and swapping and changing I now have my two thickest shims and the thicker gasket and now have 0.008" clearence on the idler gear so it is now a matter of getting a 0136" idler shim and we should be sweet.

Sometimes it's the simplest things that cause the biggest headaches.

_________________
David L


My greatest fear in life is that when I die my wife will sell my Mini and tools for the price I told her I paid for them!

i thought you wanted about 020tho clearence in the idler gear? or am i mistaken?

5thou is good

_________________
No offence intended here but--> anyone writing a book about minis 30 years ago may not have experienced such worn or stuffed-with components as we are finding these days.

You should put your heart & soul into everything you do.

No I had 20 thou when I put an idler gear in that had short shaft on both sides - obviously wasn't reaching the circlip.

Fixed the clip by filing a small amount of the inside edge of each 'bump'

_________________
David L


My greatest fear in life is that when I die my wife will sell my Mini and tools for the price I told her I paid for them!