I've already had a pm offering me a gearset - I think I'll have a look at that.

I would have a close look at the leading edges of the dog teeth
and also check the other side of the baulk ring, they wear and do not push
push up as close as they should, If it was Me I Would change
the baulk rings and use the ones that have more cross cuts if you can find them

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" A Hundred Years From Now It will not Matter what my Bank Acount Was,
The Sort Of House I Lived in, Or The Kind Of Car I drove ... But The World May Be A Better Place
Because I was Once Important In The Life Of A Child"

When buying new baulk rings I would buy local & take a good (new or s/h) gear with you to try them on.
They should lock up when pushed on and turned.

If it rocks about in all directions, it is no good (wrong angle)- if it rocks one way and not the other, it is no good (oval).
I have a couple here bought from UK a while ago that have both these faults.. new baulk rings are not all created equal.

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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.

I had a 2nd set of baulk rings, which is why I don't think it's them. None of the 8 that I tried would bind to the gear. Still a possibility I suppose.

If they bind to 3rd gear and not to 2nd, 2nd has had it. Find another gear...

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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.

Alright, so the engine's back in, and I gave it a test drive!

Still crunches

So I've:
- Replaced the baulk ring
- Replaced the 2nd gear
- Replaced all the hub springs and balls
- Replaced the 1st/2nd gear selector
- Replaced outer selector sleeve

It's definitely better, I can hear the syncro whirring when changing down, but any faster than 30kph and it will grind.

The improvement is enough, I can change down gears now, but I was hoping for more. Is there anything that can be done with the selector? I was looking under the car and I was surprised at how much of an angle the rod is on (it goes from the centre of the car and angles to the right). And what about the angle of the gear selector?

I had the same concern with a box I just rebuilt for a fella, ended up getting a really good 2nd gear 2nd hand from Guessworks in UK. Great service good price too, new cone had a gap on the ring to gear but did not bite, another gear was great.
John @ mini king has plenty of NOS 1st, 3rd and 4th gears but not many second gears.

Grant

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100% Pure A Series Turbo
Morris - The Original RedBull Racing

What is the outer sliding hub like.....i.e. no damaged dog teeth or burrs, baulk ring ramps not damaged? Seems you have covered every other likely problem, but not mentioned the outer hub in your post.

I would be double checking your detent springs... the 3 springs inside the 1st/2nd slider hub
if they`re too soft/weak/short it will do exactly as you`re saying

they`re meant to help grab & push the hub over to lean on the syncro/baulk ring to effect the syncronisation of the 2 different speeds (the gear & the hub)

it`s porobably the most common cause to gear crunching issues (after worn syncro rings/gears)

edit--> they really need to be as strong as you can get them... more importance on this part is what`s needed in every mini gearbox build.

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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.

Yes the springs are new, and the hub needs a fair push to get it to move. The synchro on 2nd binds better than any of the other gears (probably because of the new components).

The outer sliding hub was replaced with another one I had, but both looked pretty good still.

I also got one of the refurbished 2nd gears from guesworks, and the surface looked great and binded well. Once the gearbox was assembled I got my brother to turn the input and output shafts as I pushed it into gear - all gears grabbed well and he couldn't turn then against each other even with a small amount of pressure on my side.

ok,,, i got one last thing (as a guess) cause i`m out of any other ideas & seeing as i can`t physically check over the internals of the box myself,,, so we can only trust what you are saying with all this stuff being new or good etc... & this may sound silly, but i`ve seen it quite a few times before

have you replaced the double-row mainshaft bearing but not fitted the outer circlip by chance?
this should have shown up as you`re building it as you would have had trouble with the shims under the retainer, but some people give up & stuff it all together anyways without getting that part right (of course) & it will show up as a crunchy 2nd gear change, funny enough.

only a wild guess tho & it`s my last guess here
sorry i can`t help much more unless i rip the box down & check it all over myself.

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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.

You mean this one?


Yes, that's definitely there.

When I took the box off I checked the bind on 2nd gear by turning the input and output shafts while changing gears. 2nd gear had no binding at all. So when I put it all back together and 2nd gear worked, I thought it would be ok.