Hi Guys , i am about to start rebuilding my rod change box . I have bought a full gearbox rebuild kit from minisport in the UK including the lay shaft ,all bearings and baulk rings .I have been talking to a few guys here in Tassie and they have said that people are having issues with the baulk rings , ie not the right size and binding up , does anyone have any idea on what to look out for or has anyone used the minisport ones and had trouble .

I have had problems in the past with new UK sourced (not Minisport- but their main competitor's) baulk rings.
I still have 4 here that are both oval, and the wrong taper- when tested on a new gear.
If I buy any new ones now (here, never UK) I take the gear with me to check.

However I generally select `good' (ie not worn out) S/H ones, and surface grind .020" off the side that faces the gear, to add more life.
This approach is also taken by some Nb racers on this forum.

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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.

My local reconditioner wont use new baulk rings as a general rule as they find them either poorly made, or looking right but not heat treated properly and they get poor life, so good used ones usually go in the box.

However, that said, some random success has been found on these rings when used with other new parts, suggesting new + old = bad, but both new or both used is okay?

Since 1970 baulk rings are made using sintered metal powder technology.
Quality varied depending on who made them- Rover ones were the best recently produced.
The rings made prior to 1970 were forged, they are the very best S/H ones if you can find any. Identified by `W or M shaped' forge marks on the outside.

The last non-Rover new one I fitted (refer my post above) to Barney's 2nd gear took ~5000km to bed in and work OK. As said it was poorly made.

If you have bought new ones, try them on the gears before fitting. Some fit OK depending on supplier, but if they rock about in 1 or both planes, I'd go with surface ground 2nd hand ones instead.

[edit] you might also consider competition baulk rings, supposedly these are higher quality than the common ones (but cost more).

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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.