I am in the process of dismantling the gearbox for my Cooper S with the view of rebuilding. When we bought the car the previous owner indicated that there was a problem with the box and this was the reason the car was taken off the road. I am still to completely dismantle the internals but what I have found thus far is not pretty. The sump plug was covered in metal shavings along with numerous ball bearings in the bottom of the sump. Then I found the real problem - the 3rd motion shaft bearing outer race has split allowing the shaft to flog around in the box and in doing so snapped the speedo pinion drive shaft along with damage to some other components.

I note that many of the internal components for the 3 synchro box are no longer available which raises the question as to where to go from here. I have a Deluxe box from which I can salvage some parts as well as a 4 synchro box which I could rebuild and fit however I wished to keep the car as near to standard as possible without being silly.

Has anyone else experienced similar problems in obtaining internals for 3 synchro boxes? I noted on MiniSpares web page that the last of these components were sold in 2014.

What are others doing in a similar position?

Look forward to your comments

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John Sneddon
0408 431 807
1963 Morris Cooper
1965 Morris 850
1968 Morris Cooper S

I've just finished a 3 synchro rebuild. Fortunately I didn't need any gears.
The bearings are generally still available new; odd things that don't normally break can be sourced from Deluxe boxes etc.
www.guess-works.com in the UK have used parts. There are people around the mini scene who have been building boxes for some time and might have pieces.
I bought some new(old stock) lay gears from T&D transmissions Guildford (NSW) a few years ago.

I have a few tubs of miscellaneous gears....both mk1 and mk2 on the central coast....I dare say if we go through them I will have what you need....cheer Mark

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Mark...does that mean you are finally going to fix 2nd gear in your J car then.....?

AB

Gotta get it back off Bent65 yet

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I have quite a fair bit of 3sync box parts, some new but lots of 2nd hand stuff too

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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.

I recently sold a 3 sync box here in SA, so if you put the feelers out in the wanted section there should be some boxes knocking around.

So what do the guys competing in the pre 1966 race categories in the UK do for gearbox rebuilds?

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Slide
1965 Mini Van (1360)
1970 Mk2 Cooper S (1310)
1978 Rover SD1 V8 (4.6)
1996 Land Rover Discovery V8 (4.0)

If you have access to one of John Smit's catalogues from the 1990's you can identify the parts of the gearbox by part number. you can then use that in either Google or eBay to flush out on-line sellers of NOS. The catalogue will also identify for you which parts applicable to a 3 synchro box can be fitted to a 4 synchro unit, and vice versa. It's the best $20 I ever spent.
Cheers