It was all going so well...

[CJH]

I've had an annoying oil leak from a few hundred miles after fitting my rebuilt engine last summer. It's engine oil, and it's coming from the joint between the bell housing and the crank case, so I figured it's the main seal, and most likely due to me deciding that I'd probably get away with the pitted and grooved flywheel surface. Of course the other possibility was that I hadn't put enough sealant between the case halves, but I didn't want to go there.....

So this weekend I decided to fix it, by removing the flywheel, sleeving it with a speedi-sleeve as per Itchyfeet's example, and changing the seal just to be on the safe side. I'd already bought a speedi-sleeve and cut it down with a Dremel mounted in my drill stand.

I got the gearbox out ok, and when I took the flywheel off it certainly didn't look like the case joint had leaked - it definitely looks like the main seal was the culprit. So I cleaned up the flywheel, applied some Dirko sealant, heated the speedi-sleeve up in the oven to help it slip on, tapped it down so it was below the leading edge, and removed the tear-off flange. So far so good.



Then I fitted the new seal and put a smear of assembly lube on it so that I could check where it was going to ride on the sleeve - I tapped the seal in a little further (~1.5mm underflush) so that the seal was nice and central on the speedi-sleeve. I torqued up the flywheel bolts then fitted the clutch.

And then it all went horribly wrong. One of the clutch bolts gave way before it got to 25Nm - must have been fatigued from previous uses. I don't recall whether they were new when I fitted the clutch last summer or whether I re-used them.



I don't have a spare set, and it's Sunday, so that was the end of my hopes of getting it all back together today. So I spent the rest of the afternoon doing a proper clean-up underneath the engine. My engine was pristine when it went in last summer, but a small oil leak from the main seal leads to splattered oil *everywhere*.

[itchyfeet]

My DJ with speedisleeve is weeping too, not much but visible.
no idea if its the sleeve or the crankcase or the cam plug.

[CJH]

Ooh, that's annoying, to have fitted a sleeve and still have a leak. It's not a two-minute job to fix it either.

I've got my rear wheels up on ramps to give me working room, and that means my trolley jacks were at full stretch to reach the gearbox. I had high hopes of simply supporting it on two trolley jacks, pushing it back far enough to access the flywheel, and leaving it there, on top of the jacks. But gearboxes don't balance well, so in the end it had to come down. I don't really know how I'm going to get it back in single-handed.

I think I might try to lift it up onto axle stands, one end at a time, in roughly the right place, so that I can get a trolley jack under the balance point. It was a lot easier without the engine in place - I just used the boat winch over the engine bay to lift the heavy end, and then bolted up the nose, but with the engine in place it has to slide onto the engine to locate the output shaft.

Anyone have a tried and trusted method?

[937carrera]

https://www.wilko.com/en-uk/wilko-recta ... p/0438780?



Pair of those with a pallet on top, they take 240kg each. If you have a reasonable surface it's easy to move the gearbox around. Then either blocks of wood to get the angle / height right, or use your trolley jacks to adjust the height of the van or lift the pallet.

I used these for an engine / gearbox swapover last December. Not a T25, much bigger and heavier motor & box, but I did have the advantage of a lift to drop the car back down. All possible single handed, you just need to be careful and slow to avoid snagging.

[CJH]

Thank you - yes, I fitted some castors to a half-size pallet, and that works well for moving it about. But it's the lifting that's the difficult bit. I think I could position it on my pallet with the bell housing over the edge, wheel it into place, then lift the bell housing onto blocks or an axle stand. Then maybe I could hang the other end from the chassis somewhere, remove the pallet, and place another axle stand. I just need it up in the air enough to get a trolley jack under the balance point.

[937carrera]

Yeah, but a WBX gearbox isn't heavy. Make your "stand" to whatever height you can, put the gearbox on, push underneath then jack up from the base of the pallet.

Easy once you've done it

[CJH]

Yeah, but a WBX gearbox isn't heavy.

Well I'm sure there are heavier, but it's still very difficult to lift it when you're lying on your back under the van. I think you're right - giving it some height before it goes under the van seems best. I hadn't thought of jacking up the whole pallet - that might be the solution.

[itchyfeet]

this works I know because I used this more than once
ratchet straps are a bit fiddly but it works.

https://club8090.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.p ... 47&start=0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[CJH]

Thank you - I remember that thread now! Just had a good read through again.

I went out to buy some new clutch bolts this morning, and by chance the shop had a stack of those furniture dollies behind the counter, so I picked one up for good measure. So this evening's plan is to invert my pallet, fix some battens across it so that the gearbox sits in it nice and stable, place the whole lot on the furniture dolly, and then lift each end of the pallet with trolley jacks, with axle stands either side to stop it toppling. Won't be quite as stable as the ratchet straps approach, and if it doesn't work then the ratchet straps will be tomorrow evening's method.

[937carrera]

I used two dollies, left and right for mine, you then have freedom on where to place the trolley jack along the length of the gearbox.

[CJH]

Two dollies plus one trolley jack, or one dolly plus two trolley jacks. I have both jacks free because the engine is hanging off the boat winch. Inevitably the jack handles will face in different directions, but that will be good for my core muscles!

[937carrera]

Dollies left and right is more stable, and prevent the platform wobbling as you raise the gearbox, also allows you to add wood blocks as you raise it with the jack(s) for further stability, entirely your call of course.

I just looked for a photo but I only took one when the engine & box were on the ground, just getting on with the job, not expecting it to be used for a tutorial

[CJH]

Dollies left and right is more stable, and prevent the platform wobbling as you raise the gearbox...

Not sure I'm getting you - once the jack lifts the underside of the pallet, don't you leave the dollies behind, leaving you dependent on the jack being at the exact balance point? With my approach I'll have a jack at each end of the pallet/gearbox, and constantly adjusted axle stands to the sides, so that it can only topple a small amount if it unbalances.

[CJH]

Two dollies plus one trolley jack, or one dolly plus two trolley jacks.

Actually, I've just remembered the bottle jack that I carry in the van, so 'one dolly plus three jacks' is the way I'm going to try first. Inverted pallet on top of the dolly, battens to stop the gearbox wobbling, trolley jacks under the rear corners of the pallet, bottle jack under the nose end of the pallet. Three-point lift, so it'll be stable and it'll give me complete control of the angles. Will no doubt need a fair bit of trial and error to pack blocks of the appropriate height under the jacks, but at least now I can envisage a controlled lift with minimal risk.

[colinthefox]

This is my tried and trusted method.


Bolt a flat steel plate to the cup of a trolley jack. Wooden wedges get the "angle of the dangle" just right. The jack handle is at the rear of the van, so as you raise the gearbox it moves towards the engine at the same time. If the gearbox won't balance or needs extra height, make a cradle out of scrap wood.