Thread: Plugger and The Camel

Hi Inc,

Tried to update the thread with pics but in the preview there are no thumbnails and no photos.

Any chance of going back to the old format?

Cheers,
Andrew

Hi Gang,

Apologies for not updating recently - just could not seem to get the update working properly - no pics!! And whats an update without any pics!!

I cant seem to get photos uploaded - when I click 'add pic' I can choose a photo or photos and upload it but once its finished the total number of photos uploaded never changes. Therefore there is nothing new to drag n drop for the thread!!

Any ideas??

Cheers,
Tricky

Originally Posted by Archangel007

Hi Gang,

Apologies for not updating recently - just could not seem to get the update working properly - no pics!! And whats an update without any pics!!

I cant seem to get photos uploaded - when I click 'add pic' I can choose a photo or photos and upload it but once its finished the total number of photos uploaded never changes. Therefore there is nothing new to drag n drop for the thread!!

Any ideas??

Cheers,
Tricky

Inc and others are looking at a few glitches with existing and new pics. Hopefully resolved in the near future.

Hi Guys,

A personal thanks to Inc and Co. for helping with all the issues I've been having posting to the site - I do believe we have it sorted now, so thanks guys!!

Ok, so a few weeks ago a small package arrived that contained the rebuild kit for the gearbox. The kit was supplied by All Fourx4 Spares and its pretty comprehensive - the most comprehensive one I could find on the web anyway. It contains all the seals, bearings and gaskets one might need to overhaul your S2 or S2A gearbox - and it was pretty reasonably priced too.

So, the date came whereby we had to pull the gearbox assembly out of storage and tear it down. Here is a pic of it up on the operating table - its pretty gungy with all the dirt and encrusted filth - clear evidence it had been leaking oil for some time
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Minus all the levers, mounts and other extraneous hardware ready to be separated
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After a couple of hours we had the three main components all separated from each other. I was expecting to find worn broken teeth, bits of metal in the bottom of the case and wrecked synchros - what I did find was a gearbox in pristine condition and I do mean pristine. Other than leaking seals and gaskets - as evidenced by having a transfer case full of oil and minimal oil in the gearbox - it was in really good nick...
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To be continued...

Continued...

So, stripping down the box to its basic elements meant that it was time for a good cleaning of the cases. And here is a shot of me after we went hard at it with the karcher - dirty messy job and it took a ages in the shower to scrub this crud off!!
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Once all the external parts had been hit with the Karcher to get the bulk of the crud off, it was time to send the bits to the parts washer for an extensive and detailed clean with Plugger
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So at the end of the day we had a pile of internal bits n pieces neatly spread out and in their respective order as they were removed from either the gearbox, transfer case or front housing. We had two casualties that will need to be replaced for certain. One of them was the mainshaft needle roller bearing where it sits inside the input shaft in the main gearbox - as you can see from the photo its toast. Luckily, this one was included in the kit...
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And the other was the throwout sleeve that contains a rubber seal that stops oil from coming out past the input shaft and into the bellhousing. This part is not supplied with the kit and will have to be purchased separately. As you can see from the photo the seal is knackered. You can buy the seal separately or you can buy the whole throwout sleeve as a completed assembly ready to install. The issue with just buying the seal is that no one I talked to knows how to get the throwout sleeve apart to be able to replace the rubber seal. Hmmm, looks like a new assembly then!
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Well that's it for day 1 (actually it was 2 days truth be told, the cleaning took that long!!!). Parts ordered now and all the major components are in the bath soaking to make the cleaning process easier. More next week.

Cheers and thanks,
Tricky and Plugger

Glad ur back posting again...

Cheers Rod

Thanks Rod, me too!

Rebuilding the S2A gearbox is pretty straight forward. As long as you have good reference manual. In this regard I had a used Haynes manual which in this area (gearbox overhaul) was pretty comprehensive.

Once the gearbox proper was completely stripped and the case cleaned to within an inch of its life, it was time to replace all the bearings and seals. This was simply a case of driving out the old bearings or seals and then driving the new ones in. The 3rd-4th gear synchro's detent springs were in perfect condition but I replaced them anyway. I left the layshaft, input shaft and mainshaft in their sub-components to aid in reinstalling them.

The first issue I had was installing the layshaft into the gearbox casing while the mainshaft was installed. It entailed some jiggling to get it installed and no matter which way I oriented it or how I held my tongue I could just not get the rear roller bearing into its cup deep inside the case. The solution I came up with was to encircle the roller bearing with a thin and long cable tie and then cinch it tight to keep the rollers tight into the cage. I then put a small nick in the cable tie so that when I pulled on the end it would break at a certain spot. The long tail of the cable tie was oriented so that I could grab it with a set of needle-nose pliers. After two attempts (one because I pulled the cable tie too hard and didn't hold the layshaft hard enough and it pulled it out of the bearing cup) it was in. Then holding the layshaft firm, a constant pull (not a jerk) on the cable tie tail broke the tie at the nick and out it came, leaving the bearing seated perfectly in the cup.

Then came the juggling act of installing the input shaft and meshing that with the 1st motion gear. This was further complicated by the fact you have to have the shaft through the bellhousing and the bearings plates for the lower roller and upper roller bearings installed behind the bearings to seat them into the bellhousing. Once again it was all a bit of a juggling act but with a bit of perseverance it was accomplished. Then it was a simple case of tightening the bearing plate nuts in sequence to cinch up the bearing into the bellhousing, while tightening down the bellhousing onto the gearbox case. A few hours later we had success...
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After this it was time to put in the selector shafts and forks with their new o-rings, and then the top cover. Then insert the detent ball bearings, new springs and new seals. I then disassembled the main gear lever assembly and cleaned out all the gunk in the housing, lubed and painted everything and reassembled the selector lever with new o-ring at the ball end. The reverse gate and stop springs seem to be OK so they were left as is. I then gave the 1st/2nd gear stop bolt inspection plate a bit of a glam-over with some custom paint, stainless screws and graffiti....
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That was it for the day. The main box was all back together, all shafts were rotating freely with little or no endplay or excessive lash, and it selected all gears without any binding or excessive force. So job well done, time for a beer!

Cheers and thanks,
Tricky and Plugger

Day 2 on the gearbox....

This week saw a continuation of the reassembly. On the front of the gearbox encasing the input shaft is the clutch engagement/disengagement assembly comprising of the housing, throwout sleeve, bearing and throwout fork. On close inspection of the throwout sleeve not only was the shaft seal knackered but there was also a hairline crack around the flange. It definitely had to be replaced as a unit and not just the seal. Some more parts were ordered from Rover Parts including a new clutch slave and these showed up last week. Once the new sleeve arrived, it was on with the front assembly and gearshift lever assembly...
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The clutch shaft is a two-piece item connected by a sleeve. I did notice on Plugger's beast that this sleeve had taken some extreme abuse and started to split around the bolt hole. A quick back-cut with the grinder to open it up further then a quick hit with the MIG fixed the problem. Then I reamed it out with a 16mm drill just to ensure that there would be no binding on the internal shaft of the front assembly. All good there.
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Next was to install the new clutch slave. All the parts were de-rusted with the wire wheel, cleaned and then painted. The slave assembly was put back together and pinned to the inner shaft. A new hose was ordered way back when I ordered all the front wheel bearing stuff but seems to be way shorter than the original hose fitted to the old slave. I dont know what's going on there but I might have to get a custom one made or else move the union further back. I am redoing all the brake and clutch lines anyway so what the heck! I ditched the old rusted imperial bolts in favour of some nice shiny stainless steel domed allen bolts and nylocs!
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Plugger has done a great job cleaning up the remaining parts and painting them ready for their turn in the assembly process...
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The front drive casing was so soiled even after soaking and scrubbing it still looked brown and dirty... So we decided to give it a coat of bright aluminium...
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Some more parts arrived this week to continue the adventure - bulkhead repair parts, some seals missing from the gearbox rebuild kit and a new spring for the yellow lever...
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And finally, we have always decided that The Camel was going to get some highway legs - and not wanting to install a Fairey overdrive unit (3 levers will confuse the boy let alone 4!!) - we decided early on that the Ashcroft overdrive high-range gearset was the way to go. We have been in contact with Ashcroft for the past three months waiting for one to become available, but due to the shortage of exchange transfer cases they are becoming in short supply and the queue was long. The answer was simply to bite the bullet and send Camel's transfer case to the UK to get the works done and just foot the extra costs (actually quite minimal versus the core charge of GBP75). So that meant cleaning the transfer case within an inch of its life and sending it off. So it went from this...
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To this....
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So we wrapped it in bubble-wrap and sent off to the UK. Through Australia Post the cost was $144 registered express delivery which should arrive in the UK in 3-4 days. Not bad I thought. Ashcroft's promised a quick turnaround so now the gearbox rebuild is on hold now until the transfer case comes back with its new highway gearset installed. Lots of other things to get done like the bulkhead now that the repair pieces have arrived. But that's a job for next week! Until then....

Cheers and Thanks,
Tricky and Plugger