80 series manual gearbox - advice and opinions please

[Lorin]

Unfortunately I have one of the manual gearboxes that pops out of second and reverse gears and therefore needs replacing

I have found a breaker that has a manual box from a 98/99 Amazon that has done 71,000 miles, but they want £580 for it

Thought I'd see what your thoughts are.....?

One thing I am interested in getting opinion on is whether people reckon the early or later box is the better option - didn't they change the number of synchros on the later 24v manuals..?

 

[Toby]

Hi Lorin,

Only a one-off example, but the manual box in my 1990 80 was always much nicer to use than that in Ian's 24 valve - so much so that IIRC he ended up swapping his out for the box from an early car, which I think he's been pleased with.

I'm under the vague impression that most of the complaints about shift quality and other problems relate to later cars, but this could be simply because all the UK cars were manual after the introduction of the 24 valve engine.

All the best,
Toby
1990 HDJ80
1994 HDJ80

 

[Paul]

On mine, as long as i drive the box like an old bedford lorry then its fine. Could be nicer on downshifts i suppose but easy to get used to.

 

[chriscolleman]

It needs a bit of lorry attitude indeed.

Mine has been sitting outside in cold temperatures and it needs a bit of a warmup.
The first 10 minutes of driving double clutching from first to second.
And double clutching from third to second and first.

After about half an hours drive it shifts through every gear without a problem.

If your syncros are worn don't really worry about it. Get use to double clutching and you can easily drive it around untill you find the time and spare cash to rebuild it. Providing you don't grind the tranny you won't break anything.