TRIUMPH HERALD GEARBOX GREMLINS
Q I have just replaced the gearbox in my 1962 Triumph Herald 1200 with a replacement unit which I purchased a few years ago in preparation for the failure of the original gearbox. This had become extremely noisy and I plan to now have this re-built at some stage and then re-fit it. I am though having problems with the unit I have fitted, and wonder if this is just the gearbox or something else. The problems I have now are that when changing gear, the clutch pedal can be hard to push down and changing gear becomes difficult. There is also a vibration which runs through the car at speeds above 30mph. Do you think these are just gearbox related or something else? Giles Wearing
A I would suspect that the problems are related to the gearbox, and may be due to possible damage of the input/primary shaft. If this has any distortion, it may give the symptoms you are experiencing. You have not mentioned replacing the clutch when you swapped the gearboxes, and it may be that the splines on the clutch plate are sticking slightly, and this could also be a cause for concern. The other possible cause of the vibration may be a sticky propshaft joint which, having been disturbed during the gearbox replacement, has now started to make its presence felt.
As you do intend to re-build the original box, it may be prudent to carry this out slightly sooner than you had intended, then when fitting the original gearbox back into position, the clutch could be replaced/checked, along with the propshaft joints. As this problem did only occur when the gearbox was swapped over, I would not expect it to be anything which would not be connected to the previous points mentioned.