New Zealand Datsun Club

HI all,

unfortunately when removing the old seal from my gearbox, we cracked the housing where the seal goes in (the lip right at the back of the box). I had a quick go at steel putty and tried to fix it up but it leaks oil something chronic.

I have another gbox (which is in a pretty sad state so not keen to use the whole box, plus the one int he car now seems fine apart from the leak) So I pulled the rear housing off to see what was required to swap them.

Apart from lining up the selector rod/arm thingy it seems pretty straight forward (although I havnt yet figure out how to put it back on with rod/arm in the right place).

Has anyone done this before, and should it work?

It seems to me its a better idea than trying to fix up the crack perhaps. I should also be able to do it without though taking the gbox out with is a big plus.

Cheers

Yes it should be well do-able. Good luck.
Also, check how much wear is in the tail section bush where the tail shaft runs. If this gets too worn, the seal can lose contact, and leak. (Even with a brand new seal) Sometimes this can be fixed by ditching the factory seal w/shroud, and fitting two standard style oil seals. (IF there's room for two in the seal recess/pocket?)

Yeh its cunt to get on but will work (had a play with the other gbox).

Good point re: tail bush.

Im confident the crack it the cause however as the top of the housings (where the crack is) gets oily and damp.

Presumably when you removed the extension housing you removed speedo drive, reverse light switch, pin that holds the outer selector sleeve under where the gearstick goes in. The selector needs to flick to one side so you can line it up with the gap across the 3 selector forks when reinstalling it. Check you can select all gears before you put it all back together. If you can do that you should be in business. Sometimes it takes a bit of wriggling to get it right. I've never done one in a car before. Good luck. With regards to the crack don't forget there are places that weld aluminum housings.