Gold Seal Gearbox Stored for Years

I've just bought a Gold Seal gearbox for my Series III SWB Diesel, and need some advice before I fit it (the original has worn layshaft bearings owing to a previous owner not keeping it topped up - noisy in 1st, 2nd and 3rd). The 'box has evidently not been used; I am told that has been stored in a shed for about 20 years. There is surface rust on the steel components, which is not a problem, and both the gearbox and transfer box are topped up with oil, but I would appreciate anybody's thoughts on what I should replace, if anything, before fitting it.

My assumption is the internal components will be fine, but that I should replace the oil and any rubber seals before fitting it. The alternative is to strip the 'box and use the internals in the present casing.

Any suggestions gratefully received.

i would remove top and check for rust on gears etc ,if using gears from one to another count teeth as these vary between suffixs including lay shaft ,and suffix d the last ones built had coffin shaped dog teeth on gears and selectors and arent interchangable between ealier boxes ,been gold seal i wpould definately check

Dont use old gears, i wouldnt be too worried anbout a bit of surface rust, but I would agree with you on having a good look , has the oil always been in or just topped up recently, at least inspect the rubber oil seals, hopefully they wouldnt of hardened, have you the gearbox, front output housing and transfer box, easier to split and take apart now and change any old seals (dont use cheap ones) now than get in in before you find a problem

As he said - a small amount of surface rust wont harm - it will actually roughen the surfaces and allow a film of oil to settle in the pits.

but it would be a good idea to change the oil very frequently to start with.

you cant use pitted gears and good original gears are better than the new ones you get today but check dog teeth carefully as these are often worn before gear teeth allowing poor change and jumping out of gear

Many thanks for all the advice.

Just taken the covers off the 'box today, and there is no oil, but the good news is that the original factory light preservation has worked perfectly; there is absolutely no rust on any of the internal components. The surface rust is confined to the external steel compenents such as drive flanges and selector rods. It is clear that the 'box has never been used.

I think that it is safe to fit the 'box after fitting new oil seals on the inputs and outputs. They might not be needed, but it will be a whole lot easier to do that on the workshop floor than lying under the vehicle.

Any thoughts?

sounds a great buy, just make sure you use quality seals

and when did landrover produce quality seals

Many thanks to all for the advice. I got around to fitting the gearbox last weekend (there was the small matter of building the workshop/garage first). As always, it was the light panels (floors, transmission tunnels and seat bases) that took the most time, but it has worked perfectly, and solved the problems. It turned out that the problems went beyond the whine out of the lay-shaft; the rear prop-shaft was loose and had caused the splines on the rear shaft to wear as well, which would explain the shudder at low revs in high gear, which has now also gone.

What was really disappointing was the gearbox that came out was a Rover replacement unit (the vehicle has only done 67,000 miles). It has been lost for the want of a bit of oil at servicing, and keeping the propshaft bolts torqued up.

Caviat emptor- Buyer beware.

EME said:

Many thanks to all for the advice. I got around to fitting the gearbox last weekend (there was the small matter of building the workshop/garage first). As always, it was the light panels (floors, transmission tunnels and seat bases) that took the most time, but it has worked perfectly, and solved the problems. It turned out that the problems went beyond the whine out of the lay-shaft; the rear prop-shaft was loose and had caused the splines on the rear shaft to wear as well, which would explain the shudder at low revs in high gear, which has now also gone.

What was really disappointing was the gearbox that came out was a Rover replacement unit (the vehicle has only done 67,000 miles). It has been lost for the want of a bit of oil at servicing, and keeping the propshaft bolts torqued up.

Click to expand...

not the prop nuts loose that caused shaft splines to wear