Skoda Rally Blog

… well, the new gearbox is in, and it works – the first time I’ve had a box in the car with all 5 synchros working properly. However, it wasn’t that straightforward. First up, the end mounting had to be changed to my new “uprated” one. Which meant the end casing of the gearbox had to come off (10 bolts), and when putting the new one on, one bolt felt a bit dodgy…. and then broke off flush with the casing it screwed into. Off with the end casing, and then 10 minutes with the hammer and centre punch eventually persuaded the bolt out enough to get a pair of pliers on it. Next up, the gearchange linkage was seized on, which eventually was rectified by butchering it with an angle grinder. Then the speedo cable drive wouldn’t come out, which took much hammering to remove it, and finally there was an extra dowel fitted to the gearbox….. which we didn’t notice until it was in the engine bay and engaged onto the block. Out again, and after much swearing the centre punch came through again to remove the offending dowel. Ended up being out there until midnight and giving up, and finishing it yesterday morning. It’s all good now, so that’s a plus, and the original clutch is back in there, and hopefully will keep working unlike the new one which started slipping after just 6 stages. Very very poor!

I’ve also moved the intercom so it’s on the dash as it was a contortion act to turn the volume control up. It looks a bit good, like. A few hours’ work on Saturday morning and we’ll be ‘ready’ for Longcross. I think…..