Checking out the selector for the gearbox - drained the oil which seems pretty clean but the mag plug has quite an array of flakes - 1979 Van - gearbox looks a recon? Should I be worried - apart from a poor 3rd gear selection issue there are no whirling noises or hums or grinds?
Pretty impressive “hedgehog”, but fine I’d think. Take the nosecone off and check the selector bar inside, certainly check the ball that the hockeystick goes into. It’s probably a withered pea. Slap it all together, fill it with Castrol Syntrans and paint it gold
I would say a bit more than I would expect, but...are there any bits that are so big they didn't stick to the magnet? Like this?
If it’s the first oil change since 1979 that amount of debris on the plug is probably to be expected. Unless whoever refurbished it has stamped some additional numbers or letters on the box you can’t really tell whether it’s been reconditioned just by looking at it. Poor 3rd gear selection could be a worn hockey stick ball and easy to replace but if it’s an engagement problem (crunching) it’s more likely a synchro issue, and not so easy to fix. Or the clutch might need adjusting.
Those chips look rather like the remains of a ring with a ridge on one face. I think something is smashed in there. I have circled some pieces that look like fragments of the same thing. Usually there will just be corners off crunched gears, small flakes of metal.
Yeah, Mike, this was the Bug's box, damage done as a result of racing. As you say, it was indeed a dead R&P. I posted the image as a reference example for the original poster to see what a really knackered box's oil looks like.
They were flakes on the magnet no bits that you could roll in finger and thumb. 3rd doesn't crunch its an engagement issue which could be fixed by a bit of planning. The Van was more rust than metal so everything's sloppy. Good point on larger bits of metal but none came out in the oil.
